Recipe This | Instant Pot Sloppy Joes (2024)

Instant Pot Sloppy Joes. How to make the best sloppy joes in the instant pot pressure cooker. Perfect for a quick and cheap dump and start instant pot dinner.

You will love how easy it is to make sloppy joes in the instant pot, how budget friendly it is and how its ideal for beginners to the instant pot, that want to build up their confidence.

Originally shared in the summer of 2018, this update includes new ideas, new photos and forms part of our Aldi budget meal plan.

Sloppy Joes In Instant Pot

I mentioned above that our sloppy joes in the instant pot is an updated post.

But what I didn’t mention was where I was when I originally shared with you how to cook sloppy joes.

Our family of five were travelling around Europe in a tent. Our only way of cooking was with the instant pot.

We also lacked a fridge and didn’t have the usual cooking facilities that most take for granted.

We had an 8 week adventure, enjoying cooking in the instant pot in 8 countries.

Including Spain, France, Portugal, England, Luxemburg, Belgium, Holland & Germany.

Whilst on a pretty campsite in France we made the best instant pot sloppy joes. But of course, we were in France, so it was served in a large French baguette and tasted amazing.

Here is a closeup of the sloppy joes we made back then:

We ate a lot of sloppy joes that summer. It was easy to make in the instant pot, it filled us all up and no matter which country we were in, we could always get some cheap mince and some yummy bread.

Whether you are travelling or not, it’s a fantastic cheap dinner option.

Are You New To The Instant Pot?

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Can You Make Sloppy Joes In An Instant Pot?

Yes, you sure can. Sloppy joes in the instant pot, is one of the best cheap dump and start recipes.

In fact, our instant pot sloppy joes was made just using Aldi produce when we decided to focus on Aldi foods for 28 days.

Also, because you are loading your sloppy joes into bread rolls, it is stretching further and filling you up for longer.

Can You Put Ground Raw Beef In Instant Pot?

Yes, you sure can. I love to cook with raw ground beef in the instant pot, and I have lost count of the amazing recipes I have made with it.

Whether you are making our instant pot frozen hamburgers, instant pot cottage pie or instant pot Salisbury steak, note the instant pot is your best friend.

What Makes Sloppy Joes Thick?

When you make sloppy joes, there is not much water retained in it. Add to this tomato ketchup and any veggies you have included, and maybe some cheese too and you have an incredibly thick, sloppy joes.

If you are using some meat that is holding a lot of water, you can drain it before mixing in the ketchup to help with its thickness.

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Sloppy Joes Instant Pot Ingredients

Mince – Mince or ground meat as you call it, is the staple ingredient in this sloppy joes instant pot recipe. Make it healthier with turkey or chicken or keep it traditional with beef.

Veggies – Rather than having a traditional sloppy joes with pepper and onion, I recommend using up with veggies you have in. We used carrots and celery in ours.

Tomatoes – I recommend for the best tasting pressure cooker sloppy joes that you include both tinned tomatoes and tomato ketchup. Then for extra flavour some Worcester sauce.

Stock – For getting the instant pot to pressure, I recommend both the tinned tomatoes and some beef stock.

Seasonings – Then for your sloppy joe seasoning, I recommend salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.

Then for the kitchen gadgets that we have used in this sloppy joes instant pot recipe it has just been our Instant Pot. We have this one and its my favourite and great for a quick dump and start dinners.

Plus, we recommend you head over to our instant pot recipes category as we have many electric pressure cooker recipes and have been using instant pots for 5 years.

How To Make Sloppy Joes In Instant Pot?

• Sauté. Prep your vegetables and saute them in the instant pot with some extra virgin olive oil.
• Load. Add in your mince, your stock, your seasonings, your ketchup etc and mix well. Break down your meat and then place the lid on the instant pot.
• Cook. Pressure cook, stir your sloppy joes, stir in extra seasoning and serve in bread rolls.

And I am sure you can see now how easy it is to pressure cook sloppy joes and why it has become one of my favourite cheap dinners.

Sloppy Joe Variations

Like I mentioned above, there are some great sloppy joe variations that you can make. You can swap the mince for another such as pork, lamb, chicken or turkey. Though I have found the best results come from a pack of pork/beef mixed mince.

You can also swap the ketchup for more tinned tomatoes to make it healthier. Or mix up the flavour and use barbecue sauce instead.

And like I mentioned from our trip to France you can swap a classic bread roll for a baguette or another favourite bread.

Sides To Go With Sloppy Joes

At the time of updating this recipe, we had loads of coleslaw sat in the fridge. It made the perfect side to go with our sloppy joes.

You can do the same or maybe add our air fryer fries, or some air fryer potato wedges.

Sloppy Joes Instant Pot Tips & Tricks

• Use mixed mince such as 50% pork and 50% beef. It will produce the most flavoursome sloppy joes.

• Avoid meat that is not lean. It will create a lot of fat in your instant pot, and it will not be as thick once served.

• Save time on seasonings by opting for Italian seasoning. Or if in the UK add mixed herbs.

Interesting Instant Pot Trick – Pressure cook sloppy joes for 3 minutes then do a 3 minute natural pressure release. This extra 3 minutes will make all the difference to the flavour and help thicken it.

What about leftover sloppy joes? Add into a plastic container and keep in the fridge and then make more sloppy joes over the next 3 days. Or even better pair with some spaghetti for a spaghetti sloppy joes.

More Instant Pot Cheap Dinner Ideas

• Instant Pot Frozen Vegetable Soup
• Instant Pot Frozen Hamburgers
• Ninja Foodi Spaghetti Bolognese

Your sloppy joes instant pot recipe is below, note you can print it out with or without photos, adjust servings, or click between metric and imperial depending on where you are in the world.

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