Easy Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes

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Philly cheesesteak sloppy joes are a fun twist for a busy weeknight dinner. Loaded with fresh peppers and onions and topped with melted provolone cheese, your family will gobble these up.

A blue plate has a sloppy joe sandwich next to baked french fries with fresh veggies in the back.

I absolutely love sloppy joe sandwiches but haven't made them for my family in years and years! I think the fussy-messy years of toddlerhood made me put this idea to the side, and I sort of just forgot about them as a dinner option.

Now that my girls are so much older (and neater at the dinner table!) the craving set in for a good sloppy joe. However, I'm fussy about the sauce that goes over the ground beef and I wanted just the right mix to re-introduce this awesome easy fix dinner idea to my family.

The Peanut actually loves Philly cheesesteak sandwiches so it is the perfect mix of both worlds! We still get that peppers & onions flavor but they are all chopped up and mixed in with the beef so they are more palatable for picky eaters.

Smother the saucy beef in melted provolone cheese and add it to a toasted bun.

Jump to:

Why This is the Best Recipe

Sloppy joes make a great family dinner on a busy night but this is the best philly cheesesteak sloppy joes recipe because:

  1. Very Few Ingredients: You probably have most of it in your pantry right now, there's just a few things to get from the store.
  2. Super Fast to Make: Chop the veggies while the beef browns and dinner is almost done.
  3. Family-Friendly: It's a great way to get a little bit of veggie into the kids and has more flavor than regular sloppy joes.
  4. Flexible Variations: Want to use ground turkey? Prefer things a little spicy? I have fun variations listed at the bottom of the post.

Ingredients

The ingredients to make the sloppy joes are on the counter.

To make this philly cheesesteak sloppy joe dinner, all you need to have is:

  • Ground Beef: You could use ground chicken or ground turkey if you want to lighten things up.
  • Green Bell Pepper
  • Onion
  • Ketchup
  • Worcestershire Sauce
  • Garlic
  • Beef Broth
  • Sandwich Rolls
  • Sliced Provolone Cheese

How to Make Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes

This quick recipe will be ready before you know it but there are a few tricks that will make the sandwich the best one you've ever made:

Make the Sandwich Filling

First, brown the ground beef in a deep skillet over medium-high heat. Drain the fat as needed once the beef is no longer pink.

Meanwhile, chop the onion and green bell pepper.

Add the peppers and onions to the pan and stir them in. Cook until the onions are softened and translucent, about 5 minutes.

The blue skillet has the browned ground beef with chopped peppers and onions on top. A wooden spoon is about to stir them together.

Then, add the minced garlic and stir it in. Cook for just 30 seconds, just before preparing the sauce.

Add the ketchup and Worcestershire sauce to the pan and stir them in.

There are two dollops of ketchup on top of the beef mixture.

Add the beef broth (or 1 cup water and 1 tsp beef bouillon) to the pan and stir it all together.

Let the mixture simmer over medium-low heat until it has slightly thickened, about 3 - 5 minutes.

The skillet has the finished sloppy joe mix simmering to thicken the sauce.

My favorite part of this recipe is how the addition of the chopped onion and bell pepper really bulks up the quantity of sloppy joe filling.

Sloppy joe recipes that are meat-only don't go nearly as far in servings as this dish does.

We were able to easily get 8 sandwiches from the filling which meant we had leftovers for lunch the next day.

Toast the Buns

To make super delicious sloppy joes, you want to be sure you're not serving "soggy joes."

If you take a saucy beef mixture, put it on top of a too-soft bun, you'll find that the bread disintegrates right in your hand.

Fixing this problem takes just a minute of prep.

Preheat your oven broiler while you're making the filling mixture.

Place the buns open-face on a large broiler-safe baking sheet and toast them under the broiler for just a minute or so.

Watch them carefully because they'll go from toasted to charbroiled in a heartbeat. 

Place a slice of provolone cheese on either just one or both sides of the open-faced toasted buns and put them back under the broiler to melt the cheese.

This should take about 30 seconds to a minute. 

The buns have been toasted on a pan, slices of cheese are now placed on top.

Make Ahead Tips

This easy sandwich recipe is a perfect make ahead dinner idea.

You can prepare the sloppy joe filling ahead of time and store it in the fridge for up to 3 days.

You could also freeze the sloppy joe mixture for up to 6 months and simply reheat it in the microwave.

It would be a fantastic meal train dinner to serve along with a bag of buns, a bag of chips, and a fruit salad.

The white storage dish is filled with the beef sandwich mixture.

Serving Suggestions

The sandwich is on a blue plate next to some french fries and raw veggies.

Philly cheesesteak sloppy joes are such an easy dinner idea, you need equally easy side dishes to serve with them.

I baked up a pan of frozen french fries while the mixture simmered on the stovetop. When the fries were done, I tented them with a little aluminum foil to keep them warm while I toasted the buns.

I grabbed a pre-made veggie tray from my fridge that I assembled a few days earlier. We've been using it as an easy way to add some raw veggies to our menus. The tray includes a homemade veggie dip--just sour cream mixed with seasonings.

You could also serve:

  • potato chips and dip
  • fresh fruit
  • tater tots
  • a simple bagged salad

How to Serve to a Crowd

If you want to make a double or triple batch of this recipe, you could prep the sloppy joes a day in advance and then serve it in a slowcooker on a party buffet table.

Just add a big platter of toasted buns and tray of sliced cheese and let guests help themselves!

Don't miss these other easy Crockpot sandwiches recipes:

More Philly Cheese Steak Recipes

If you love the melted cheese, seasoned beef, and sweet peppers and onions in a classic Philly cheese steak, you will also love this easy Philly cheese steak pizza recipe:

📖 Recipe

A blue plate has a sloppy joe sandwich next to baked french fries with fresh veggies in the back.

Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes

4.50 from 6 votes
The perfect busy night family dinner: these delicious philly cheesesteak sloppy joes come together in a pinch and have lots of chopped veggies in the mix.
TOTAL TIME 25 minutes
PREP TIME 10 minutes
COOK TIME 15 minutes
YIELD 8 sandwiches

Ingredients
  

  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 onion diced
  • 1 green pepper diced
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • 2 tbsp ketchup
  • 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 cup beef broth
  • 8 sandwich buns
  • 8 slices of provolone cheese

Instructions

  • Preheat your broiler while you prepare the filling. In a large skillet, brown the ground beef on medium-high heat and crumble it as it cooks. Drain the fat and return the skillet to the stovetop.
  • Add the onion and bell pepper to the skillet. Saute until the onions are translucent, about 4 minutes.
  • Add the garlic to the skillet and stir into the beef mixture. Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
  • Add the ketchup and Worcestershire sauce and stir to combine. Pour in the beef broth and stir until the sauce is smooth. Bring the broth to a boil and then lower the heat and simmer the beef for 5 minutes.
  • Place the sandwich buns, open face, on a large boiler-safe baking sheet. Toast them until just barely golden brown, about 1 - 2 minutes. Watch them, they'll burn very quickly.
  • Place a slice of cheese on one half of each bun and return to the broiler. Heat the cheese for 30 seconds or until it is just melted.
  • Serve a generous scoop of filling on each roll.
COURSESandwiches
CUISINEAmerican

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