Sloppy Joses is basically an easy, very yummy seasoned meat mixture cooked up in a skillet with a bit of sauce that you can serve on a bun, in a pita, in a quesadilla, whatever!
Sloppy Jose is essentially a very yummy Southwestern version of Sloppy Joes, but the main recipe here is the seasoned meat mixture. This one is exceptionally easy to make and is a guaranteed hit with the whole gang. I took this one to a party last night and it got rave reviews.
My plans on how to serve this morphed and then morphed again after I took this photo. Why? Very simply, ease of serving and eating at a party. I was planning to make these classic Sloppy Joe style, namely just served hot on a bun with shredded cheese. That’s what you see in the picture. I was making mini-versions using dinner rolls (like in the photo). The rolls were too fat which made them hard to eat. Sooooo…. after cutting them in half (like hamburger buns), I squashed them so they’re easier to eat. Then I toasted the buns (in a skillet with a coating of oil) and assembled them. It worked pretty well, but we still had a problem with meat falling out when we ate it. It’s harder to keep them together with mini-buns; but actually it’s not that easy with full-sized buns either.
Next attempt was using mini-pitas. You just cut them in half and put the hot meat mixture and shredded cheese in each half-pita. Works great, much easier for a party.
My third attempt is my favorite and it’s how I served them at the party. I made them into quesadillas with a quesadilla maker. I just use 8-inch tortillas, take a flexible cutting board and cut them with a pizza cutter. I can whip out piping hot quesadillas in no time flat. I use a layer of shredded cheese, a thick layer of meat mixture (1/4 to 1/2 inch thick) and another layer of cheese. I cook them until tortilla is starting to brown and cheese is melting. Yum! Smaller tortillas produce smaller wedges that are easier to serve as appetizers. Plus it’s easy to take quesadilla makers with me to a party and serve them hot and made fresh.
This was a huge hit at the party. Not only is it easy to serve and quick to make – they are the perfect size and easy to eat. The taste is exceptional. A few people said they’d never had quesadillas like this. Bottom line – you gotta try it!
Note that in the recipe I specified that I used Johnsonville chorizo. They make very good chorizo, and I found that various brands can be hit or miss. I also specified that I used Cacique salsa verde. Nowadays I find that there are many exceptional brands of salsa verde – so feel free to use whatever salsa you like, and even whatever heat you like. This recipe is hard to mess up, so enjoy!
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 lb chorizo (Johnsonville)
- 1 cup medium salsa verde (Cacique Hatch Chile)
- ½ cup ketchup
- ½ tsp fresh ground pepper
- ½ cup diced green chiles (or to taste)
- Separate the beef and chorizo into chunks and place in a large skillet with the salsa verde. Use a large spoon or fork to break the meat into large crumbles and blend them together while browning.
- When fully browned, stir in the ketchup and pepper.
- Stir in diced green chiles to taste, if desired.
- Serve on buns, pitas, or cook into quesadillas with shredded cheese.
- Enjoy!
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