These Mexican Sloppy Joes are a fun, flavourful update to traditional Sloppy Joes. A bit of food prep makes these “Sloppy Joses” an easy freezer meal option!
As often happens with us, we kind of... “If you give a mouse a cookie”-ed it, going from “man, we haven’t had sloppy Joes in a while” to coming up with a handful of different ideas for homemade sloppy joe sauce.
I used to think that my Convention Homemade Sloppy Joes Recipe was the BEST Sloppy Joe Recipe.
It basically passes for classic Sloppy Joes, but with some tweaks to the sloppy joe filling to make it much more nutritious, and geared towards reheating and serving it in a hotel room.
Back when we still did fan conventions... it was a lifesaver!
The thing is, Sloppy Joes are also fantastic camping food!
Homemade Sloppy Joes are WAY better than making the saucy sandwiches with a store-bought sauce, no matter which recipe you’re using.
This delicious Sloppy Joe recipe, though? Sure to be a family favorite - even if you’re dealing with picky eaters.
This loose meat sandwich is based on Mexican flavours, both in the sauce and as the garnish. The finished sandwich is a GLORIOUS mix of flavours, colours, and textures - immensely satisfying!
The best part is that you can do a fair amount of prep ahead of time, and have freezer packs of vegetables and seasoning mix ready to go.
Seriously, one of our favourite options for campfire dinners. Anyway, let’s look at what you’ll need:
Ingredients
This recipe uses really simple ingredients - you shouldn’t have any problem finding everything you need in pretty much any grocery store.
As always, I have a few ingredient notes for you:
Lean Ground Beef
While I tend to use ground beef for the meat sauce in this recipe, really... any lean meat will work well.
The tangy sauce has TONS of flavour, so the flavour of the meat itself isn’t really front and center.
Anyway, ground chicken and ground turkey work well, and I’ve even made this with Beyond Meat at times. It’s all good!
Cheese
I like to use shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese on this recipe - it goes well with the other flavours, and it’s readily available in most places we find ourselves.
That said, there are plenty of other options that’ll work well.
Pepperjack is an obvious choice, and any kind of mild Mexican cheese will be on theme.
Havarti has a great flavour and texture, and a mild cheddar is a decent standby.
Fresh Produce
When we fully do up our Mexican Sloppy Joes, they end up being more produce-heavy than some other Sloppy Joe recipes.
As with pretty much every Sloppy Joe recipe, there are peppers and onions in the actual meat mix. In this case, I use Poblanos and Jalapenos, rather than the usual green bell peppers.
If you can’t find poblanos, feel free to use regular green peppers.
In terms of toppings, we’ll usually use some jalapeno slices, along with fresh avocado slices, red onion, and a bit of fresh cilantro.
If you’re not a fan of cilantro, feel free to skip it.
Also: This is just when we REALLY do them up. When we freeze leftovers and use them a few weeks later, we usually don’t bother to buy the avocado and cilantro for it.
Still fantastic without!
Spices & Seasonings
Most of the ingredients in this recipe are the seasonings - and this is why I like to make pre-measured spice packets. I don’t want to bring my entire spice rack in the RV when we go camping!
Also, doing them up assembly-line style is a big time saver for future batches.
Anyway, this recipe uses:
Ground Black Pepper
Hatch Chili Powder
Smoked Paprika
Crushed Chilies
Dried Oregano
Ground Cumin
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Salt
Everything Else
Rounding out this recipe, you will need:
Hamburger buns (We like 4 Kaiser Buns)
Tomato Sauce
Brown Sugar
Olive Oil
... I just really don’t have anything to add, as far as these last few ingredients go!
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How to Make Mexican Sloppy Joes
The full recipe is in the printable recipe card at the end of this post. Here is my visual walk through, including the directions for prep work that can be done in advance.
Pre-Trip Food Prep
Using a Sharpie, label a medium sized Ziploc Freezer with “Mexican Sloppy Joes”, and as much of the instructions as you need or want. Set aside.
Peel and chop your onion, seed and chop the peppers.
Add the veggies to the medium sized freezer baggie.
Press out all excess air, seal, and freeze until you’re almost ready to make your Mexican Sloppy Joes.
Make Your Mexican Sloppy Joes
Get a medium campfire going, or get your charcoal on the go.
Add the ground beef and olive oil to a large cast iron skillet - or a Dutch oven, and set over the fire or hot coals.
Cook - breaking up the meat as it cooks - just until it’s cooked though. Add the chopped peppers and onion, continue cooking until the vegetables are tender, another 2-3 minutes.
Allow the meat mixture to simmer for about 15 minutes, or until thickened to the texture you like.
Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Leftovers
Leftover Mexican Sloppy Joes mix can be cooled to room temperature, then stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Reheat before serving.
More One-Pot Camping Recipes
Looking for more easy - but satisfying! - one pot meals to cook over your campfire? Here are some of my favourites!
Bacon Cheeseburger Soup
Beef & Root Vegetable Stew
Cajun Chicken Sloppy Joes
Campfire Chicken Curry
Campfire Chili
Dutch Oven Jambalaya
Easy Chicken Curry
Egg Roll in a Bowl
Hearty Campfire Beef Stew
Indian Sloppy Joes
Sloppy Giuseppes
Traditional Sloppy Joes
Also be sure to check out our other Camping Recipes, including Camping Desserts, Camping Snacks, Make-Ahead Camping Mix Recipes, and a ton of delicious Camping Main Dish Recipes!
Mexican Sloppy Joes - "Sloppy Jose" Sandwiches
Equipment
- 1 Large Skillet
Ingredients
Mexican Sloppy Joe Filling
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 lb Lean Ground Beef
- 1 Poblano Pepper Seeded and Chopped
- 1-2 Jalapeno Peppers Seeded and Finely Chopped
- ½ Onion Finely Chopped
- ¾ cup Tomato Sauce
- 1 tablespoon Brown Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 teaspoon Hatch Chili Powder
- 1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- ½ teaspoon Crushed Chilies
- ½ teaspoon Dried Oregano
- ½ teaspoon Ground Cumin
- ½ teaspoon Onion Powder
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Assembly and Toppings
- 4 Kaiser Buns
- Monterrey Jack Cheese
- Shredded Lettuce
- Red Onion
- Avocado
- Jalapeno Slices
- Cilantro
Instructions
- Get a medium campfire going, or get your charcoal on the go. (If you’re making this on a stove, use medium-high heat and a nonstick pan.)
- Add the ground beef and olive oil to a large cast iron skillet - or a dutch oven, and set over the fire or hot coals.
- Cook - breaking up the meat as it cooks - just until it’s cooked though. Add the peppers and onion, continue cooking until the vegetables are tender, another 2-3 minutes.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the pan, stir well to combine.
- Allow to simmer for about 15 minutes, or until thickened to the texture you like. (I'll usually turn the stove down to medium low or medium heat, when cooking this at home.)
- Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Divide Mexican Sloppy Joes mixture between your buns, serve hot, topped with your choice of garnishes!
Notes
Nutrition
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Marie & Michael Porter
One of our absolute favourite sloppy joes recipes - hope you love it too!