By: Jill Mills Updated: Oct 17, 2024

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Spice up your weeknight dinner routine with these irresistible Garlic Bread Sloppy Joes! Crispy, golden garlic Texas toast piled high with a rich, savory meat sauce and melted mozzarella cheese. This Italian-inspired twist on a classic will have your family asking for seconds! It’s quick, easy, and bursting with flavor, making it the perfect go-to meal for busy nights.

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Tried it for dinner! Was a big hit with the family!! Am adding to the dinner rotation list!!

– Amy

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Easy Sloppy Joes on Garlic Bread

I love easy dinner recipes! When you have kids and work, it’s nice to come home and whip up a quick meal. This open-faced garlic bread sandwich is one of my all-time favorites — and the kids love it, too! It uses a lot of shortcuts like store-bought spaghetti sauce and garlic bread, but it’s still a creative and tasty dinner option. I even like to make extra sloppy joe mixture and freeze it to make it even more convenient. These also makefun appetizers!

Why You’ll Love These Garlic Bread Sloppy Joes

Ready in 30 minutes. This sloppy joe garlic bread only takes 30 minutes to prepare and cook.
Just 4 ingredients. You need just 4 simple ingredients to pull off this tasty and creative meal.
Budget-friendly. This is a very affordable recipe, too!

Garlic Bread Sloppy Joe topped with cheese, served alongside fries on a white plate. A tray with additional servings is visible in the background.

What You’ll Need

You’ll notice just how simple this recipe is based on the list of ingredients! They are common and affordable — this is a recipe made of items that don’t need a lot of time and attention. That’s why this recipe is great when you’re busy!

Ground beef: I like to use lean ground beef for this recipe — 80% lean is my favorite because it still has a little fat for flavor but not too much.
Spaghetti sauce: You may use any brand and variety that you enjoy. I like to use a regular spaghetti sauce or this homemade Easy Marinara Sauce recipe.
Garlic toast: The thick garlic Texas toast is key in this recipe. It holds the sloppy joe mixture perfectly without falling apart, making it one of the best breads for sloppy joes.
Mozzarella: I like the subtle flavor of mozzarella cheese for these sandwiches. It also melts well, too.
Parsley: For a pop of color, I like to garnish the finished sloppy joes with freshly chopped parsley. This is optional!

ngredients for Garlic Bread Sloppy Joes including shredded mozzarella cheese, lean ground beef, a jar of Prego traditional Italian sauce, a box of garlic Texas toast, and fresh parsley arranged on a white countertop.

How to Make Garlic Bread Sloppy Joes

The only cooking you will have to do is brown the ground beef. The rest of the steps are super quick and easy. I like to make sure all of the components are ready at the same time so I can get it to the table quicker!

Bake the garlic toast. Read the instructions on the box and preheat your oven to the temperature that is listed. Cook the garlic bread on a baking sheet according to the directions as well. Ensure that each piece is brown on both sides.
Cook the beef. While the garlic toast is baking, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the ground beef. Crumble and cook it until browned and cooked through.

Ground beef browning in a skillet, with tomato sauce being added as the first step in making the meat mixture for Garlic Bread Sloppy Joes.

A baking tray lined with golden-brown slices of Texas garlic toast next to a pan of prepared sloppy joe meat mixture ready for assembling.

Add the sauce and simmer. Lower the heat and stir in the spaghetti sauce. Allow the mixture to simmer for about 7-10 minutes.

Assembled Garlic Bread Sloppy Joes on a baking sheet, topped with a hearty scoop of the meat mixture and ready for grated mozzarella cheese.

Assembled Garlic Bread Sloppy Joes on a baking tray, featuring the meat mixture without cheese, prepped for the final steps of baking.

Assemble the sloppy joes. Scoop some of the meat mixture onto each piece of toast and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.
Serve. Enjoy it on its own or with a side salad!

Close-up of a Garlic Bread Sloppy Joe on a white plate, topped with melted mozzarella cheese and served with a side of fries and fresh parsley.

Tips for Success

Melt the cheese. The residual heat from the sloppy joe mixture should give you gooey melted cheese. If you want the cheese to be extra gooey, pop it in the oven for 2 minutes to fully melt it.

Drain the grease. Drain any excess fat from the ground beef before you add the sauce so it doesn’t have a greasy texture.

Try another protein. Use ground turkey or your favorite plant-based meat alternative!

Variations

Sausage – Instead of ground beef, try using Italian sausage. Buy it in a bulk roll or cut away the casings from Italian sausages, then crumble the meat into the pan and cook just like ground beef.
Cheeses – Try adding a generous sprinkle of Parmesan cheese to the sloppy joes just before serving. Or add shredded cheddar cheese to the top.
Italian seasoning – Sprinkle Italian seasoning blend over top of the cheese as it melts to really kick up the flavor.
Homemade sloppy joe sauce – If you’d rather not sure pre-made sauce, make our easy homemade sauce that includes ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, green bell pepper, onion, brown sugar, etc… from this Turkey Sloppy Joes recipe.

Two Garlic Bread Sloppy Joes topped with cheese on a white plate, accompanied by fries, with a parsley garnish.

Proper Storage

You may store the leftover sloppy joe mix, but I would not save leftover sandwiches. The garlic toast will become very soggy in the refrigerator. Place the mixture into an airtight container for up to 3 days. Store it in the freezer in a freezer-safe container for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight and reheat! Reheat in the microwave until warm, and then spoon it over freshly baked bread and top it with cheese!

More Sloppy Joe Recipes to Try

5 from 7 votes