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Brenda Thompson

Italian Sloppy Joes

4 from 1 vote
Family friendly Easy Italian Sloppy Joes are ready in less than 30 minutes—perfect busy weeknights! Make a double batch for the freezer to have on hand for another meal.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings: 6 servings
Course: Sandwich
Cuisine: American
Calories: 360
Ingredients Method Video Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 8 ounces tomato sauce
  • 4.25 ounces canned black olives chopped
  • ½ cup red onion chopped
  • ½ cup green bell pepper chopped
  • 1 teaspoon Italian herb look for this in the herbs and spices aisle at the grocery store
  • 1 dash salt
  • 1 dash ground black pepper
  • 2 cups shredded Italian blend cheese divided
  • 6 whole wheat hamburger buns

Method
 

  1. Preheat oven to 325°F degrees.
  2. In sauté pan, brown hamburger until cooked through.
  3. Add tomato sauce, olives, onion, bell pepper, Italian herbs, salt and pepper and stir until well blended.
  4. Stir in 1 ½ cups shredded Italian cheese until melted.
  5. Next, add about a half cup of mixture on one half of a bun and place on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with about a tablespoon of the shredded cheese and repeat for desired number of open faced sandwiches.
  6. Bake open faced sandwiches at 325°F for 5-8 minutes.
  7. Turn oven to LOW broil and broil for 2 minutes until cheese topping turns a little bit golden brown.
Alternate Serving Option
  1. To make these as traditional sloppy joe sandwiches, skip the baking and broiling steps and simply spoon the sloppy joe mixture onto a bottom bun then add top bun and serve.

Video

Notes

Ingredient Tips

Look for canned Sliced Black Olives on the same aisle as the green olives. Sometimes I substitute chopped black olives for the sliced. 
Don't have fresh green bell peppers on hand? You can easily use frozen chopped green bell peppers instead! I always keep some on hand. 
Italian Herb blend can be found in the herb and spices aisle of the grocery store. 
Italian Cheese Blend – This can be found in the cheese section of the grocery store. If you can’t find it, you can substitute shredded mozzarella.

Make Ahead Tips

To save a few minutes come dinner time, there are a few ways to prep for this recipe in advance. The ground beef can be browned and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two days. 
Also, chopping the onions and green bell peppers up to a day in advance and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. 
The mixture for these Italian Sloppy Joes is easy to make ahead a few different ways. You can start by just browning the ground beef in advance and store in an airtight container (affiliate link) in the refrigerator for up to two days.
This sloppy joes mixture also freezes very well. I often make a double batch and then portion it out in freezer safe containers like my 2-cup Souper Cubes (affiliate link). Perfect for an easy dinner or lunch. I will just buy the buns fresh when I’m ready to serve it again.