Delicious, home-canned Sloppy Joes makes for quick, healthy and nutritious lunches or suppers.
The ingredients are really easy to assemble for home pressure canning.
This is a safe, tested recipe from Dr Barb Ingham at the University of Wisconsin Extension Service.
A quarter-litre (half US pint / 8 oz ) size jar makes enough filling for four buns (i.e. enough for two people to each have two Sloppy Joes.)
Want to make a version without the meat? There’s a meatless version called “Sloppy Joe Starter” in “The All New Ball Cook of Canning and Preserving (2016) on page 188. Then, when you open a jar to use it, you could use veggie ground-rounds or other meat substitutes of your choice.
The recipe
Jar size choices: Either ¼ litre (½ US pint / 8 oz ) OR ½ litre (1 US pint / 16 oz) OR 1 litre (1 US quart)
Processing method: Pressure canning only
Yield: 8 x ½ litre (US pint) jars
Headspace: 3 cm (1 inch)
Processing pressure: 10 lbs (69 kPa) weighted gauge, 11 lbs (76 kpa) dial gauge (adjust pressure for your altitude when over 300 metres / 1000 feet)
Processing time: Half-litres (pints) 75 minutes; litres (quarts) 90 minutes
Home-canned Sloppy Joes
Ingredients
- 1.75 kg ground beef (or venison. 4 lbs)
- 500 g onion (washed, peeled, chopped. 3 cups / 16 oz. Measured after prep. 3 medium onions before prep)
- 225 g green bell pepper (chopped, seeded. 1 ½ cups. Measured after prep. About 1 ½ large.)
- 500 ml tomato sauce (2 cups / 16 oz / 1 US pint)
- 500 ml ketchup (2 cups / 16 oz / 1 US pint)
- 500 ml water (2 cups / 16 oz / 1 US pint)
- 1 tablespoon salt (OR non-bitter, non-clouding salt sub)
- 1 tablespoon sugar (OR ½ teaspoon liquid stevia)
- 1 tablespoon prepared mustard
- ¾ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Prep the onion and green pepper in advance, set aside.
- Sauté the ground meat in a large pot. Drain off any excess fat.
- Add the prepped veg and all remaining ingredients.
- Bring to a boil uncovered, then reduce to a simmer and let simmer for 5 minutes, uncovered.
- Ladle into hot jars, being sure to get balanced scoops of liquid and solid.
- Use either ¼ litre (½ US pint / 8 oz ) OR ½ litre (1 US pint / 16 oz) OR 1 litre (1 US quart) jars.
- Leave 3 cm (1 inch) headspace.
- Debubble; adjust headspace.
- Wipe jar rims.
- Put lids on.
- Processing pressure: 10 lbs (69 kPa) weighted gauge, 11 lbs (76 kpa) dial gauge (adjust pressure for your altitude when over 300 metres / 1000 feet)
- Processing time: Process ¼ litre (½ US pint / 8 oz ) OR ½ litre (1 US pint / 16 oz) for 75 minutes. Process 1 litre (1 US quart) for 90 minutes.
Nutrition
Reference information
How to pressure can.
When pressure canning, you must adjust the pressure for your altitude.
More information about Salt-Free Canning in general.
Recipe notes
The University of Wisconsin notes that you may use “ground beef, or venison, or a combination of both.” We used extra-lean ground beef to be more Weight Watchers® friendly.
To clarify the meat, back in 2017, Dr Barb Ingham who developed this recipe, said in writing that ground turkey or chicken could be used as the meat, so at that time it was added an alternative. She changed her mind in February 2020 so we removed it from the recipe as an alternative. So your alternatives are ground beef, or venison, or both, as above.
You can use homemade or bought ketchup. We used low-sodium, low-sugar ketchup.
Yes, you can omit the tablespoon of sugar. It won’t impact the safety (it’s just there as a dry seasoning), and, we’re not convinced it will impact the taste all that much, either, especially if you are already using regular full-sugar ketchup. If your audience has a real sweet tooth, you could also even increase the sugar by a few tablespoons.
Serving suggestion: for a change, when opening and reheating, try stirring in ½ to 1 cup of chopped, salted peanuts.
Recipe source
Ingham, Barbara, et al. Wisconsin Safe Food Preservation Guide. Wisconsin Safe Food Preservation Series: Meat, Wild Game & Poultry Recipes. B3345. 2002. Page 25. A similar recipe can all so be found on the Ball website: Saucy Sloppy Joe Starter
Modifications made:
- Gave option for smaller portion jars
Nutrition
Nutritional information based on extra-lean ground beef, stevia, salt sub, sugar- and salt-free ketchup, and sugar- and salt-free tomato sauce being used.
Serving size: 125 ml (4 oz / ½ cup). Enough to cover two buns.
Per 125 ml (4 oz / ½ cup) (bun not included):
- 140 calories, 166 mg sodium
- Weight Watchers PointsPlus®: 3 points
* Nutrition info provided by https://caloriecount.about.com
* PointsPlus™ calculated by healthycanning.com. Not endorsed by Weight Watchers® International, Inc, which is the owner of the PointsPlus® registered trademark.
Further reading
Elaine Roe
can I use shop bought tomato passata instead of home canned tomato sauce?
Jen
Can I substitute ground moose for the ground beef in this recipe?
cindy
Can you use store bought tomato sauce?
Sandy
This is a great recipe. My family enjoys it alot.
Ryan
After we pressure canned, following the canning methods above, our sloppy joe meat texture was dry and chewy. Prior to putting into jars the texture was normal. We taste tested multiple jars and all the same. Why do you think the texture changed?
Ronnie Judd
I have found that canning meat of any kind, changes the texture. It’s just seems to be nature of the beast.
Wendy
How about adding a bit of vinegar and Worcestershire sauce?
Healthy Canning
That is tweaking the seasonings, which is absolutely fine.
Ann
We added Worcestershire and vinegar both Everytime and it’s delicious
Elaine
How much of each do you add to the sloppy joe recipe ( vinegar & Worcestershire sauce ).
Hollie
Hi, I followed the recipe/instructions and everything sealed perfectly but I’m seeing a ton of air pockets. I debubbled as best I could but it’s such a thick mixture. I’m wondering if it’s safe to store and eat with the air pockets.
Val
How thick is this supposed to be? Helpful hubby didn’t weigh the meat and want to be sure of the consistency so it isn’t too thick. Thank you!
Ryan
Do you know why my ground beef in the sloppy joes, after pressure canning, would be chewy and dry? Followed the pressure canning method precisely. Thanks!
Liz
Hi Ryan, wanted to reply since I noticed it seemed no one did. As an experienced canner, I have found that using meat that is very lean sometimes makes it a little tough. Also, when you simmer it, different brands of tomato sauce have different textures. Some contain less water. You might need to add more water or tomato juice to make it a little thinner before canning as canning will concentrate the liquid more. Hope this helps.
Rebeca
On January 17th, 2017 there was a response that ground chicken and ground turkey could be used in this recipe instead of ground beef. My question is, is that information still up to date? Meaning I want to use either ground chicken or ground turkey to can this sloppy joe recipe. Please advice. Thank you!
Healthy Canning
Back in 2017, Dr Barb Ingham who developed this recipe said that ground turkey or chicken could be used as the meat. She changed her mind in February 2020 so we removed it from the recipe as an alternative.
Jen
Tried this tonight and love it!
Deb Young
Thank you for this recipe. It looks amazing! My question is, can we use canning salt or does it matter?
Healthy Canning
You can use canning salt, but in this instance it doesn’t matter.
Patti Roy
Can I safely leave out the green pepper and half of the onion?
Healthy Canning
Yes for sure.
Rebecca
Is it safe to do a double batch of the liter sloppy joe meat mixture in a pressure canner at the same time and it still be at the proper pressure?
Healthy Canning
Yes it is safe to double the batch. The pressure will still work out for you.
Donna Arnold
I have made my homemade sloppy joes for a party today. I have a whole crockpot left. So how do i can it?
Healthy Canning
Freeze it.
Susanne
Can I leave out the green pepper? My husband hates it and I want to make sure it will be safe. Thank you.
Healthy Canning
Yes, it is fine to omit the green pepper.
Kimberly
Can I leave out the meat?
Healthy Canning
The Ball All New actually has a Sloppy Joes recipe without the meat which can be water-bath canned, why don’t you try that? Sloppy Joe Starter Sauce, page 188.
Bobbo
Can this be made without meat?
Healthy Canning
Yes, it is fine to omit the meat. But, Ball home canning already has a sloppy joe mix recipe without the meat, you are probably best just to use that. Sloppy Joe Starter Mix.
Debbie
Ball has removed that recipe from their site. Why? I’ve made it and it’s great! I did a web search and found the same recipe on another site. Don’t remember where, but make sure you find a recipe that starts out with roasting bell peppers and onions! You won’t be disappointed!
Allison
I couldn’t find the recipe for Sloppy Joe Starter Mix in the link you provided above. I wanted to can just the sauce mixture.
Healthy Canning
It looks like Ball has removed it from their site! It seems like every year now they get bored and scramble their recipes around. We’re not sure who there thinks that’s a good idea, other than maybe web consultants who get paid to do it, but we are hearing that it’s annoying a lot of Ball web site users.
Jo
New link for the Sloppy Joe Starter recipe:
https://www.ballmasonjars.com/blog?cid=saucy-sloppy-joe-starter
Healthy Canning
Many thanks for the link I added it and updated the link to the original university PDF.
Tina
Greetings, could you add cumin instead of the sugar?
Healthy Canning
Yes, you could add some cumin as dry seasoning. See: Tweaking.
Michelle Trask
I tried another recipe that also had sugar in it. Once it was canned it took on a burnt taste. Does this do the same because of the sugar?
Healthy Canning
I’ve made this several times, with the tablespoon of brown sugar, and didn’t experience any burntness. You could always just omit, it’s so little I’m not sure it actually makes much of a flavour difference, especially if you use full-sugar ketchup….
Linda
I used another recipe and it would not get thick it was just like tomato. Juice
Judy Soles
My husband has alpha gal; meaning he is allergic to mammal meat. Can this recipe be safely made with turkey?
Healthy Canning
That is a good question; I will write to Wisconsin to ask, and let you know what I hear.
Sarah
You cannot safely can ground turkey.
Healthy Canning
“You cannot safely can ground turkey.” That statement both is correct, and not correct. We have already written extensively about there being no stand-alone pack directions for ground poultry. That information is here: https://www.healthycanning.com/home-canning-ground-poultry/
But the exception to the rule, as in so many things, is: unless the people who developed a canning recipe approve its use as an exception. An example of this is the spaghetti sauce recipe, where ground turkey has been approved as a substitute for the ground beef. https://www.healthycanning.com/spaghetti-sauce-with-meat/
Back in 2017, Dr Barb Ingham, whose extension developed this Sloppy Joe recipe, said in writing that ground turkey or chicken could be used as the meat. In February 2020, she changed her mind, and the minute she let us know that she had changed her mind, we dutifully removed it from the recipe as an alternative.
We confirmed in February 2020 with the University of Georgia that they stand by their recommendation that ground turkey can be used in the spaghetti sauce recipe indicated above, and their answer was yes.
Laurie
I plan on trying this recipe, can you tell me if it would be safe to substitute tomato juice for part or all of the water? Just like to add flavor where possible… thank you
Healthy Canning
Yes, it would be.
Rebeca
Hello Healthy Canning! Using ground chicken or ground turkey still up to date information? I would like to make sloppy joes with ground turkey Or ground chicken if it is still safe to can. Your information about replacing ground chicken or turkey for the meat is from 2017 and wanted to know if still safe to do. Thank you!
Healthy Canning
Back in 2017, Dr Barb Ingham who developed this recipe said that ground turkey or chicken could be used as the meat. She changed her mind in February 2020 so we removed it from the recipe as an alternative.
mary
Why did she change her mind on the ground turkey?
Healthy Canning
We have no idea.