Sloppy Joe Sliders

Name: Sloppy Joe Sliders
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 55 min
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon olive oil; 1 pound ground turkey; 1 yellow onion (diced); 1 green bell pepper (diced); 2 garlic cloves (minced); 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon black pepper; 1 tablespoon mustard ((Dijon or yellow)); 1/2 cup ketchup; 3 tablespoons tomato paste; 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar; 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce; 1 tablespoon brown sugar; 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika; 1/2 cup water; slider rolls; 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella; 1 tablespoon melted butter; 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Sloppy Joe Sliders are made with ground turkey that's been simmered in a homemade sloppy joe sauce, and then baked until cheesy and golden. This family favorite is perfect for hosting!

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A slider being lifted out of a dish with melty cheese.

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🌟Why You'll Love this Recipe

Sliders are perfect for serving a large crowd: These sloppy joe sliders can easily feed 8 or be doubled or tripled to feed your crowd.
Ready in less than an hour. Skip the Manwich or White Castle and make your sloppy joe mixture from scratch tonight. All you'll need is a few simple ingredients and less than 1 hour total. It's an easy weeknight dinner the whole family will love.
Ultimate comfort meal. If you're craving something hearty and satisfying, nothing's better than sloppy joe sliders. Feel free to serve as an appetizer with Warm Crab and Spinach Dip or as a main alongside your favorite sides, including my air fryer potato wedges.

🥘Ingredients

Ground turkey. Classic sloppy joes are made with ground beef, but I opted for ground turkey for a lighter, leaner protein (some people call these sloppy Janes!).
Mustard. I prefer to use Dijon mustard for a sharper, tangy sauce, but yellow mustard works well, too.
Ketchup. Tomato is a key ingredient in making sloppy joes homemade sauce. Some people prefer to make their sloppy joes with either ketchup or tomato paste, but I find a combination of both to bring the best sweetness and depth of flavor. If you only have barbecue sauce on hand, give my BBQ pork sliders a try!
Brown sugar. For the boldest, robust-tasting sliders, use dark brown sugar. For a more mild sweetness, use light brown sugar.
Apple cider vinegar. I always have apple cider vinegar stocked in my pantry to make things like homemade salad dressings and sauces, but white vinegar will work well as an alternative.

See the recipe card below for the full list of ingredients and quantities.

📖Substitutions & Variations

If desired, feel free to use lean ground beef or even ground chicken.
Use honey, maple syrup, or agave instead of brown sugar.
Add cayenne pepper, hot sauce, or some diced jalapeños for some heat.

🔪Instructions

Step 1: Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the turkey and brown while crumbling for about 5 minutes. Add in the diced onions and green pepper and cook for about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, salt and black pepper.

Step 2: Whisk the mustard, ketchup, tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, smoked paprika, and water together in a bowl or large measuring cup.

Step 3: Pour the homemade sloppy joe sauce into the turkey mixture, stir and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Step 4: In a large prepared baking dish or on a sheet pan, place the bottom buns of the slider rolls. Top each roll with some of the turkey mixture followed by a layer of cheese.

Step 5: Brush the tops of the buns with melted butter and Italian seasoning, or as desire

Step 6: Bake the sloppy joe sliders for 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the rolls are golden. Allow the sliders to cool for a few minutes, then serve and enjoy while warm!

💭Recipe FAQs

Can I make these sliders gluten-free?

The sloppy joes filling is naturally gluten-free, but if you are gluten intolerant, make sure to use gluten-free slider buns. They can be harder to find, but brands like Udi's are a popular store-bought choice for gluten-free hamburger buns. Gluten-free dinner rolls will also work in a pinch!

Should I bake my sloppy joe sliders covered?

I did not find this to be necessary, but if you find your slider buns are browning too quickly, feel free to tent the baking dish to prevent over-browning.

Can I prepare these sliders ahead of time?

If you are hosting guests and would like to prep ahead, you can make the ground turkey mixture ahead of time and store it separately in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 48 hours in advance.

Then, when ready to bake the sliders, warm the turkey in a skillet again and resume the recipe as usual. Making the full recipe in advance is not an ideal option - the bottom layer of buns is very likely to get soggy.

👩🏻‍🍳Chef Tips

Shred your own mozzarella cheese. Store-bought mozzarella cheese shreds are coated with an anti-caking agent to prevent the shreds from sticking together on grocery store shelves. Although these shreds are perfectly safe to eat and use, mozzarella shredded at home will melt much better and faster and make for more appetizing-looking sliders. If serving sloppy joe sliders to guests, this is a great extra step to take.
Adjust the sauce to your taste by adding more or less sugar and even some spice.
Try sweet Hawaiian rolls! A great twist for those who love sweet sloppy joe sliders.

Sloppy joe sliders in a white baking dish.

🥗Serving

This sloppy joe sliders recipe can be served on game day or at potlucks as an easy appetizer or as a main dish alongside BBQ chicken sliders. Here are a few of my favorite dishes to serve with sliders to give you some inspiration.

Or, check out my recommendations for What to Serve with Pulled Pork Sandwiches. Many of those recommendations apply here, too!

🥣Storage & Reheating

Allow the sliders to cool completely before storing and store leftovers in an airtight container for a few days in the fridge.
Reheat in the oven for a few minutes.
I would not recommend freezing the meat on the sliders as this will likely make the bread soggy. Instead, freeze the sloppy joe meat mixture separately and thaw in the refrigerator until ready to use (1-2 days).