We had dinner with some friends a few months ago and they made sloppy joes. I forget how much I love those dang sandwiches. Then, and I’m not sure why I hadn’t thought of this, but she added CHEESE! Genius! Of course there should be cheese. Why not? It only makes everything better!
So I give my friend, Lindsay, credit for the broiling of the buns with melted cheese portion of this recipe. Kudos to you, Lindsay. I wish I would have thought of it, but I did not. But now, I can’t eat a sloppy joe unless it’s broiled, has a crunchy crust, and has cheese oozing everywhere.
Anyway, back on topic. So – yet again I’m stuck with the dilemma of what to do with leftover hamburgers. I can only justify heating them up and eating as is so many times without feeling guilty about not having a varied menu planned for my little carnivores, so I took Lindsay’s idea and ran with it.
I take leftover burgers, breathe some sloppy joe life into them and VOILA! They transform into a different meal. Yes, it’s still on a bun. Yes, it’s still ground meat. But my kids are excited about something different and I feel better about not eating just another burger.
Another bonus? Homemade sloppy joes are way better than your canned variety. (I only know this because I didn’t have a can one night when I was planning on making this one evening, and now I can’t go back).
The beauty of this? It’s two-fold really:
1. You can use ground beef, turkey or chicken – it doesn’t matter at all; and
2. It takes even less time to make! The meat is already browned! I love time savers.
So take this recipe and make it your own and add some of these side dishes to make your Sloppy Joe Dinner complete. What direction will you take it? What cheese will you use? I’d love to hear your ideas!
Leftover Hamburger Sloppy Joes with Cheese
Ingredients
- 4-5 ish leftover bbq burgers
- 1 ish cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons of worchestershire sauce
- 1 tsn granulated garlic
- 1 tsn granulated onion
- 1 tsn oregano
- 1 tsn parsley
- 1 tbn sugar
- 8 buns
- cheese of your choice
Instructions
- Chop or crumble burgers and put into a frying pan. Rewarm the meat. Add the ketchup, worchestershire, all spices, and sugar.
- Let it come to a low boil. Add more ketchup if you want it saucier, or want it to go a little further.
- While that's heating up, turn your oven on broil. Throw your buns in there and let them toast.
- When the meat mixture is warmed, spoon it on the bottom bun.
- Add your slice of cheese.
- Return the sandwich BACK to the broiler for your cheese to officially ooze. When oozing begins, the sandwich is complete. Enjoy!