Canning Sloppy Joe Meat Filling

One thing that I had not really considered canning was the meat sauce for sloppy Joes. I love Sloppy Joes (we call them Bar-B-Q’s) and we have them quite often but since our numbers here are so small anymore, I usually just make a batch and freeze the leftovers in small containers to send in my husband’s lunch.

As I was reading about some of the things that people are canning these days, I read the success stories of several who had canned Sloppy Joe meat mix and I knew I had to do it. I like to serve it on buns or on Frito corn chips, topped with shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, sliced green onions, grated cheese and Ranch Dressing.

There is really no difference between canning this and canning chili which people have been doing for years. If you have a favorite Sloppy Joe recipe you can successfully can it as long as you don’t add any thickening. If you don’t have a favorite recipe I’ll share mine with you and tell you how I canned it.

My pressure canner holds 10 regular pint jars or 9 wide mouth pint jars. I quadrupled my recipe to make 4 times as much as I usually do and got 12 pints. One that we had for dinner tonight and another that I’ll freeze for later use, and the other 10 to go on my shelves. The only thing I did different was to add the thickening after opening the jar and heating it up instead of adding it when I was making it.

I’m including the regular recipe if you just want to make it and eat it, as well as the quadrupled recipe for canning. When canning, leave out the sugar and flour and add it as thickening when you heat up the canned sauce (just label the jars with the date and the amount of sugar and flour (stirred together) to add when heating up to serve.

Bar-B-Q (Sloppy Joe Filling) – Single Recipe
1 ½ lb. ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 stick celery, chopped
2 ½ c. tomato juice
2 T. soy sauce
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
1/3 c. vinegar
1/3 c. sugar
2 T. flour
Brown meat, onion & celery together. Drain. Add tomato juice, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and vinegar. Bring to a boil and let simmer a few minutes. Stir together flour and sugar and stir into simmering meat mixture. Cook till thick.

Bar-B-Q (Sloppy Joe Filling) – 4 times the original recipe.
6 lbs. ground beef
4 medium onions, diced
4 sticks celery, chopped
10 c. tomato juice
8 T. soy sauce
8 T. Worcestershire Sauce
1 1/3 c. cider vinegar
(Sugar and flour to be added to individual jars when opened)
Brown meat, onion and celery together. Drain any fat. Add tomato juice, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and vinegar. Bring to a boil and simmer a few minutes. Ladle into hot pint jars; wipe jars and add new flats and rims. Pressure at 15 lbs. pressure for 75 minutes (altitude 4000 ft and above. *To use: Empty contents of one pint jar into a saucepan; heat until mixture simmers and starts to boil. Combine 5 ½ t. sugar and 2 t. flour; stir into simmering meat mixture and stir until it starts to thicken. Serve hot on buns or over chips with salad toppings