With a crispy ciabatta garlic bread base topped with a savory ground beef mixture and plenty of ooey-gooey melted cheese, Sloppy Joe Garlic Bread is sure to be a hit. As a bonus, it’s super simple to make and can be on the table in about 40 minutes, making it perfect for those nights when you need dinner to be ready fast. Love sloppy joes? Me too! Be sure to try my classic homemade sloppy joe recipe, chicken sloppy joes, sloppy joe tater tot casserole, and sloppy joe casserole with pasta. No matter how you serve it, sloppy joes will never go out of style!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Key Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make this easy ground beef dinner:
Ciabatta Loaf: For this and other recipes with garlic bread, I like to use a large loaf, cut in half lengthwise. This recipe would also work with smaller ciabatta rolls to make individual sloppy joe garlic bread servings. Instead of Ciabatta, try French bread or thick slices of rustic Italian bread. Ground Beef: You can use whatever style of ground beef you enjoy, but I prefer to use leaner beef. Ground turkey works well too, or you can make ground chicken sloppy joes. Cheese: A combination of shredded cheddar and mozzarella cheese melts beautifully on top of the garlic bread. Whenever possible, shred cheese from a brick rather than buying the pre-shredded bagged kind. It melts better! Garlic and Onions: Fresh aromatics make the sloppy joe sauce taste amazing. If you like, add a bit of chopped green bell pepper to the mix for a bolder flavor. Seasonings: The sweet and savory flavor of homemade sloppy joe sauce relies on a combination of tangy ketchup and mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and brown sugar.
Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
How To Make Sloppy Joe Garlic Bread
Recipe Tips
Use Different Meat: Sloppy Joes are delicious with ground beef, ground turkey, ground chicken, or even meatless ground meat alternatives. Don’t Overcook: You want to simmer the meat in the sauce for a bit to thicken it up, but you should avoid letting it reduce down too much. We want the beef to be saucy! For Extra Crispy Garlic Bread: Toast the bread with the garlic and butter under the broiler before adding the sloppy joe mixture. This will keep the bread from absorbing so much of the sauce, and make the resulting garlic bread nice and crisp. Take a Shortcut: My homemade sloppy joe recipe is incredibly easy and delicious, but if you have a can of Manwhich lying around, feel free to use it to make this recipe even more quickly.
Storing Tips
Once the garlic bread has been baked, it’s best to enjoy it right away. After a while, the beef mixture will soften the bread and be less than crispy if you try to reheat it. To prepare this recipe ahead of time, keep the cooked sloppy joe mixture separate from the bread until you’re ready to enjoy it. The meat can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days and then reheated in the microwave before adding it to fresh bread and baking. Sloppy Joes can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
What To Serve With Sloppy Joe Garlic Bread
This hearty dish is already a meal in itself, but you can always serve it with french fries or tater tots to make a more filling dinner. For a fresh twist, try serving it with a side of coleslaw or a homemade Caesar salad.
Can I use frozen garlic bread?
You can, but I think that using fresh bread makes this recipe more delicious and likely a bit more nutritious too! If you want to use a loaf of frozen garlic bread, allow it to thaw first before topping it with the sloppy joe mixture and cheese.
Can this recipe be made ahead of time?
Making the sloppy joe mixture ahead of time will be a huge timesaver when you need to put dinner together on a busy weeknight. Once cooked, the meat in the sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
What other toppings are good on sloppy joe garlic bread?
Try adding fresh chopped onions or pickles to the bread after you take it out of the oven! Looking for more garlic bread recipes? Try my Garlic Cheesy Pull Apart Bread, or my Easy Homemade Garlic Bread. Garlic Bread plus Sloppy Joes will equal big compliments from your family when you make this easy meal! Be sure to Pin this recipe so that you can easily find it the next time you need to make a quick and satisfying weeknight dinner. © Little Sunny Kitchen
