Sloppy joes are such a common meal. It’s inexpensive. It’s quick. It’s easy to serve. It’s liked by so many. It’s especially easy and quick to make if you like the sauce mixes from the store. But I haven’t met one of those mixes that I love nearly as much as my homemade recipe. Once I mastered this recipe, I’ve never looked back.
I’m used to making these in a slow cooker. Since I’m a stay-at-home mom, it’s really easy for me to plug in the slow cooker in the middle of the afternoon, put the ingredients in there and let it cook away for a few hours. But, occasionally, I forget to do that. Or I don’t have the time to do that because of our schedule. Or I have a dinner disaster that didn’t turn out at all.
Enter the Instant Pot! It’s slowly becoming my favorite way to cook food fast! (Get it, slow? fast? Tee Hee.) This is my same exact slow cooker sloppy joe recipe, just in the Instant Pot. Done in just minutes with very little effort. Dump the ingredients in, set the machine to the right settings and walk away! Come back to a wonderful sandwich.
I especially like to serve sloppy joes on a fun bun! My husband likes the onion hamburger buns, so whenever I see them on sale, it makes me want to put these sloppy joes on my menu plan. I consider it a sign that it’s time to make them again!
Love your Instant Pot? Try this 4 week meal plan of Instant Pot meals! That’s 28 unique recipes you can cook in the pressure cooker.
Instant Pot Sloppy Joes (Freezer Friendly)
Ingredients
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 1/2 bell pepper, diced very small (optional) green is typical, but any color works
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- salt & pepper, to taste
- 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- Hamburger buns
Instructions
- Set Instant Pot to Saute. Brown beef with garlic, onion and green pepper. Cook until beef is done and drain grease.
- In the Instant Pot, add in the tomato sauce, ketchup, mustard, brown sugar, Worcerstershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, salt & pepper. Add in the red pepper flakes, if using. Stir.
- Seal the pot. Set to High for 5 minutes.
- When done, let it naturally release pressure for 10 minutes. Then manually release the rest of the pressure.
- Serve on hamburger buns.
- To freeze, put into individual freezer-friendly bags and let cool. Once cool, lay them flat in a freezer until frozen, then you can stack them. Make sure you label them!
Notes
Got leftover sloppy joe meat? Try this sloppy joe crescent bake for an easy meal.
Jayme is a wife to 1 and a mother to four little boys. She tries to coupon, builds a smart stockpile, and always meal plans. While she likes to cook, she’s in the stage of life where simple is usually better – she never knows how many hands she’ll have free at dinner time! You can find her at No Regrets Living.
Like this? Also try these:
Much easier just to make on the stovetop and use condensed tomato soup, onion, and whatever spices you like. Done is 15 minutes, only a saucepan to clean.
I love this recipe. It is done in 15 minutes, in just one pot. What’s great about doing this in the Instant Pot is I can get it all started, then walk away from it and even make it before leaving the house. When I return the Instant Pot has simply changed its setting to keep it warm and is ready when we all get back home from church. This is very tasty and a big hit with my boys.
Yay! Glad you liked it and that it worked well for you. My boys like it as well!
Made this for tonight’s supper. The best sloppy joes I have EVER had!! So much easier to make in the Instant Pot! Thank you so much for your recipe 🙂
Yay!!!!!! I am so stoked to hear that. Thank you!