Sloppy Joes have long been a staple of the school lunch line. Bring the recipe home with a special twist inspired by your kid’s lunchbox to make it the best-ever sloppy joes using no-added sugar apple juice.
Thanks to Juicy Juice for bringing this kids in the kitchen moment home to our house just in time for back to school with this collaboration.
“Hey mom…what are sloppy joes?”
When I heard my son asked the other night, I immediately flashed back to grade school and rolling through the lunch line on Fridays to snag a sloppy joe. Good and messy, I never minded sloppy joe day. However as much as I enjoyed them, I’d never made them for my family. Actually, I was pretty sure it had been at least 10 years since I’d had one.
So rather than to tell him what it was, we made ’em. It was going to be sloppy joe Wednesday at our house.
Scrambling through the kitchen, I went looking for the few items needed to make sloppy joes and realized man, I have been missing out on making a meal that was so EASY to make! AND the kids could learn, too.
Lucky for us, there were buns in the freezer, already cut up onions in the freezer, and a pound of lean meat too, so we were off to create dinner and have a teachable moment, too.
To be honest, I had made sloppy joes from a can before, but never from scratch. So this learning lesson was going to be just as much for me as it was for him.
Using a little ketchup, brown sugar and salt and pepper, I had almost everything I needed for the perfect sloppy joe…except that sweet flavor that makes a sloppy joe well, a sloppy joe.
Apple juice.
That’s right, taking a little lunchbox inspiration: I borrowed a Juicy Juice 100% Fruit Juice from my kid’s juice inventory. One box of apple proved to be the perfect amount of sweet, yet savory flavor that our sloppy joes needed.
Now my Juicy Juice had dual purpose – an easy kids lunch staple by day and an easy dinner helper by night! Don’t like sloppy joes? Then try one of the other kid-friendly recipes that you can make with Juicy Juice.
Basically with only six ingredients and 20 minutes, we had dinner on the table. And man, he ate it up! Gold star for me.
If you’re looking to twist up your normal apple juice routine, try one of the new four flavors of Juicy Juice Splashers with 50% less sugar than that of other leading juice brands, no artificial sweeteners or colors, no high fructose corn syrup!
And just in time for school, Juicy Juice has teamed up with Macy’s for the Perfect Fit Sweepstakes. Submit a funny picture of your kids in clothes they’ve outgrown or describe a funny time they outgrew their clothes for the chance to win a shopping spree, gift cards, and of course, Juicy Juice!
Enter now for your chance to win!
What’s your favorite meal memory from grade school?
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Best-Ever Sloppy Joes
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
An easy dinner that’s perfect for teaching kids cooking skills and using a little inspiration from their lunchbox!
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground lean beef (you can use turkey, chicken, etc.)
- 1/4 cup onions, chopped fine
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 3/4 cup dijon mustard
- 1 box of Juicy Juice 100% apple juice (or 1 cup of apple juice)
- salt and pepper
- 4 buns (we use gluten free hamburger buns)
Instructions
- Brown ground meat in skillet with onions and salt and pepper.
- Stir in ketchup, sugar, mustard and any additional salt and pepper on medium heat for 10 minutes.
- Pour in apple juice and combine. Cook for another 10-15 minutes until juice has reduced by half. Season with salt and pepper if necessary.
- Serve by placing 1/4 cup meat mixture between a bun.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- This is a perfect recipe for back to school!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4
- Calories: 474
- Sugar: 30
- Sodium: 1178
- Fat: 17
- Saturated Fat: 6
- Unsaturated Fat: 9
- Trans Fat: 1
- Carbohydrates: 53
- Protein: 27
- Cholesterol: 70
I haven’t had a sloppy joe in ages. Now I need to make these for the kids. NOM!
Sloppy Joes make for a great quick meal. I never thought of using apple juice in it before.
We love sloppy joes at my house. It’s great for when we have a busy schedule especially during the school year.
I love sloppy joes! I just wish my kids felt the same way. My husband loves them as well. I love how you put in juice. I never would have even thought to do that!
I make sloppy Joe’s all the time I never thought about putting apple juice in it. I am totally going to try that it sounds pretty cool and I am very intrigued.
We love Sloppy Joes. That is our tradtional Halloween meal. I will have to try your recipe the next time I make them.
Oh my gosh! I haven’t had Sloppy Joes in I don’t even know how long. And I’ve definitely never tried them with apple juice as an ingredient. It sounds delicious!
Now he is enjoying that sloppy joe! I’m going to have to use this juice next time we make it. Genius!
This looks like a great recipe. My kids are going to love it. We have not had sloppy joes in a while.
This recipe looks so delicious and easy to make. I will have to go get the ingredients I need to make this for dinner tomorrow.
Grew up on sloppy joes lol. I think Im going to make them next dinner!
Sloppy Joe’s are a great meal item! My family enjoys eating them all year long. I like the recipe you shared here because it is a little different. I would like to try it.
I grew up eating Sloppy Joes, but I’ve never made them from scratch either. Your recipe sounds like a yummy new twist on a childhood favorite.
I haven’t had sloppy joes in years! They are such a fun meal for kids though so I’ll have to use this recipe to make them soon for my boys!
My kids love when I make Sloppy Joes. I actually forget about them a lot so thanks for the reminder.
I have never had apple juice in sloppy joes before!! These sound really good and a great dinner for the family!
What a great trick, I love secret ingredients! Sloppy Joes are always a favorite in our house!