Name: Instant Pot Sloppy Joes Recipe
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 27 min
Total time: 32 min
Ingredients: 2 tbsp olive oil; 1 tbsp unsalted butter; 2 tsp garlic (minced); 4 oz onions (diced); 2 oz celery (diced); 4 oz red bell peppers (diced); 14 oz 85% lean ground beef; 1/2 tbsp brown sugar; 1 tsp paprika; 1/4 tsp salt; 1/2 tsp ground black pepper; 1 tbsp Heinz’s ketchup; 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce; 1/4 tsp chili powder; 1/2 tsp traditional Dijon mustard; 1/3 cup homemade tomato sauce; 1/4 cup unsalted chicken broth; 3 tbsp all-purpose flour; 4 hamburger buns; 2 oz cabbage (shredded); 2 oz red cabbage (shredded); 1.5 oz cheddar cheese (shredded)

With our Instant Pot sloppy joes recipe you’ll make delicious sandwiches every time.

With two soft buns sandwiching a flavorful meat filling and crunchy veggies in between, sloppy joes are everyone’s favorite comfort food. It’s suitable for parties or gatherings, your guests can assemble themselves their own perfect sandwich to suit their likings.

The filling is usually cooked over a stove, but when dealing with larger portions, the Instant Pot makes life a lot easier. Whether you’re cooking for yourself or ten more people, everything will fit inside the pot and take just 35 minutes.

Are Our Instant Pot Sloppy Joes Healthy?

Our sloppy joe burgers are nutritionally well-balanced: there are high amounts of carbs, fats, and proteins in every sandwich. Furthermore, our recipe uses shredded cabbage, which contains health-promoting micronutrients and fiber to support gut health.

Unlike other recipes, ours has safe levels of sodium and saturated fats. Experts found that overconsumption of these is linked to diseases and hence, recommend us to consume less of them.

For more information on what nutrients to limit, you can have a look at our dietary guidelines.

Main Ingredients for Sloppy Joes

1. Aromatics and Vegetables

To make the filling, we first sauté the aromatics (garlic and onion). This is a crucial step in most recipes — your dish will be less flavorful if skipped.

Going next into the pot isn’t the meat, but a variety of diced vegetables. We’re using celery, carrots, and bell peppers to add different layers of savoriness with soft, juicy pieces to accompany the meat filling for a more satisfying dish.

Once the veg is cooked to perfection, next up is the beef.

2. Choice of Beef

We chose 85% lean ground beef. The balance of proteins and fat makes it a healthy, tender filling that’s not too dry nor too greasy.

If you prefer a leaner choice but can’t find one, you can go for fat-trimmed chuck or round cuts and make the ground beef at home. Simply chop the meat into small cubes and let your food processor take care of the rest.

3. Seasoning and Sauce

Once the beef fat has been rendered out and the meat is a little caramelized, it’s time to add the seasoning.

A sloppy joe’s filling is tomato-based so we added ketchup to enhance the tanginess and brown sugar to balance it out. Then we splashed a dash of Worcestershire sauce over everything to take the savoriness one step further.

Naturally, we then seasoned the sauce with a good pinch of salt and pepper.

Next, we added some mustard to bring out that great meaty flavor. You won’t find it in a traditional sloppy joe burger, but we think it’s a great improvement.

For a spicy kick, we added paprika and chili powder. Adjust the heat accordingly by reducing or increasing the amount of these spices, or if you prefer, skip them altogether.

Finally, we cooked the beef together with our homemade tomato sauce. The consistency should be fairly thick, but for more flavor, we simmered it with chicken broth and then brought back the thickness with cornstarch.

4. Burger Buns and Toppings

The ten minutes it takes for the meat filling to cook is just the time you need to get the buns and toppings ready. Slice the buns (if they’re not pre-sliced), shave the cabbages with a mandoline, and grate the cheese.

For convenience, you can use a frozen coleslaw mix and grated cheddar/ American cheese.

The chances are you’ve got packaged buns so as soon as they’re sliced, heat them on a skillet over medium heat. Warm, soft bread makes better sloppy joes.

How to Make Sloppy Joes in the Instant Pot

Follow these steps once you’ve got the ingredients ready:

Cook the aromatics and the veggies

Add the beef and seasonings

Stir in the tomato sauce and broth, and pressure-cook

Thicken the sauce

Assemble and enjoy

Exact measurements and timings are available in the Instant Pot sloppy joes recipe card below.

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How to Store and Reheat Leftover Sloppy Joes

Keep your sloppy joes good for one week by storing the filling, the toppings and the buns separately in the fridge. It’s important to separate them because they are reheated differently: the filling in a pan and the buns in the oven.

You can also freeze them, so they will last for up to three months:

Add the shredded cabbages to a Ziploc bag, wrap the buns in foil, put the filling in containers, and place all in the freezer.
The cheese stays good in the fridge for months as long as it’s wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, whether grated or in blocks. You don’t need to freeze the cheese.

You can reheat the filling and the buns as above. For the cabbages, give them a good rinse under room-temp water and they’re ready.

Side Dishes for Instant Pot Sloppy Joes

In general, burgers can be paired perfectly with fries and a coke. However, we’re going for healthier options today — a salad and a juice, which, we think, are just as satisfying.

We chose our Greek salad for its abundance of freshness and tanginess to balance out the burger’s savoriness. We think you’ll find it pleasing to have something crunchy and palate-cleansing in between bites.

We also found that our orange pineapple juice was the ideal beverage to accompany this dish with it’s wonderful combination of sweet and sour fruits, and, of course, its wealth of vitamins.

Recipes	Course	Calories	Saturated fat	Sodium
Instant Pot Sloppy Joes	Main Dish	464	6.8 g	564 mg
Greek Salad	Side Dish	173	3.0 g	275 mg
Orange Pineapple Juice	Beverage	112	0.0 g	6 mg
Total		749	9.8 g	845 mg

Nutritional values in this table vary somewhat to those below due to different app calculations. Read more...

If you want to include more instant pot recipe in your diet, this healthy instant pot dinner roundup have a bunch of ideas.

Instant Pot Sloppy Joes Recipe

Are Our Instant Pot Sloppy Joes Healthy?