Salsa Sloppy Joes

If you're new to the blog you might not know this...but I went through a phase (and some days I'm still in it) where I didn't really like to cook anything via the "cheating" method. Cheating meant from a box. That's why my pancake recipe has stuff added to it...etc. Sloppy joes were no different.

Two summer Olympics ago, I invited Jon and Julie Crandall over to watch the opening ceremonies. I wanted to serve dinner...but not from a box. So I found the salsa sloppy joe recipe and paired it with the ranch pasta salad...and we gobbled it all right up. The thing I like about this recipe (aside from the fact that it's not entirely "cheating") is that you can switch up the taste to suit your mood that day, depending on the kind of salsa you use!

It also works well as a leftover. I've been carrying it to work the past few days along with a bag of lime tortilla chips...good little lunch!

The Recipe

1 pound ground beef
1 jar (11 ounces) of salsa
1 can (10 ounces) of undiluted tomato soup
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
8 hamburger buns

Cook beef until no longer pink...drain. Add salsa, soup, and brown sugar. Simmer for 10 minutes and scoop onto hamburger buns.

Like I said earlier, you can switch up the taste every time by getting a different kind of salsa. I always get mild, but if you like some heat in your food, you can get hot salsa. One time I got a salsa that had a really smoky flavor to it - that was good in the sloppy joe! This time I got one that had corn and peppers in it - just to give some extra flavor.
Make sure you get your beef ground up really well. I didn't do a great job of that this time. So do as I say and not as I do! :)

Dump in the salsa, soup, and brown sugar. My jar of salsa was bigger than I needed, so I saved the rest to go with the chips. :)

Turn the heat down while it's simmering so it doesn't burn on the bottom of the pan.

And there you have it! A very tasty little meal that feels like you cooked it from scratch.