When I entertain I like to do as much prep work before hand as possible. Making the dips, chopping the vegetables, prepping the salad and dressing. And for girls night last weekend I made the sloppy joes that morning and put them in the Crockpot on warm about an hour before we were ready to eat. This lets me focus on my friends instead of worrying about cooking.
I know sloppy joes seem like a strange addition for girls night but these have such great flavor and make enough to serve at least 6-8 and to have leftovers. I made them a bit easier to eat by opting to use slider sized buns (whole wheat of course) or you could skip the bread and just eat the meat or put it over a baked potato for a quick and easy meal. Thanks to Cooking Light for the inspiration for these, I added a few more spices to them but these were really tasty!
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Serves 6-8
Serving Size: 2 Sliders
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 2 lb's ground beef (or venison)
- 1 cup marinara sauce
- 1/2 cup bottled chili sauce (such as Heinz)
- 1/2 cup root beer
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp dry mustard
- 2 tsp chipotle chili powder
- 2 tsp tomato paste
- Salt/Pepper
- 12 Whole Wheat Slider Buns
Instructions
- Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.
- Add oil; swirl to coat.
- Add onion; cook 3 minutes.
- Add beef or venison; cook 4 minutes or until beef begins to brown, stirring to crumble.
- Stir in tomato sauce and next 7 ingredients (through tomato paste); bring to a simmer.
- Cook 5 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally.
- Season with salt/pepper
- Divide beef mixture evenly among bottom halves of buns; top with top halves of buns.
