These 20-minute Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes are the quickest way to satisfy your burger cravings. Added bonus? It’s a healthy, one-pot meal!
This recipe happened by accident. I had planned on making my All-in-One Burgers but realized I didn’t have bacon. Well, I got lazy, too, if I’m in being honest. I didn’t feel like forming everything together and flipping burgers, so I just threw what I had in a skillet. Boy, am I thankful for my laziness! 🙂
Dinner doesn’t get much easier than this! Now, I like to keep this recipe as a backup when I’m menu planning. I usually have all of the ingredients in my refrigerator anyway, so if a recipe doesn’t work out, or if I just run out of time, I can pull this together quickly.
How to make cheeseburger sloppy joes
The steps are as easy as it gets. All you’re going to do is brown your meat and onions, add in the condiments, simmer to thicken, then melt in your cheese. Done!
I like that you can also make this completely vegetarian by using any kind of soy crumbles that you like. I absolutely love the beef-less meat crumbles from Trader Joe’s.
12 ounces of the crumbles is the equivalent to 1 lb of regular meat, cooked. Since the crumbles are already cooked, you just need to brown them a bit. Even easier!
And the Lucerne brand of Reduced-Fat Cheddar is my absolute favorite. It tastes great and melts well. Some other brands that I’ve tried can get too gloppy and congealed. I find Lucerne cheese at Pavillions/Vons/Albertsons.
Once the meat mixture is done, slowly add in your cheese to melt through. It will start off looking like this:
It’s important to add the cheese on very low heat so that it melts evenly. Once your mixture looks like this, you’re ready to eat!
It’s so cheesy and flavorful that you don’t even need to add extra cheese to the top. I just did that for the picture. Lol. The best toppings for this, in my opinion, are lots of iceburg lettuce and some dill pickle slices. They cut through the richness of the meat mixture beautifully!
Keep in mind these are *sloppy* joes, so make sure you have lots of napkins nearby. This is totally kid-friendly and fun to eat.
If you really want to up your burger game, serve this on my Light Brioche Buns. It doesn’t get much better than that! NO matter what kind of bun you use, make sure you toast it so that it can stand up to the messiness of the meat.
I hope you love this recipe as much as we do! If you make it, be sure to tag me on Instagram or Facebook (@litecravings) and use the hashtag #litecravingsrecipes. I sometimes miss a tag here or there, but I always check in on the hashtag. And don’t forget to add the image to your Pinterest boards!
Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground 96/4 beef or 99% FF turkey (12 ounces meatless soy crumbles also works)
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 tbsp ketchup
- 1 tbsp yellow mustard
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2/3 cup fat-free beef or veggie broth
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 3 ounces reduced-fat sharp cheddar, diced or shredded
- freshly ground pepper, to taste
- 6 brioche hamburger buns (extra SPs/cals)
- regular burger toppings: iceburg lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, etc.
Instructions
- Coat a large skillet with cooking spray, then saute onions and garlic over medium heat until soft, about 4 minutes.
- Add in protein of choice and cook, breaking up, until browned and cooked through.
- In a small cup, mix the beef broth, cornstarch, ketchup, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour into the skillet.
- Simmer, mixing often, until meat mixture has reduced a bit, about 3 minutes.
- Lower heat and add in cheese. Stir until cheese has melted through, about 4 minutes. Season withe black pepper and kosher salt, to taste.
- Serve on toasted brioche buns with your favorite burger toppings.
This was delicious! I made it with ground turkey and it was super fast and easy. I will definitely be making this again!
Made these a few weeks ago and they are amazing. I had ground beef on hand and everyone gobbled it up even the kids. I like this for I have the ingredients on hand, fresh and healthy.
Very tasty!
Made this for dinner with ground chicken breast instead of beef. This was delicious! We are putting this in our rotation!!! Thank you!
Can I make this ahead?
This was our lunch today, made with 99% ff ground turkey breast. It was delicious and the bonus is that we have enough for leftovers tomorrow! Very easy and perfect seasoning.
Thank you!
So glad you liked it!
Easy and delicious! Another home run from Geri!
Thank you, Julia!
I’ve been craving sloppy joes and found this recipe on your site. We’ve enjoyed everything we’ve made from you and this one was another winner! We used shredded Mexican cheese because it’s what we have on hand and only added 2 oz. One serving came out to 5 smart points on blue. We also used the 647 buns for 2 SP each and I added a slice of cheese and pickle to mine. I can’t wait to eat the leftovers. I’ve already moved the recipe into my keepers folder. Thank you Geri!!
OMG, love this!! Thank you for being so supportive of my blog. This recipe is definitely one of my favorites, too!
Delicious!!
Delicious, as all of your recipes are. Served it over mashed potatoes. A keeper!
Love the idea of having ti with mashed potatoes. Kinda like burgers and fries!
A favorite in my house!!
So, so good! My husband has already requested to make again!
Really tasty and easy to put together!
We absolutely love this recipe! One of my daughter’s had to go dairy free – any chance someone has tried this without the cheese (I’d just pull some out before adding it)? Trying to make it work because I really miss this dinner!
Hi! I made this last night for my husband and I. It was absolutely amazing and easy!!! Win, win! This recipe would be great for a crowd too. Highly recommend!
Love that! Thanks so much for the lovely review.
Made this with ground turkey and it was delicious! The whole family loved it. Such great flavours. We love it on a toasted bun but I’m thinking I might try it with some egg noodles too, kind of like a homemade hamburger helper! Thanks Geri!
I love this recipe! I made it at least once a month. So easy, and so much flavor.
I put this on a 1 point hamburger bun and it was more satisfying than a McDonalds cheeseburger. 5 points for me vs. 11 at McD. I’m gonna try meatless crumbles and turkey to see what those options taste like. Thank you for a winner!!
Love that you’re getting creative with the recipe! Such a satisfying meal.
Made this for dinner tonight and the whole family loved it! My kids are 4 and 8 and both asked for seconds. Thank you!
You’re welcome!!! Love to hear when the whole family enjoys a meal 🙂