Smoked Sloppy Joes with Shredded Beef

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These smoked Sloppy Joes were the best Sloppy Joe recipe that we’ve ever tasted! With a homemade sloppy joe sauce, smoked and shredded beef, and the perfect amount of smoke flavor, these chuck roast sloppy joes are a new family-favorite!

The Best Sloppy Joes with Shredded Beef

My wife despises Sloppy Joe sandwiches, because the sloppy joes that she grew up eating consisted of two ingredients – ground beef and canned sloppy joe sauce. So when I told her that I wanted to make the saucy sandwiches for dinner one night, she was noticeably disappointed.

But fast forward about 7 hours, and she was chowing down on one of these shredded beef sloppy joes, hamburger bun and all… and that’s saying alot since she usually reserves most of her carb intake for dessert. Though I knew that she would love this recipe because it’s similar to the shredded barbecue beef sandwiches that I made a few months ago.

Sloppy Joe sandwiches are a classic and inexpensive dinner, but when you smoke the beef on the pellet grill or smoker first, then you add another layer of delicious flavor to your sloppy joes!

And since this sandwich recipe starts with a perfectly seasoned and smoked chuck roast, it may be the best sloppy joe sandwich that you’ve ever tasted!

More of a visual learner? Watch me make this smoked sloppy joe recipe on our YouTube channel here:

Ingredients for Chuck Roast Sloppy Joes

This shredded beef sloppy joe recipe consists of two main steps – smoking the chuck roast on the grill and then braising it in a homemade sloppy joe sauce. Here are the ingredients needed for each part:

For the Beef:

• chuck roast – Our roast was about 3 pounds.
• Worcestershire sauce – To use as a binder for the seasonings to stick to.
• Texas Rub – You can find our fantastic, four ingredient Texas style rub recipe here. It’s a great base coat for all sorts of smoked meats.
• barbecue seasoning – We used our own ‘Que That Rub and Seasoning, but you can substitute your favorite bbq rub. Look for one with a good mixture of sweet and savory notes to pair well with the sloppy joe sauce.

For the Sloppy Joe Sauce:

The homemade sloppy joe sauce for these shredded beef sloppy joes is based on our family’s favorite recipe that we’ve made many times – and it puts the canned sloppy joe sauce to shame! *This recipe can also be used to make smoked sloppy joes with ground beef.

Here’s what you need for a classic homemade sloppy joe sauce:

• beef stock
• ketchup and mustard
• brown sugar
• Worcestershire sauce
• apple cider vinegar
• tomato paste – Since this recipe only calls for a few tablespoons of tomato paste (not a whole can), we recommend the small squeeze tube of tomato paste. This convenient ingredient is always in our fridge for a variety of recipes.
• minced garlic – You can use the jarred garlic, but we prefer mincing our own fresh garlic cloves.
• diced peppers and onions – We used a mixture of small diced green bell pepper, sweet yellow onion, and diced smoked jalapeno pepper.

How to Make Smoked Sloppy Joes with Shredded Beef

Step 1: Season and Smoke the Chuck Roast

The first step in making the best smoked sloppy joes is to smoke the beef. Whether you use a pellet grill or smoker, or you smoke the beef on a charcoal grill, the process is the same.

1. Pat the roast dry with paper towels.
2. Rub a thin coat of Worcestershire sauce all over the chuck roast as a binder.
3. Season all sides of the roast with Texas style rub and barbecue rub.
4. Place the seasoned chuck roast on the grill, close the lid, and smoke for about 3.5 – 4 hours, until the internal temperature reads about 170°F. *You can check out our favorite thermometer and other pellet grill accessories here.

For a little extra smoky flavor, we also added a whole jalapeno to the grill to smoke when the beef roast had about an hour left to cook. Just by smoking the whole pepper for an hour, you add a bit more smoke flavor and soften the pepper for the sloppy joe sauce.

Step 2: Make the Sloppy Joe Sauce

The next step is to make the sloppy joe sauce. The smoked beef roast will braise in this sauce mixture, adding extra smoky beef flavors and tenderizing the roast.

Just add all of the sloppy joe sauce ingredients to a half-size deep disposable foil pan. Seed and dice the smoked jalapeno and add that to the mixture as well. Stir everything together. This sloppy joe sauce mixture will double as the braising liquid for the smoked chuck roast.

And don’t worry if it seems to be too runny at this stage – you’ll reduce the sauce to thicken it up later, but you want it to be more of a liquid consistency at this point. The sauce should look something like this:

Step 3: Braise the Smoked Chuck Roast in the Sloppy Joe Sauce

Place the smoked chuck roast on top of the sloppy joe sauce mixture in the foil pan. Then, cover the pan tightly with a sheet of aluminum foil. With braising, you don’t want any of the moisture to escape, so be sure to crimp the foil around the sides of the pan.

Place the covered pan back on the smoker and close the grill lid. Continue cooking until the internal temperature of the chuck roast is about 204 – 212°F. This could take another 2-3 hours.

Our chuck roast was done braising when it reached 209°F internal temperature.  The final temperature of the roast could be anywhere between 204 – 212°F depending on the tenderness.  Use a fork to check when the beef is tender and can be shredded easily.

When the beef roast is done cooking, remove the foil pan from the grill. Transfer the beef to a sheet of aluminum foil, and wrap it up to rest.

*The sauce will still probably be loose at this time. But don’t worry – you’ll reduce the sauce in the next step!

Step 4: Reduce Sloppy Joe Sauce

With the roast removed from the sauce, bump the grill temperature up to about 325°F. You can also reduce the sauce in the oven at about 325-350°F if you wish.

Use a spoon to skim off some of the excess fat from the top of the sauce. Depending on how fatty your chuck roast is, you may have an excessive amount of fat floating on top of the sloppy joe sauce.

Place the foil pan of sauce back on the grill uncovered, and close the lid. Cook at 325°F for about another 30 minutes to 1 hour, or until the sauce has reduced to your desired thickness.

As the sauce cooks down more, the excess moisture will escape and the sauce will reduce to a thicker consistency. Here’s what my sloppy joe sauce looked like when I put it back on the grill, before reducing:

Step 5: Combine Shredded Beef and Sloppy Joes Sauce

When the sauce is done cooking, it’s time to add the beef for your smoked sloppy joes.

Simply use two forks or your hands to shred the smoked chuck roast into bite-sized pieces, discarding any excess fat or connective tissue as you go. Then, add the shredded beef to the sloppy joe sauce and mix until well combined.

Step 6: Make Smoked Sloppy Joe Sandwiches

To serve, spoon the smoked shredded beef Sloppy Joe mixture onto toasted buns or bread of your choice. Top with dill pickles, sliced raw onion, mayonnaise, or your favorite coleslaw.

And your smoked sloppy joes are ready to serve!

The tender, smoky beef combined with the sweet and tangy sauce is sure to be a hit with friends and family alike. And for another smoked chuck roast sandwich to make on your grill or smoker, check out our Smoked BBQ Beef Sandwiches!

Pinterest User? Do me a favor and PIN this smoked shredded beef sloppy joes recipe to your board for Pellet Grill or Smoker Recipes:

What kind of wood pellets to use for smoked sloppy joes?

Hickory or mesquite wood pellets pair well with beef and deliver a more intense smoke flavor. However, this recipe will be fantastic with any wood pellet flavor, so feel free to use your favorite. In fact, we used Bear Mountain Cherry wood pellets when we made this recipe because that’s all we had left in our stash.

What to Serve with Smoked Sloppy Joes

Smoked Sloppy Joes pair perfectly with classic barbecue sides such as coleslaw, smoked baked beans, potato salad, or corn on the cob. For a lighter option, serve with a side salad or grilled vegetables.

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