Enjoy a 20-minute meal with our Big Mac Sloppy Joes recipe, combining McDonald’s-inspired flavors in a one-skillet dish. Savor lean ground beef, pickles, onions, lettuce, cheese, and special sauce piled high in a sesame seed bun.
Big Mac Sloppy Joes With Thousand Island Dressing
Our easy Big Mac Sloppy Joes is a fun spin on my sloppy joes sandwich, made with all of your favorite flavors from a McDonald’s Big Mac burger, and prepares it as a 2-in-1 American supper.
Loaded with a seasoned ground beef mixture, diced onion, shredded lettuce, cheese slices, relish, pickles, and drizzled with Thousand Island dressing, this sloppy joe big mac sandwich recipe is ready in under 20 minutes and is a healthier way to enjoy the guilty pleasure of fast food at home without regret!
The sloppy joe mixture may resemble the filling from those nostalgic messy meals, but this revised homemade sloppy joes recipe has an added crunchy and savory kick both mixed into the meat mixture and assembled between the buns.
Skip the drive thru and let the classic Big Mac taste simmer on your stovetop – it’s always fun to turn a main course classic into a unique fast food copycat with a tasty twist.
Inspired by Dinner, Then Dessert.
Why We Love Big Mac Sloppy Joes
- Quick and easy to make in under 20 minutes from start to finish.
- Uses a handful of simple ingredients.
- Juicy beef and Big Mac flavors combined and sandwiched in between a sesame seed bun.
- Fun spin on a fast food favorite.
- Perfect one dish dinner when you can’t decide between 2 separate sandwiches.
Big Mac Sloppy Joes Ingredients
- Unsalted butter
- Ground beef
- Yellow onion
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Pickle relish
- Thousand island dressing: I used Kraft brand but feel free to use your favorite bottle or make your own homemade “secret sauce.”
- Worcestershire sauce
- Soft sesame seed buns: I used Pepperidge Farm Farmhouse Hearty White buns.
- Iceberg lettuce
- American cheese slices
- Dill pickle slices
Copycat Big Mac Sauce
Sauces and dressings are sneaky sources of carbs and contain high amounts of sugar. While I love the creamy, tangy taste of Thousand Island dressing as the special sauce in this recipe, you can easily make your own copycat Big Mac sauce with a simple mixture of mustard, garlic, paprika, and sweet pickle relish.
Substitutions and Additions
- Pick Your Protein: For this recipe I used lean ground beef. However, for a healthier option, you can use extra lean ground beef, ground turkey, or ground chicken. For a vegetarian version, feel free to use your favorite meat alternative.
- Choose Your Cheese: American cheese slices are what a “real” Big Mac sandwich has on it. If you do not care for American cheese slices, then mild cheddar cheese sandwich slices would also taste delicious as a substitute.
Recommended Tools
- Large skillet
- Mixing spoon
How to Make Big Mac Sloppy Joes
- Brown The Beef: Cook the butter, ground beef, diced yellow onion, salt, and pepper until the onions are soft and the meat is no longer pink. Drain any excess fat from the skillet.
- Make The Meat Mixture: Stir in the pickle relish, thousand island dressing, and Worcestershire sauce and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes.
- Assemble: Top the bottom half of each sesame seed bun with lettuce, onions, a slice of cheese, 3-4 dill pickle slices, a scoop of the meat mixture, and thousand island dressing. Place the top half of your bun on top.
- Serve: Serve and enjoy!
How To Make A Classic Double Decker Big Mac
McDonald’s Big Mac sandwiches all the fillings between three buns. You can easily make this happen at home using two bottom halves and one top piece of bun. Assemble the sandwich as follows: bottom bun, lettuce, onion, cheese, pickles, meat, bottom bun, dressing, lettuce, onion, cheese, pickles, meat, dressing, and finish with the top bun.
Tips For Making The Best Big Mac Sloppy Joes
- I love the ease of using a bottled Thousand Island salad dressing for the recipe. You can use a homemade version if you have a favorite recipe. Be sure to choose a bottled brand you would enjoy on a salad.
- I like to use a large 2½-3-inch cookie scoop to scoop out my meat mixture, then place the meat onto the bun. I find that I make less of a mess this way, and I can evenly portion out my servings.
How to Store Recipe Name
- To Store: You can store the Big Mac Sloppy Joes meat mixture, covered in an airtight container, in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- To Reheat: Reheat the meat mixture in a skillet until warmed through.
Delicious Slider Recipes
Other Easy Copycat Recipes
- Big Mac Salad – Cheeseburger Salad
- Taco Bell Frito Burrito
- KFC Zinger Burger
- Copycat Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce Recipe
- Copycat Wendy’s Chocolate Frosty
- Little Caesars Crazy Bread
- Disney Cookie Fries
Big Mac Sloppy Joes
Ingredients
Meat Mixture
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 pound ground beef 85%-15% ground round
- ½ cup yellow onion small diced (plus additional for toppings)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ cup pickle relish
- ¼ cup bottled thousand island dressing Kraft brand(plus additional for toppings)
- 1½ teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
Assembly & Toppings
- 4 large soft sesame seed buns Pepperidge Farm Farmhouse Hearty White
- ¼ head iceberg lettuce shredded
- 2 tablespoons small diced yellow onion about ½ tablespoon per sandwich
- 4 American cheese slices unwrapped
- Dill pickle (hamburger) slices (3-4 per sandwich)
- Bottled Thousand Island Dressing
Instructions
- In a large skillet, on medium-high heat, add the unsalted butter, ground beef, diced yellow onion, salt, and pepper.
- Cook for 5-6 minutes or until the onions are soft and the meat is no longer pink. Drain any excess fat from the skillet.
- Turn the heat to low and add the pickle relish, bottled thousand island dressing, and Worcestershire sauce to the cooked ground beef. Stir to fully incorporate and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes.
- To assemble your Big Mac sloppy Joes, you will need to place the bottom half of a sesame seed bun onto your plate and top it with shredded iceberg lettuce, small diced yellow onions, a slice of American cheese, 3-4 dill pickle slices, a large scoop of the meat mixture and finally a generous amount of bottled thousand island dressing. Top your Big Mac sloppy Joe with the top portion of your bun.
- Repeat step 4 until all your sandwiches are assembled.
Jenn’s Notes
- To Store: You can store the Big Mac Sloppy Joes meat mixture, covered in an airtight container, in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- To Reheat: Reheat the meat mixture in a skillet until warmed through.
- I love the ease of using a bottled Thousand Island salad dressing for the recipe. You can use a homemade version if you have a favorite recipe. Be sure to choose a bottled brand you would enjoy on a salad.
- I like to use a large 2½-3-inch cookie scoop to scoop out my meat mixture, then place the meat onto the bun. I find that I make less of a mess this way, and I can evenly portion out my servings.
It was very good! I made it too