Bacon Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes
Bacon Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes are a meaty, old fashioned meal that the whole family will be clamoring for. There’s a little bit of a cheat ahead. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
If you don’t have a big covered skillet, try this one (affiliate link). My mother-in-law gave it to us many (so many!) years ago. At the time, pre-kids, I thought it was enormous and a bit of overkill. Then I learned. And started using it at least weekly. I mean, take a look at it – that beast has earned it’s dings.
Salt the skillet lightly before crumbling the beef in. It prevents the beef from sticking before it renders it’s fat. Once the beef is brown, add the onion and the sauce ingredients.
CHEAT ALERT! We’re adding liquid smoke.
It mimics the smoky beauty of the bacon without using the bacon fat. (I know, I love bacon fat too, but these are already going to be rich enough.)
It’s not required, (Ha!) but you can grill the buns now if you’d like.
I have a stove top griddle that I sprayed with cooking spray once it was hot, then added the buns, open side down. You could toast them too. Or skip this step.
Meanwhile, spread the bacon on a baking sheet and sprinkle it lightly with brown sugar.
Bake it at 375 degrees on the bottom rack of the oven until it is browned and crispy. Hold it on paper towels to drain.
As an aside, get yourself one of these oven thermometers if you get a chance.
I picked one up and realized that our relatively new oven was off by about 35 degrees. Thank god I realized before cookie season.
Add the processed cheese to the beef mixture and stir well. I find that the processed cheese blends better without leaving an oil slick like regular cheese. But you can certainly use real sharp cheddar if you want.
I made these Quick Pickled Peppers from Cookie & Kate a few weeks ago (but I used banana peppers instead of jalapenos). If you don’t have these in the fridge, any pickled peppers will work. I like these because they are just barely sweet. So good.
Man. All that’s left is the building. I break the bacon in half and use three pieces or so per sandwich. If it makes it to the sandwich.
Bacon Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes
Ingredients
Beef & Sauce
- 2 pounds Ground Beef (80/20)
- 1 small Onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup Ketchup
- 1 tbsp Yellow Mustard
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 tsp Liquid Smoke
- 4 slices Processed American Cheese, roughly chopped
BACON!
- 8 slices Bacon
- 1 tbsp Brown Sugar
- Coarsely Chopped Black Pepper
Construction
- 6 slices Pepper Jack Cheese
- 6 Soft Burger Buns
- Pickled sweet hot peppers
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Sprinkle kosher salt in bottom off large skillet. Heat over medium high heat. Crumble ground beef into skillet, breaking it up with a spoon as it cooks.
- Strain fat once beef is brown if necessary. Add diced onion, 1 cup water, ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and liquid smoke. Stir well and continue cooking for 10 minutes or so.
- Meanwhile, put bacon on baking sheet. Pepper bacon and sprinkle brown sugar over all. Place on bottom rack in oven and allow to cook until brown and crispy, about 8 minutes. Remove to paper towel covered plate to drain.
- When sauce has cooked down in beef mixture, add the processed cheese and stir well.
- Grill buns if desired before plating. Add generous scoop of meat mixture, a slice of pepper jack cheese and the pickled peppers to the bottom bun. Top with sugared bacon then bun top.
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