Published: Jan 12, 2015 | Modified: Feb 22, 2024 | Author: Amanda Livesay

Hawaiian Sloppy Joes

Name: Hawaiian Sloppy Joes
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 5 slices bacon, diced; 1 pound lean ground beef; 1 medium onion, diced; 1 green pepper, diced; 3-4 cloves garlic, minced; 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced; 3/4 cup ketchup; 2 tablespoons brown sugar; 1 tablespoon cider vinegar; 1 tablespoon soy sauce; 1/2 cup pineapple juice; salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

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Hawaiian Sloppy Joes are ground beef sloppy joes with a pineapple sweet and sour sauce. Topped with red onion and fresh pineapple on a toasted bun. It’s so easy and ready in less than 30 minutes!

If you love sloppy joes, you have to try my Sloppy Joe Sliders!

Hawaiian Sloppy Joes - bacon, ground beef, and veggies in a pineapple sweet and sour sauce. Served on a toasted bun with pineapple rings on top! A delicious 30 minute weeknight meal!

Bleh, Monday.

My husband goes back to work today and it’ll be really strange since he’s been on leave for over a month. He had to shave his beloved “leave beard” yesterday in preparation and I swear he almost cried. And then when the baby (who’s not a baby) saw him without the beard, he said, “Hey. Your head looks funny.”

I died.

We went to IKEA on Saturday. And btw, IKEA on a Saturday is not really a great idea. But, you know.

Since it’s in Denver (like a 40 minute drive for us) we’ve been planning this trip for awhile and I had ridiculously long list of things that we needed. I figured, I only go once a year – I might as well make the best of it. Right?

So then my husband spent all Saturday night and most of yesterday building ALL THE THINGS. The little ones got bunk beds and we got a new bed for the big one and a TV stand and several other things that required lots of sweat and curse words from the husband.

It was fun.

Ingredients

Bacon
Ground beef – you can use ground turkey or chicken if you want to make them a little lighter.
Onion
Green pepper
Garlic
Fresh ginger
Ketchup – this adds tomato flavor to the sauce!
Brown sugar – brown sugar adds sweetness and depth to the sauce.
Apple cider vinegar – the vinegar adds the sour part of the sweet and sour sauce!
Soy sauce
Pineapple juice

How To Make Hawaiian Sloppy Joes

Cook bacon. Cook the bacon until crisp. Remove and drain. .
Make sloppy joe mixture. Cook ground beef, onion, and green pepper, breaking up the ground beef as it cooks. Add the garlic and ginger; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Make sauce. Whisk together ketchup, brown sugar, cider vinegar, soy sauce, and pineapple juice. Pour into the pan with the meat and stir to combine.
Simmer. to a simmer, cover, and let cook for 15 – 20 minutes or until the sauce has thickened considerably but is still “sloppy”.
Add bacon. Crumble the bacon and stir it into the mixture.
Serve. Serve on buns.

Can You Make Hawaiian Sloppy Joes Ahead?

Yes, you can definitely make these Hawaiian Sloppy Joes ahead.

Don’t assemble the sandwiches, of course, but you can make the meat the night before you plan to serve them. Store them in the refrigerator in an airtight container. If the mixture isn’t sloppy enough when you reheat it, a splash of broth or water should loosen it up a little bit.

Can You Freeze Hawaiian Sloppy Joes?

Yes, you can freeze the meat for these Hawaiian Sloppy Joes. I like to freeze sloppy joe meat in a freeze ziploc bag. Make sure you squeeze out as much air as possible.

You can freeze sloppy joes for up to 3 months. Let it defrost overnight in the refrigerator and then you can reheat in the microwave, stovetop, or even the slow cooker. If the meat isn’t saucy enough, a splash of water or broth will loosen it up.

More Sloppy Joe Recipes

Yield: 6 servings