Homemade Sloppy Joe Sauce

Convenience sometimes wins when it comes time to make a dinner meal. We just need something quick and easy that does not require lots of effort so that we can move on to the next task at hand. I actually accidentally created this recipe for homemade Sloppy Joes or Manwich sauce. I was taste testing another experimental recipe I was attempting and immediately I tasted the familiar flavor of Sloppy Joes! Thankfully, our kids love it and didn't remember the taste of the canned stuff. But really, it does taste just like it!

Homemade Sloppy Joe Sauce

Ingredients:

2 lbs. ground beef (browned)

Approx. 1 cup of ketchup

1/4 cup of tomato paste

black pepper

onion powder

salt

1-2 tsp. sugar to balance out the acidity of the tomato paste (add more or less if desired)

water

Directions:

Brown the ground beef in large skillet. Drain the beef. Return beef to skillet. On low-medium heat, add all remaining ingredients; adding enough water to reach desired consistency. Simmer on low heat for 5-10 minutes.

Once you have this basic recipe you can tweak it to your desired flavoring. The main thing is to keep the amount of ketchup to more than the tomato paste. 

Serve on bread or hamburger buns with chips.