You can’t really beat a Sloppy Joe lunch. Add some bourbon whiskey to the day and you’re really set. Combine the two? Now we’re cooking with fire.
To help you feed your crew on Sunday as the Super Bowl plays out, I decided to combine my love of bourbon with my love of Sloppy Joes for a pretty easy recipe that you can definitely try at home. The core dish is pretty straightforward — braise off some ground meat (buffalo, beef, turkey, etc.) in tomato, sugar, and spices until you get a thick sauce. Add to a soft hamburger bun. Done! This recipe adheres pretty strictly to the classic recipe while layering in bourbon whiskey to add some extra depth to the whole dish.
The last ripple here is that I’m plating these Joes on slider buns. The main reason is that I’m making these for Super Bowl Sunday and you need easy finger food like this at the ready. You can easily put these on about eight small burger buns too (or try some Hawaiian rolls) if you want to go a little bigger.
Okay, that’s enough preamble. Let’s hit the kitchen!
Bourbon Sloppy Joe Sliders
Ingredients:
Serves 16
- 1 lb. 15%-fat ground beef
- 1 medium yellow onion (finely minced)
- 1 can tomato puree
- 3.5 oz. tomato paste
- 1 cup bourbon
- 1 cup beef stock
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 tbsp. soy sauce
- 1 tbsp. smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. cumin
- 1 tsp. dried oregano
- 3 drops liquid smoke
- Olive oil
- Salt and Pepper
- Slider buns
- Optional: Pepper Jack cheese
All of these ingredients should be easily found at any grocery store. I’d also argue that the ratios of spices and sweetness is adjustable to your palate. This is how I dig it. Use this recipe as a template and then dial it into your personal taste.
As for the bourbon, I’m using a cheaper bottle I have open on the shelf — standard Buffalo Trace Bourbon. A good alternative would be any bottle in the $20 range. You don’t need something expensive but you don’t want some swill from a plastic jug either. Basically, you’re sweetening the beef by braising it off in the bourbon, so keep it simple.
Lastly, since this is for a crowd on Super Bowl Sunday, I’m adding pepper jack cheese to half of these. I like a little spicy cheese on a Sloppy Joe, but it’s 100 percent optional.
What You’ll Need:
- Large pan
- Wooden spoon
- Kitchen knife
- Bread knife
- Cutting board
- Serving platter
- Measuring cups and spoons
Method:
- Finely mince the onion while heating the pan on medium-high heat with a glug of olive oil (enough to barely coat the bottom of the pan).
- Add the onions to the pan with a pinch of salt. Keep them moving with the wooden spoon to prevent browning or burning until they turn transparent (two to three minutes).
- Scoot the onions to the side of the pan and drop in the beef. Use the wooden spoon to break the ground beef up as much as possible. As it browns, mix in the onion so it doesn’t burn.
- Once the meat is browned and the liquid is simmered off, add one cup of bourbon. Simmer until nearly evaporated (you’re braising the beef with the whiskey’s flavors).
- Make a hole in the beef with the wooden spoon to expose the bottom of the pan. Add the tomato paste, smoked paprika, cumin, and garlic powder. Stir the spices and paste together on the bottom of the pan to shock and activate them and then stir that mixture into the beef and onion.
- Add the beef stock, tomato puree, soy sauce, liquid smoke, brown sugar, and oregano and stir until fully mixed into the meat. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Turn the heat down to low and allow to simmer for about 20 minutes (stirring every three to five minutes) until a thick meat sauce is formed. There should be no pools of red sauce above the meat in the pan by the end.
- Turn off the heat. Slice the slider buns in half. Place all the heels on a serving platter and use a spoon to divvy out the Sloppy Joe to each.
- Top with cheese, if that’s what you’re doing.
- Put the crown bun on top of the hot Sloppy Joe filling, this will steam the bread and soften it. Wait about five minutes to serve to let the heat of the filling seep into the bread fully.
Bottom Line:
These are fun, easy, and pretty damn delicious. I can’t say how much a difference the bourbon adds because I’ve made my Sloppy Joes with bourbon for so long that I don’t remember what they taste like without it. You do get a good nose full of sour mash, vanilla, and caramel when the booze goes in the pan. Those flavors concentrate as the whiskey simmers away. Think of it like braising meat in wine for a Bolognese ragu.
Having these as sliders also meant that I ate about four without thinking about it. Which, I think, is sort of what you want for finger food on Super Bowl Sunday. These were great while still warm but still perfectly tasty once they went cold on the platter. Plus, you can just pop them into a microwave or oven to rewarm them very easily.
My general food goal with the Super Bowl is to cook well enough (and boozily enough) to make people forget the score (if not the game itself). These definitely do that.
