These easy Sloppy Joes are made with specialty sausages, and everyday store cupboard and freezer ingredients
I love my freezer! The majority of meals I cook use two or three ingredients from the freezer, and when I bought my flat one of the non negotiables was a kitchen with space for a decently sized fridge freezer and a dishwasher.
Frozen food has come on in leaps and bounds, in both quality and variety in recent years. Much produce is frozen within an increasingly short time frame of being harvested. Modern rapid, or flash freezing methods lock in flavour, nutrients, as well as preserving the texture of the food. I recently went on a fascinating trip on a cod fishing boat, which freezes the catch at sea within an hour or so of it being caught, keeping its quality and freshness for the consumer.
My freezer contains the usual frozen foods such as peas and corn, fish fingers, and packets of berries for smoothies. I find that frozen fruit and vegetables are both cheaper, fresher and of better quality than that half cauliflower or head of broccoli which has been at the bottom of the salad drawer for the last week. Frozen fruit & veg are ideal for small families, couples and those who live alone. The year before last, when my mother broke her thumb she found it almost impossible to hold a knife, and relied heavily on frozen ready chopped staples such as onions, which you simply pour into the pan and fry from frozen.
Iceland’s #PowerofFrozen campaign, is all about the benefits of frozen foods. When I visited my local store recently, I was surprised at how wide their range was, and just how many frozen ingredients you could buy for a very reasonable price. I was delighted to see large bags of frozen kale, lots of frozen fruit for smoothies, as well as a wide variety of frozen vegetables including specialty rainbow carrots. The Kezie range of exotic meats was really tempting with wild boar sausages (used in this recipe), succulent juicy flavoursome Waygu burgers (I am going back for some more), as well as buffalo, ostrich, kangaroo, rabbit and crocodile.
I’ve made this easy sausage ragu; which I’ve served as a Sloppy Joe, inside a cooked from frozen ciabatta. Only two sausages are needed to for the Sloppy Joes sauce, so the remaining 4 can be fried for children, making this an ideal family meal. Once frozen meats have been defrosted then cooked it is safe to refreeze them. Any leftover sloppy Joes sauce can be popped back into the freezer and used for another meal, as either a baked potato filling or served with pasta.
To speed up defrosting placed sealed packs of frozen food into cold water.
To make this recipe even easier to prepare you can use ready chopped frozen onions and sliced peppers, and substitute the tinned tomatoes with a jar of tomato pasta sauce. Serve in a freshly baked from frozen baguette or ciabatta.
- Glug light olive or vegetable oil
- 4 tbs chopped onion - or use ready chopped frozen
- 1 bell pepper deseeded and sliced - or use a handful of frozen
- 2 speciality sausages use veggie sausages for a veggie dish, deskinned and crumbled
- 1 tin tomatoes - or a jar of tomato pasta sauce
- 2 tbs tomato ketchup
- 2 tbs sweetcorn kernels
- 2 tbs peas
- Salt and pepper to taste
- To serve
- 1 Ciabatta - I used cook from frozen
- 4 slices Cheddar cheese
- 6 gherkins - sliced
- Salad
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n a saute pan fry the onions and garlic in the oil until soft, add the sausage meat and peppers and other vegetables (if using) and cook for a few more minutes.
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Pour over the tinned tomatoes and stir in the ketchup. Season and then cover and allow to simmer, stirring from time to time until the sauce has thickened. 5 mins before serving stir in the frozen peas and corn.
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Serve in a freshly baked ciabatta or crusty bread with sliced gherkins and cheese for the ultimate sausage ragu Sloppy Joe.
What are your essential freezer ingredients?
This recipe for easy sloppy Joes made with wild boar sausages was commissioned by Iceland for their #PowerofFrozen campaign. All opinions our own.
I join you in your reliance on wonderful frozen food! There are so many healthy, flash frozen options, I find myself keeping most of my proteins in the freezer. The biggest change has indeed been in the quality of frozen fish and shellfish! This is so great for people in land-locked locales. This looks super tasty, and I’ll have to see if we can find those wild boar and apple sausages…
I love my freezer, the technology on frozen at sea fishing boats is amazing, from the sea to deep frozen takes about an hour
I’m with you – my freezer is a lifesaver when it comes to meal time! These sloppy joes look so perfect – they’d make for such a perfect dinner!
I love my freezer, Sloppy Joes need to be a regular, I’ll cook up a big batch of sauce and use in a bun, with pasta and as a baked potato filling!
This looks like a hearty sandwich, for a quick weeknight meal! Would you recommend a white or red wine to go with it?
I think either!
Great pictures – this looks delicious! I’m all for more raw ingredients in the freezer to make it easier to cook real food even on a busy midweek night.
Absolutely Nazima! Ed’s nephew and niece’s favourite snack is frozen sweetcorn with grated cheese!
I haven’t had a sloppy joe in forever. With all the peppers and onions, this looks like a grownup version of the ones I ate as a kid. Thanks for sharing.
I’ve only discovered them recently, they really really are not a British thing at all.
My freezer can be my best friend too. Wild Boar sausage. Wow, sounds really good. That pickle on this sandwich sounds like a perfect punch of flavor!
The pickle is great, the acidity cuts through the slightly sweet sauce.
I never really knew what Sloppy Joes were but had heard they were tasty. I’m definitely going to be making these
Sloppy Joes are basically a ragu sandwich. The messier the better.
What a bright fresh looking sandwich. The colours just pop. It shows you what you can do with frozen veg and sausages. They are an exciting ingredient and usually much fresher than the veg we buy that has had long journeys and much storage. Nice recipe Helen.
I think they get peas frozen within a couple of hours don’t they?
These sounds very tasty but quick to put together Helen! lovely pics too
Thanks Jayne, we hugely enjoyed them!
This looks amazingly delicious! Don’t think I have ever had a wild boar sausage…
Thanks Angie, it was very good indeed!
Looks messy but nice. Not a dish for a hot date?
Certainly not for a hot date!