Delicious Big Mac Sloppy Joes: bring “the golden arches” treatment to these delightfully different Sloppy Joes made with seasoned beef, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, and onions. It’s all the good stuff in a Big Mac but in a quick easy weeknight dinner recipe!
These non-traditional sloppy joes are undeniably tasty, but there’s more to recommend them than that. They’re also ridiculously easy to make.
Even better, the filling can be made up to 2 days ahead and reheated at meal time. How great is that for busy weeknights?
This Big Mac Sloppy Joes recipe has a creamy sauce that tastes like a McD’s Big Mac! The whole family will love this delicious one pan meal riff on the classic sloppy joe.
Big Mac Sloppy Joe Recipe
When I tell you these are easy to make, I mean it. Let’s run over our ingredient list so you know what to have on hand.
Ingredients
- Burger Buns
- Lean Ground Beef
- Pickle Juice
- Cornstarch
- Ketchup
- Granulated Garlic or Garlic Powder
- Granulated Onion or Onion Powder
- American Cheese
- Shredded Iceberg Lettuce
- Dill Pickles
- Chopped Onions
- Burger Sauce or thousand island dressing.
For the most authentic big mac experience, you’ll want to do soft, squishy white sesame topped hamburger buns from the grocery store. While it’s not strictly part of the Big Mac experience to have a toasted sesame seed bun, I think that’s super delicious here.
That said, I’m super fond of pretzel rolls as buns for these Big Mac Sloppy Joes, too. If you’re thinking of splitting the difference between a pretzel bun and a squish-bun, you can go for these spectacular homemade hamburger buns. They’re a little sturdier than the squish-buns but not quite so chewy as the pretzel ones.
And if you want to try to do this low carb, you can substitute lettuce leaf wraps for the buns. It’ll be messy but delicious.
Let’s get cheesy! Slices of American cheese are the most authentic choice for a Big Mac hamburger, so it’s what I went with here. If you’d like to switch it up a little, you can sub in shredded cheddar cheese or pepper jack cheese.
You can use sliced pickles if you like, or chop your pickles up into smaller pieces so it’s easier to get a little bit of pickle in each bite.
I also use homemade Big Mac sauce (Burger sauce) or Thousand Island dressing for the “special sauce” Big Mac component. It’s basically a copycat Big Mac sauce. If you want a faster solution, you can use Chick Fil A sauce for a similar look and taste.
Big Mac Sloppy Joe
The equipment list for our Big Mac Sloppy Joe is even shorter than the ingredients list. I’m pretty sure you have all of this around already, so the list is just to help you gather what you need to make our spectacular sloppy joes.
Equipment
- Large Skillet
- Ground Beef Chopper (or Sturdy Spoon)
- Measuring Spoons
- Measuring Cups
- Small Whisk or Fork
Easy Ground Beef Recipes with Few Ingredients
Are you looking for another excellent, easy ground beef dinner recipe with few ingredients? I’m your gal!
If Big Mac recipes are your thing, try our Big Mac Casserole, Big Mac Tacos, and Big Mac Pizza. These are terrific, comforting, and easy on the old pocketbook.
Gluten-free meatballs, 15 Minute Korean Style Beef, Cheater Sesame Beef, Ground Beef Fried Rice, Homemade Gyro Meat, Bacon Cheeseburger Pasta, and Calico Beans, are all great easy recipes for using up ground beef in a hurry!
And if you’re looking for a fast and furious cocktail to have with your Big Mac Sloppy Joes, try out Hard Cider Sangria by the Glass or Mixed Berry Kombucha Margaritas.
With all the time you saved making a wicked fast dinner and drinks, you can spend a little time putting a homemade Angel food cake together. Or keep the quick-and-easy theme going with French Yogurt Cake, Snickerdoodle Mug Cake for One, Cinnamon Toast Cake, No Bake Peanut Butter Mini Cheesecakes, Churros Waffles, or Profiteroles.
Big Mac Sloppy Joes
Crumble the ground beef into a medium skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle the salt and pepper over it and break it up as you brown it.
If there is a large amount of excess grease, you can pour it off. Don’t pour it all off, though!
Any fat in the neighborhood of 2 tablespoons or so can remain in the pan to bring more flavour to the party. Stir in the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, granulated garlic, and granulated onion.
In a small bowl or jar, stir or whisk together the pickle juice and cornstarch to make a slurry. Pour this into the pan and stir the ground beef mixture well, over medium-high heat, until the sauce thickens and is glossy.
You can either serve this immediately as described below or scoop the meat mixture into an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
Scoop a generous amount of the hot Big Mac sloppy joe mixture onto a bottom bun. Top with one slice of American cheese and garnish with shredded lettuce, diced sweet or yellow onion, and diced pickles.
Drizzle with the burger sauce. Top with the upper half of the burger bun and serve with french fries or crispy tots.
Big Mac Sloppy Joes
Rate RecipeEquipment
- Skillet
- Ground Beef Chopper (or Sturdy Spoon)
- measuring spoons
- Measuring Cups
- Small Whisk or Fork
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup ketchup plus 2 tablespoons
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 1 teaspoon granulated onion
- 1/4 cup dill pickle brine
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 8 hamburger rolls preferably with sesame seeds
- 8 slices American cheese or mild cheddar
- 2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce
- 1 cup chopped dill pickles
- 1 cup chopped sweet onions or green onions
- ½ cup Burger Sauce or more to taste
Instructions
- Crumble the ground beef into a medium skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle the salt and pepper over it and break it up as you brown it.
- If there is a large amount of fat, you can pour it off. Don’t pour it all off, though!
- Any fat in the neighborhood of 2 tablespoons or so can remain in the pan to bring more flavour to the party. Stir in the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, granulated garlic, and granulated onion.
- In a small bowl or jar, stir or whisk together the pickle juice and cornstarch to make a slurry. Pour this mixture over the ground beef and stir well, over medium-high heat, until the sauce thickens and is glossy.
- Scoop a generous amount of the hot Big Mac filling onto the bottom half of a hamburger bun. Top with one slice of American cheese and garnish with shredded lettuce, onions, and dill pickles.
- Drizzle with the burger sauce. Top with the upper half of the burger bun. Repeat with remaining filling and buns and serve!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Reader's Thoughts...
Corinne says
My kids both went nuts for this! 5 stars from them. My husband and I thought it was delicious too, had a burger then used fries as the base instead of a bun. Both were yum yum.
Rebecca says
Thank you so much for taking the time to rate the recipe and let me know you and your kids love it, Corinne! I love the idea of putting it on fries!