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Home / Meals / Home-canned Sloppy Joes

Home-canned Sloppy Joes

Filed Under: Meals, Meat, Seasonal Winter Tagged With: Beef

Sloppy-Joes

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.

Contents hide
  • 1 The recipe
  • 2 Home-canned Sloppy Joes
    • 2.1 Ingredients
    • 2.2 Instructions
    • 2.3 Nutrition
  • 3 Reference information
  • 4 Recipe notes
  • 5 Recipe source
  • 6 Nutrition
  • 7 Further reading

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

Print

Home-canned Sloppy Joes

Yield: 8 x half-litre jars (US pint)
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Keyword Beef
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 15 minutes
Servings 8 half-litre jars (US pint)
Calories 140kcal
Metric - US Customary

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
Metric - US Customary

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

Serving: 125g | Calories: 140kcal | Carbohydrates: 3.6g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 2.2g | Cholesterol: 56mg | Sodium: 166mg | Fiber: 0.8g | Sugar: 2.1g

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.

Sloppy-Joes-5

Recipe source

Ingham, Barbara, et al. Wisconsin Safe Food Preservation Guide. Wisconsin Safe Food Preservation Series: Meat, Wild Game & Poultry Recipes. B3345. 2002.  Page 23.

Modifications made:

  • Gave option for smaller portion jars

Sloppy-Joes-4

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

Sloppy-joes-nutrition

* 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

Home-canned chili

Sloppy-Joes-2

Tagged With: Beef

Filed Under: Meals, Meat, Seasonal Winter Tagged With: Beef

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sandy

    August 11, 2021 at 1:07 pm

    5 stars
    This is a great recipe. My family enjoys it alot.

    Reply
  2. Wendy

    February 27, 2021 at 3:24 pm

    How about adding a bit of vinegar and Worcestershire sauce?

    Reply
    • Healthy Canning

      June 20, 2021 at 6:45 pm

      That is tweaking the seasonings, which is absolutely fine.

      Reply
    • Ann

      August 06, 2021 at 2:39 am

      5 stars
      We added Worcestershire and vinegar both Everytime and it’s delicious

      Reply
  3. Val

    January 18, 2021 at 7:20 pm

    4 stars
    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!

    Reply
  4. Rebeca

    September 13, 2020 at 3:08 pm

    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!

    Reply
    • Healthy Canning

      September 21, 2020 at 7:09 pm

      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.

      Reply
  5. Jen

    August 27, 2020 at 10:41 pm

    5 stars
    Tried this tonight and love it!

    Reply
  6. Deb Young

    August 13, 2020 at 3:57 pm

    Thank you for this recipe. It looks amazing! My question is, can we use canning salt or does it matter?

    Reply
    • Healthy Canning

      September 22, 2020 at 1:28 pm

      You can use canning salt, but in this instance it doesn’t matter.

      Reply
      • Patti Roy

        November 25, 2020 at 3:35 pm

        5 stars
        Can I safely leave out the green pepper and half of the onion?

        Reply
        • Healthy Canning

          June 20, 2021 at 11:57 pm

          Yes for sure.

          Reply
  7. Rebecca

    November 05, 2019 at 11:41 pm

    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?

    Reply
    • Healthy Canning

      May 19, 2020 at 11:50 pm

      Yes it is safe to double the batch. The pressure will still work out for you.

      Reply
      • Donna Arnold

        August 09, 2020 at 3:58 am

        I have made my homemade sloppy joes for a party today. I have a whole crockpot left. So how do i can it?

        Reply
        • Healthy Canning

          September 22, 2020 at 1:42 pm

          Freeze it.

          Reply
          • Susanne

            February 06, 2021 at 4:49 pm

            5 stars
            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

            June 20, 2021 at 7:04 pm

            Yes, it is fine to omit the green pepper.

          • Kimberly

            August 28, 2021 at 6:56 pm

            Can I leave out the meat?

          • Healthy Canning

            September 04, 2022 at 11:53 pm

            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.

  8. Bobbo

    January 30, 2019 at 5:49 am

    Can this be made without meat?

    Reply
    • Healthy Canning

      September 09, 2019 at 2:05 am

      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.

      Reply
      • Debbie

        October 14, 2020 at 5:08 pm

        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!

        Reply
      • Allison

        April 25, 2021 at 11:08 pm

        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.

        Reply
        • Healthy Canning

          June 20, 2021 at 5:47 pm

          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.

          Reply
  9. Tina

    January 19, 2019 at 5:14 pm

    Greetings, could you add cumin instead of the sugar?

    Reply
    • Healthy Canning

      September 11, 2019 at 3:08 pm

      Yes, you could add some cumin as dry seasoning. See: Tweaking.

      Reply
  10. Michelle Trask

    November 04, 2017 at 3:18 pm

    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?

    Reply
    • Healthy Canning

      November 05, 2017 at 10:01 pm

      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….

      Reply
    • Linda

      August 11, 2019 at 7:20 pm

      I used another recipe and it would not get thick it was just like tomato. Juice

      Reply
  11. Judy Soles

    January 14, 2017 at 11:09 pm

    My husband has alpha gal; meaning he is allergic to mammal meat. Can this recipe be safely made with turkey?

    Reply
    • Healthy Canning

      January 15, 2017 at 3:57 pm

      That is a good question; I will write to Wisconsin to ask, and let you know what I hear.

      Reply
      • Sarah

        September 11, 2020 at 4:39 pm

        You cannot safely can ground turkey.

        Reply
        • Healthy Canning

          September 21, 2020 at 7:10 pm

          “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.

          Reply
      • Laurie

        June 08, 2022 at 4:10 am

        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

        Reply
        • Healthy Canning

          July 24, 2022 at 3:26 pm

          Yes, it would be.

          Reply
    • Rebeca

      September 12, 2020 at 11:54 pm

      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!

      Reply
      • Healthy Canning

        September 21, 2020 at 7:10 pm

        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.

        Reply
        • mary

          October 27, 2020 at 2:11 pm

          Why did she change her mind on the ground turkey?

          Reply
          • Healthy Canning

            June 21, 2021 at 12:02 am

            We have no idea.

If you need FAST or relatively immediate canning help or answers, please try one of these Master Food Preserver groups; they are more qualified than we are and have many hands to help you. Many of them even operate telephone hotlines in season.

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