Keto Sloppy Joes

Name: Keto Sloppy Joes
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon butter; 1 lb. lean ground beef ((85/15)); 1 small onion (chopped (4 oz)); 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt ((or 1/2 teaspoon fine salt)); 1/4 teaspoon black pepper; 1 tablespoon fresh garlic (minced); 1/2 cup unsweetened ketchup; 1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar; 1/4 teaspoon stevia glycerite ((optional, equals 1 tablespoon sugar))

Last updated: May 9, 2023 · Recipes developed by Vered DeLeeuw and nutritionally reviewed by Rachel Benight MS, RD · This website generates income via ads and uses cookies.

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This simple homemade recipe for keto sloppy joes is made without brown sugar and with unsweetened ketchup.

Ready in just 20 minutes, it's the perfect meal to serve on those busy weeknights when you're too tired for a complex recipe.

Keto sloppy joes served in a cast iron skillet.

Ground beef is so EASY. It's always there in the fridge (or freezer) in those convenient vacuum-sealed packages that last for quite a while. It's readily available and very affordable.

Ground beef is easy even when you go through the trouble of shaping it into Asian meatballs or broiled hamburgers. It's also easy when you use it to make this Korean ground beef recipe.

But it's especially easy in this recipe, where you simply cook it in a pan with a few other ingredients, then pile it on a plate or on a keto bun such as cloud bread and serve.

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Ingredients
Variations
Keto Sloppy Joes Instructions
Expert Tip
Recipe FAQs
Serving Suggestions
Storing Leftovers
More Ground Beef Recipes
Recipe Card

Ingredients

You'll only need a few simple ingredients to make this easy recipe. The exact measurements are listed in the recipe card below. Here's an overview of what you'll need:

Butter: For cooking the meat. You can use salted or unsalted butter - both work.
Ground beef: I use lean ground beef (85% lean and 15% fat).
Kosher salt and black pepper: If using fine salt, you should reduce the amount you use by half.
Onion and garlic: It's OK to use jarred minced garlic, although freshly minced tastes better.
Unsweetened ketchup: I get it at Whole Foods or on Amazon.
Balsamic vinegar: Just a little, as it's very flavorful but also very potent.
Sweetener: This is optional. I use stevia to equal 1 tablespoon of a granulated sweetener (or honey/maple syrup).

Variations

You can use different fats for cooking the beef, such as ghee, olive oil, or tallow.
If you use a nonstick skillet or a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet, there's actually no need to add any fat to the pan. The meat will release fat as it cooks.
Add spices. Good candidates that I tried and liked include smoked paprika, ground cumin, and dried thyme.
Stir in a tablespoon of Dijon mustard. You can add it at the same time you add the ketchup.

Keto Sloppy Joes Instructions

Scroll down to the recipe card for detailed instructions. Here are the basic steps for making this recipe:

Cook the beef and onion in butter with some salt and pepper.
Next, add the garlic and cook it briefly.
Now, add the remaining ingredients - ketchup, balsamic vinegar, and (if using) sweetener.
Lower the heat and cook the mixture for just five more minutes. That's it! Dinner is served.

A four-photo collage showing the steps for making low-carb sloppy joes.

Expert Tip

While you definitely want ground beef to be fully cooked, you don't want it overcooked, because then it turns dry and mealy instead of juicy.

So in the first step of cooking the beef with the onions, you should only cook it until it's no longer raw - it's OK if it's still slightly pink. It will cook further during the next stages.

Recipe FAQs

Can I use extra-lean ground beef?

I don't recommend that. 85/15 is the leanest you should go. Any leaner than that and the meat will be too dry.

Should I drain the ground beef after cooking?

I don't drain it. The fat is so flavorful, and if you use lean ground beef, there isn't so much rendered fat that it needs to be drained.

Can I freeze this dish?

Yes. You can divide it into servings and freeze those servings in freezer-safe containers, then thaw them as needed overnight in the fridge or reheat them in the microwave if your container is microwave-safe.

Serving Suggestions

Instead of using hamburger buns, I serve keto sloppy joes in bowls with spoons, just as I serve no bean chili and pumpkin chili.

Another option is to serve them on a bed of cauliflower rice, mashed cauliflower, or sauteed spinach.

You can also use cloud bread or 90-second bread as a keto bun.

Storing Leftovers

This is one of those dishes that actually taste better the next day. You can keep the leftovers in the fridge, in an airtight container, for up to 4 days. Reheat them gently, covered, in the microwave at 50% power.