American
Sloppy Joe Potatoes
Baked potatoes get a ground-beef sauce made with tomato paste, ketchup, and Worcestershire. The meat is the usual sloppy-joe mixture, just spooned over potatoes instead of a bun.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 50 min
- Total
- 1 hr 5 min
- Servings
- 4
- Difficulty
- Easy
Why you’ll love it
- The beef sauce uses tomato paste, ketchup, and Worcestershire, the usual sloppy-joe core.
- Potatoes stand in for the bun and hold the loose sauce.
- A bake gets the potatoes tender while the skillet finishes the beef.
- The sauce is simmered down so it stays on the potato instead of running off.
Ingredients
Ingredient amounts scale. Oven temperature and cook time do not. Salt, spices, and leaveners are a starting point after you scale. Taste and adjust.
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Instructions
- 1
Heat the oven to 425°F, rub the potatoes with oil and half the salt, prick them, and bake until a knife slides in easily.
- 2
Cook the ground beef and diced onion in a skillet over medium heat, breaking the meat up, until no pink remains and the beef reaches 160°F.
- 3
Stir in the garlic and tomato paste and cook until the paste darkens and smells sweet.
- 4
Add the ketchup, Worcestershire, broth, chili powder, brown sugar, pepper, and remaining salt, and stir until the ketchup loosens and the sauce looks glossy.
- 5
Simmer until the sauce is thick enough to sit on a spoon and the onion is soft.
- 6
Split the potatoes, fluff the centers until they are steaming, and spoon the hot beef over them.
Pro tips
- Start the potatoes first; the beef sauce can sit on low heat once it is thick.
- Leave about a spoonful of fat in the pan or the sauce turns pasty.
- Split the potatoes while they are still hot so steam escapes and the centers stay fluffy.
Easy substitutions
- Ground beef
- Ground turkey
- Ketchup
- Chili sauce
- Russet potatoes
- Sweet potatoes
Storage and reheating
Storage
Keep the potatoes and beef sauce in separate covered containers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Reheating
Reheat the sauce in a skillet until bubbling and the potatoes at 350°F until hot, then spoon the beef back on top.
Nutrition
Estimates per serving, using standard ingredient averages and rounded to the nearest gram. This is not a lab analysis, and it shifts if you change brands or add sides.
- Calories
- 520
- Protein
- 24 g
- Carbs
- 52 g
- Fat
- 21 g
- Fiber
- 5 g
Moderate · Oven, Stovetop
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From the kitchen
Kitchen tools we love
Practical tools these recipes actually use. This is not a review roundup, and these are not paid placements. If affiliate links are added later, they will be labeled and disclosed.
A heavy 12-inch skillet
Most of the chicken and steak recipes are written for one pan that holds heat. Stainless or cast iron both work.
An air fryer with a real basket
The air-fryer recipes expect a single layer. A crowded basket steams instead of browning.
A half-sheet pan
Drumsticks, potatoes, sausage, and carrots all use one. A dark pan browns faster than a very shiny one.
A sharp chef’s knife
These recipes do not need a specialty blade. A sharp 8-inch knife is faster and safer than a dull one.
A large cutting board
Big enough that the onion and the raw chicken are not sharing the same puddle.
Dry cups and a liquid cup
Desserts in particular expect level dry measures and a separate cup for milk.
An instant-read thermometer
Use it for poultry, pork chops, and meatloaf. Color is a weak guide.
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