Easy Sloppy Joe Casserole is made from scratch, then topped with crispy tater tots. Make this ultimate comfort food dinner tonight with the whole family!
I took a spin on an old classic and created a masterpiece — no joke. I love my Sloppy Joes recipes, but we’ve always eaten them on a bun with tater tots on the side. Turns out cooking this Sloppy Joe Casserole with the tots on top and homemade sauce is downright perfection!
SLOPPY JOE CASSEROLE
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While this Sloppy Joe Casserole swaps the buns for tater tots, the meat, veggies, and Sloppy Joe sauce scream childhood memories.
Looking for more twists on the Sloppy Joe classic? Try our Slow Cooker Pizza Sloppy Joes for a creative variation. It combines easy Sloppy Joes with pepperoni and mozzarella. YUM!
If you’ve never made homemade Sloppy Joe sauce, it’s a thousand times better than mixing ground beef with the store-bought sauce in a can. Sloppy Joe sauce made from scratch is super easy and the flavor can’t be beat!
Sloppy Joe Casserole Ingredients
- Ground beef, about a pound
- Finely chopped yellow onion
- Finely chopped green bell pepper
- Frozen tater tots
Sloppy Joe Sauce
- Canned tomato sauce – ideally with no salt added
- Ketchup – you can’t have Sloppy Joes without ketchup.
- Tomato paste
- Yellow mustard
- Worcestershire sauce
- Chili powder
- Salt and pepper
- Sugar – I used granulated, but brown sugar would work well too
- Dried oregano
Most of these ingredients are pantry staples, so it’s an easy last-minute weeknight meal! All you need is a bag of frozen tater tots, some ground beef, and a couple of fresh veggies. This easy Sloppy Joe Casserole is a quick weeknight dinner that’s delicious and comforting!
My kids were impressed with my tater tot concentric circle design, but do what fits your pan! As long as the tater tots are in a single layer, any design will do.
How to Make Sloppy Joe Casserole
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
- Using a large skillet, that’s oven-safe, brown the ground beef with the onions and bell peppers over medium high heat until the beef is fully cooked. Break up the meat as it cooks.
- Add the tomato sauce, ketchup, tomato paste, yellow mustard, Worcestershire sauce, Chili powder, salt, sugar, dried oregano, and pepper to the skillet. Stir everything together and then spread into an even layer. Remove your skillet from the burner.
- After the sloppy joe mixture is ready it’s time for the tots! Arrange the tater tots in a single layer over the ground beef mixture. I stood my tots on end, but you can lay them on their side too. As long as the soppy joe is completely covered you’re good.
- Place the skillet in your preheated oven, and cook uncovered for about half an hour When the casserole is ready the tater tots will be crispy and golden brown and the sloppy joe mixture will be bubbling.
- Carefully take your skillet out of the oven and serve this casserole warm.
If you don’t have an oven-safe skillet, don’t fret! Do the stovetop steps before transferring the beef, veggie, and sauce mixture to a baking dish. Then top the mixture with tater tots and bake as directed!
Sometimes I even sprinkle some shredded cheddar cheese on top of the tater tots with about 5 minutes left in the cooking time. My husband loves it!
Can I make this Sloppy Joe Casserole recipe ahead of time?
Looking to get the prep work out of the way early? Easy!
Cook the beef, veggie and sauce mixture on the stovetop. Transfer to another container, such as a casserole dish or Tupperware container, or wait until your pan has cooled. Once cooled, refrigerate for up to 48 hours or freeze for up to a few months. When ready to bake, top with tater tots and enjoy!
Try some of my family’s other favorite weeknight casserole recipes!
- Chicken Enchilada Casserole
- Spaghetti Casserole
- Philly Cheesesteak Casserole
- Crock Pot Pizza Casserole
- Chicken & Wild Rice Casserole
- More main dish recipes…
Tools used to make Sloppy Joe Casserole
Oven-safe skillet: This is my favorite oven-safe skillet because it’s big and sturdy! It’s great for stovetop work but it’s also great for dishes like this that also need some oven time.
*This post originally posted on 04/18/2016.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 large yellow onion finely chopped
- 1 large green bell pepper finely chopped
- 15 ounces no-salt-added tomato sauce
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- Black pepper to taste
- 32 ounces frozen tater tots (1 package)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Using a large 12 or 13-inch oven-safe skillet, brown the ground beef with the onions and the bell pepper over medium-high heat until the meat is fully cooked, about 10 minutes. Break the meat up as it cooks.
- Add all of the remaining ingredients except the tater tots and stir well to combine.
- Arrange the tater tots in a single layer on top of the sloppy joe mixture in the pan.
- Bake uncovered until the tater tots are cooked through and golden brown, about 25-30 minutes.
- Carefully remove from the oven and serve warm.
Nutrition
Liz says
Sounds nice. Thank you.
Carole from Carole's Chatter says
Hi there, this would be a great contribution to Food on Friday: Beef over at Carole’s Chatter. Please do bring it over to join in the fun. Cheers
Coleen says
I wonder how some shredded cheese, perhaps mild cheddar or even mozzarella, sprinkled on before the tater tots would be? hmmmm
Julie @Real Housemoms says
Delicious!
Fran says
Yeah cause tater tots are full of all kinds of nutrition.
Kukle says
It does say ultimate comfort food dinner…
colette bonnelly says
Que sont les Taters tote?
Sylvie says
As there are no tater tots in France, I replaced them with tortellini.
I didn’t have ketchup either and used 1/2 teaspoon of Cayenne pimento instead.
Simply delicious.
Anne says
I never comment on recipes, but I just made this tonight and it was SO YUMMY and easy, so I had to let you know. Thank you! I will pass this one along to friends and definitely make it again!!
Angie says
What a fun idea! This is on our menu for the week.
Danielle says
I don’t have an oven safe skillet. What kind/size baking dish could I use? And would the baking time change?
Laura Mcatee says
I decided to use corn in mine
Bobbi says
i couldn’t help it we threw cheese over half and both sides are amazing! We are a family of 5 so 10 thumbs up to you! Thank you for the easy, yummy & fun filled night we had around your dish last night!
Aubrey Cota says
Well you can’t really go wrong with a little extra cheese! Happy they were a hit!