The Best Big Mac Sloppy Joes (With Copycat Secret Sauce)
Homemade sloppy joes make a fantastic easy dinner that can be prepared in less than 30 minutes. This Big Mac Sloppy Joes recipe is the last one you’ll ever need!
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Prep To Make This Recipe
Most sloppy joe recipes require very little prep work, that’s what makes them so quick and simple. They are awesome camping dinner recipes.
- For this version, you only need to chop a bit of onion, some hamburger pickles and some shredded lettuce.
Cooking Methods
- Get your fire going to make some hot coals if you are making this as one of our easy campfire recipes.
- If you are using a conventional stove, RV stove or want to make this as one of our camp stove recipes, get your equipment ready for frying over medium high heat.
Steps To Make This Recipe
Step 1. Prepare your ingredients and cooking equipment as directed. I always prefer making Dutch oven camping recipes over a campfire but there are times I need to use a camp stove when conditions are too windy or dry to safely have an open fire.
Step 2. Make the sauce. The McDonald’s copycat secret sauce is what makes this recipe taste so good. You’ll use a medium bowl to mix the mayonnaise, ketchup, sweet relish, mustard, onion powder, garlic powder and salt.
- Camp Cooking Tip: You can make this days in advance and just keep it in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it. Prep-at-home work makes easy camping meals even easier!
I don’t recommend it but if you’re short on time, you can substitute your favorite prepared Thousand Island dressing or even a French dressing in a real pinch.
Step 3. Heat the pan and brown the meat. Use a campfire-safe Dutch oven or large skillet for campfire cooking. Any large pot or large frying pan will work with a conventional stove or RV stove. Heat the pot over medium high heat then add the hamburger and break it up into crumbles as it cooks. The nice thing about one pot camping meals is that you just keep building the recipe in a single pot as you cook.
- Camp Cooking Tip: If you use 80/20 ground beef, it creates enough grease on its own, if you use a lean ground beef, add a little olive oil or vegetable oil to the pan to prevent the meat from sticking as it browns.
Step 4. If you used an 80/20 or fattier meat, you’ll want to use a paper towel to sop out the excess liquid before adding more ingredients to the pan.
Step 5. Add the onions, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. You’ll want to cook until the meat is done and the chopped onions are softened.
Step 6. Add diced pickles and some Big Mac Sauce. Now it’s time to stir the chopped pickles and about 1/4 cup of the secret sauce into the ground beef pan. You are just combining it with the meat and heating it a little bit.
Step 7. Build the sandwich. You can make this as a single-layer sandwich or be more authentic to the Big Mac and build it as a double-decker sandwich.
- Start with a bottom sesame seed bun and top it with about 1/4 cup iceberg lettuce, a slice of cheese, sloppy joe meat mixture, whole dill pickle slices, a splash of special sauce and crown it with the top sesame hamburger bun.
- If you have big eaters in your crowd that can handle large sandwiches, it’s really fun to serve these double-decker style.
- Start with the bottom up bun, add the lettuce, cheese, meat mixture, pickle chips and additional sauce, then add a middle bun slice and repeat the layers, finish by adding a top bun.
Step 8. Serve hot & enjoy!
Serving A Crowd
This is one of the most requested easy camping meals for large groups! Young kids and adults love these sandwiches and they are really easy to scale for the cooks. You can use a baking sheet to lay out the buns, build the sandwiches in an assembly-line style and quickly serve lots of people.
What To Serve With These Sandwiches
Extra cup hamburger pickles, anyone? My family goes crazy over these pickles so I have to serve an extra jar (or two) on the side!
When I want to keep the meal really simple, I also serve some potato chips and a quick coleslaw salad too.
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Similar Recipes
- Want a Tex-Mex, slightly spicy version? Try this Diablo Sandwich Recipe. We’ve got tons of them if you want more camping sandwich ideas!
- I love making winter camping recipes that are homemade versions of the classics. This Campfire Chili combines ground beef, ground Italian sausage and beans to make a thick and hearty meal with a rich spicy tomato sauce.
- You are not going to believe how amazingly delicious this bacon-wrapped Dutch Oven Meatloaf tastes!
- You’ll have dinner on the table in 20 minutes with these Dutch Oven Camping Tacos! Try all of our yummy ground beef camping recipes.
- Got a portable tailgate smoker? Try this Smoked Ground Beef Chili that combines ground beef, bacon, onion, garlic, jalapeno peppers, spices and three types of beans.
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Recipe
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Big Mac Sloppy Joes
Ingredients
Ground Beef Mixture Sandwich Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds ground beef 80/20 is good, if you use leaner meat, add a little oil to the bottom of the pan for frying
- 1 small yellow onion chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 36 dill pickle chips divided (18 chips left whole, 18 chips chopped), Fast Food Style Dill Hamburger Pickle Chips
- 6 large sesame seed hamburger buns (you’ll need 9 buns if you want to assemble double-decker style)
- 1/4 head iceberg lettuce shredded
- 6 slices American cheese (you’ll need 12 slices of cheese if you want to assemble double-decker style)
McDonald’s Copycat Big Mac Sauce Ingredients
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Prepare the sauce. Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl. Cover and keep refrigerated until ready to use.
- Heat cast iron Dutch oven or large cast iron skillet over medium high heat of campfire, camp stove, conventional stove top or RV stove top.
- Add ground beef (and oil if using lean beef) to pan and break up into crumbles as it cooks.
- After the ground beef begins to brown, before you add more ingredients, if there is too much grease in the pot, use a paper towel to sop some out.
- Now, add the onions, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.
- Cook the meat and onions until the beef is totally cooked and the onions are softened, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the chopped pickle chips and about 1/4 cup of the Big Mac Sauce.
- Layer bottom buns with lettuce, cheese, sloppy joe meat mixture, whole dill pickle chips and special sauce then add top bun to finish the sandwich in a single layer style. To make the sandwich a double decker style, start with the bottom bun, add the lettuce, cheese, meat mixture, pickle chips and special sauce, then add a middle bun slice and repeat the layers, finish by adding a top bun.
- Serve hot.
Nutrition
What do you think?
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