Sloppy Joe Sliders Hawaiian Rolls

Little ground beef sloppy joe sliders are fun appetizers with a homemade sauce you’ll love. Just a few pantry items is all you need for our easy sloppy joes 3 ingredients + your favorite little buns or sweet rolls.

Whether you are throwing a Super Bowl party or just want a fun dinner idea your kids will love, these sloppy joes sliders will be a huge hit!! Served in between two layers of Hawaiian rolls or with a scoop inside our sloppy joe bread bowls they are easy to pick and never last long. (affiliate links present)

Sloppy Joe Sandwich

If you want a TON of flavor I have made our quick meatloaf recipe first, and used that mixture instead of plain ground beef. Love heat and want to make these a bit or a lot spicy instead? You can use ground sausage instead of beef or add red pepper flakes into your basic sauce! When you cook from scratch there are a lot of tweaks you can make.

I have to be honest. I’ve made the insides SO many times that I don’t measure it anymore, it is just a look. I actually had to go back to the basics to measure how much I typically added so I could share it with you if this is your first go around. If you have only used canned Manwich sloppy joe sauce you will NEVER buy it again after you make this way. Seriously, my family won’t let me.

I don’t bother mixing the three ingredients in a bowl beforehand either, I just throw it in with the browned ground beef and stir together. I did this time so I could show you kinda’ what it would look like though. 😉 There is a slight give and take depending on how sweet and/or tang you want to it but the basics are listed below.

Loose Meat Sandwich

Your grandmother might call it this instead, it’s the same thing. What I do when I make these with slider buns or regular hamburger buns is make it, when done put a lid on it and let it sit with the burner off for 20 minutes or so before serving. That way the meat will continue soaking up the sauce and get even thicker and richer. You’re going to need;

1. A pound of ground meat, any one works but beef is our choice
2. Use our Not so Sloppy Joe Sauce, or just the 3 basics below;
3. Brown sugar
4. Yellow mustard, the regular stuff
5. Ketchup
6. Buns of your choice, or thaw frozen rolls and bake for fresh fluffy goodness

Keep the bread and meat separate until someone is ready to eat them. If you add it and let it sit the bread will get soggy which is a no go for me. If you were serving a larger crowd you could make a double to triple batch. Then transfer into a slow cooker on the warm setting with the lid on. It will stay great this way for hours until served.

Loose Meat Sliders

There are many names for these depending on what part of the country you live in. You might hear Tavern sandwich here and there. Maid rite sliders or maid rite sandwiches in other areas means the same thing if you hear that.

• In a pan over medium high heat add olive oil with meat with diced onions (optional).
• Break up into small pieces and cook until meat is no longer brown.
• Drain grease from pan (optional but drained will make the sauce thicker).
• Add ketchup, mustard and brown sugar and stir until meat is coated.
• If you want them really wet you can double these measurements.
• Taste and add more mustard if you want it more tangy or more brown sugar if you want it sweeter.
• Cover pan with a lid and leave on low heat for 10 minutes stirring intermittently to soak in the sauce,
• Turn the heat off and serve on small buns or dinner rolls immediately.

There are a few add ins you could try as well. Some like a dash of Worcestershire sauce or garlic powder for a little more punch. If you want to make a large batch and keep it warm for hours during your party make slow cooker sloppy joes instead of in a skillet.

Add ons are many too. A slice of American cheese, provolone or even a sliced dill pickle are probably the most popular on these and our pulled pork sliders. To add a bit of color to “pretty” them up you might consider a sprinkle of sesame seeds or diced green onions.

Maid Rite Sliders

How do you store leftover sloppy joes? You need to keep the two separate, that is the biggest suggestion. The bread should be wrapped and left on the countertop. Let the meat cool and store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 2 days. When you reheat transfer into a microwave safe bowl.

Add a tiny squeeze of ketchup and a splash of mustard and fold that into the mix. This will add moisture so when you heat for 1 minute or so it doesn’t dry out, that would be tragic. You could use your pan again to warm once again and enjoy but that does take longer. Jump to recipe and get started y’all!!