What To Serve With Sloppy Joes

Do you have everything you need to make some delightfully meaty sandwiches and now you're wondering 'What To Serve With Sloppy Joes'? I like to keep my sloppy joe sandwich sides pretty simple, similar to what I'd serve with hamburgers or hot dogs. My favorite sides all work for summertime grilling, picnics, and serving with your sloppy joe sandwiches at potlucks too!

What To Serve With Sloppy Joes

The classic sloppy joe sandwich is always a hit in my home, and a crowd-pleaser when I pack it along to potlucks! The combination of browned ground beef, green bell peppers, and onions in a hearty tomato sauce always hits the spot!

While beef is typically used in most sloppy joe recipes, pork can also be used. My mother shared her memory of childhood sloppy joes, which was a reminder to me: my lovely Grandma Janet occasionally over-cooked a roast beef (gasp!). When she did, she would grind up the tough and beyond well-done roast beef meat and use it for her sloppy joes!

Even if you didn't overcook your roast beef, you can always use leftovers as your meat for the hearty sloppy joe sauce.

Whatever meat you choose to use, here are some of my favorite side dishes to serve with my sloppy joes! All of these sides are great with your sloppy joe sandwiches whether it's a comfort food family dinner, potluck, or an easy game night meal!

Plus my favorite desserts for serving after you enjoy your sloppy joe dinner. They're perfect for summertime or any time of the year!!

Best Vegetable Side Dishes to Serve With Sloppy Joe Sandwiches

The best vegetable sides for a great messy sloppy joe sandwich include quite a few of my summertime favorites! Fresh from the garden is always best, but my garden isn't set up here at the property.

Yet. Lots of garden boxes and a chicken coop are in the works for summer 2021!!

1. Corn On The Cob

I think any which way you prepare your corn on the cob is pretty easy to do, so it comes down to what's the most flavorful. This milk butter version of boiled corn on the cob leaves your corn nicely tender, with an even coating of butter.

Corn is a great finger-food to serve with sloppy joes for lunch or dinner!

2. Green Beans

Another wonderfully easy vegetable side dish is green beans! I love, love, love green beans with garlic and bacon. It's like peas and carrots, foods that just really belong together.

These quick and easy pan-seared green beans are a go-to veggie side for family dinners any night of the year.

3. Summer Squash & Zucchini

One of my all-time favorite foods of summertime has got to be squash! I'm more of a summer squash fan, even though I do love many of the winter squash varieties as well.

My Grandma Janet's home had an amazing perennial herb garden and well-landscaped yard. It wasn't a huge yard so she didn't fully garden there. BUT she always had a few plants of the yellow crookneck squash. Thus, the beginning of my love story with the deliciously tender yellow squash.

Since my family only eats the yellow squash to make me happy, I usually combine it with zucchini as I have here in this sauteed squash and zucchini side dish. Top to with Parmesan cheese or not, it's still so wonderfully tasty!

4. Garden Salad

A simple green salad or garden salad is a light and healthy side dish to enjoy with your sloppy joes! It's easy to make and can be served with everyone's favorite dressing flavors to keep the whole family happy.

Grab a plate and chop up some iceberg, green leaf, or romaine lettuce then add some sliced cucumbers and cherry tomatoes for a great salad!

5. Coleslaw

Cool and creamy coleslaw is a fantastic contrast to your sloppy joes! It's another super easy salad side dish for your dinner.

Grab our friend Holly's coleslaw dressing recipe and chop up some cabbage. All it takes is a quick to stir to coat the cabbage and you have some tangy-but-not-too-sweet coleslaw!

The Best Potato Sides to Eat With Sloppy Joes

The responsible mom in me likes to talk about vegetable sides, but the kid that grew up enjoying school lunch sloppy joes knows that potato sides are awesome! Everyone agrees that their favorite sides are one or more of these potato side dishes!

6. French Fries

Who doesn't love some french fries with a toasty hot sandwich?! They're a wonderful finger food to dip into your favorite dipping sauce while enjoying a meaty sandwich.

While simple french fries are a very popular choice, they're still runner-up to the next potato side on our list!

7. Tater Tots

This may be the number one pick amongst family and friends for 'what to serve with sloppy joes'! While quite a few foods were mentioned in common by everyone I asked, this round potato snack had the most votes.

I totally get why too! The shape of the tater tots makes them perfect for cleaning up your plate after the sloppy joe filling has overflowed from your sandwich buns.

For an easy variation and a bunch of cheesy goodness, top the tater tots with cheese when cooking and serve up some cheesy tater tots instead. More yumminess!

8. Chips & Dip

The simplest side ever! Pop open a bag of some crispy potato chips and you have an easy meal that everyone loves!

Serve your chips on the plate, or in a family-size bowl for everyone to grab more as needed. Adding some dip like my flavorful French onion dip is optional, but delightfully tasty!!

My daughter absolutely loves using fritos for scooping up the mess she makes when enjoying some hearty sloppy joe sandwiches! She gets it from her Dad!

9. Mashed Potatoes

Creamy or buttery and fluffy mashed potatoes are another great potato side dish that goes extremely well with your sloppy joe sandwiches! My garlic red skin mashed potatoes are tasty on their own, but they are unbelievably wonderful when some sloppy joe meat is mixed in with them!

10. Potato Salad

There are many versions of potato salad that would be an excellent side dish for your sandwiches! From a classic mayonnaise-based potato salad to something fun like a baked potato salad. Yum!

11. Sweet Potato Fries

These delicious fries can be super quick and easy if you bring home a bag of ready to bake, cut fries! They're delicious in the air fryer too!

If you have sweet potatoes on hand, you can cut them into fries and bake or fry them. The sweet potatoes cook quickly and the flavor pairs very well with sloppy joes!

Pasta Sides That You Need With Sloppy Joes

There are some fantastic pasta side dishes that pair exceptionally well with savory sloppy joe sandwiches! All of these classic pasta dishes are household staples in my home and are easy to make.

12. Mac & Cheese

Cheesy mac & cheese is an excellent side dish to serve with your sloppy joe dinner! The creamy deliciousness that makes this such a comfort food classic works so very well with the hearty beef sandwiches!

13. Pasta Salad

Pasta salad is as simple as cooking up your pasta! Mix a bit of Italian dressing with your favorite Italian-inspired ingredients like mozzarella balls, cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, red onion, and maybe some thin-sliced zucchini or bell peppers.

Toss your cooked pasta with the dressing and ingredients, then refrigerate and serve!

14. Macaroni Salad

My grandmother's classic macaroni salad includes cooked macaroni pasta, mayo, vinegar, sugar, mustard, celery, red and green bell peppers, and carrots. Season with salt and pepper to taste and toss with the pasta once it's cooled.

More Tasty Sloppy Joe Side Dishes

Depending on what you have on hand, if you have any picky eaters in the house, or just want something that falls outside of 'the usual' sides that are served with sloppy joes here are some more great ideas! A couple of easy fried sides, and a couple that are deliciously wonderful bbq and picnic type sides!

15. Onion Rings

Truly super quick onion rings! They're made by Alexa, which is my favorite brand of frozen onion rings. I do love making these homemade, but sometimes even I want a simple meal.

16. Fried Dill Pickles

My fried dill pickle chips are amazing! I made these in the air fryer using those large Kosher dill pickles, and they came out super crispy with that tangy dill pickle center.

They're a great part of a finger-food themed lunch or dinner with your sloppy joe sandwiches. Of course, a simple dill pickle slice on the side is always a hit!

17. Baked Beans

I think anything barbecue, like these baked beans, compliments a sloppy joe superbly! The sweet and savory flavors are a match for the flavors in a sloppy joe sandwich.

18. Bacon Wrapped Brussel Sprouts

Another barbeque side that just pairs well with sloppy joes! These easy to make bbq brussel sprouts are wrapped in bacon for a delicious side that can qualify as finger-food if you want it to. Just keep the napkins handy 🙂

Best Desserts to Have With Sloppy Joes

Whether you choose the simple fruit salad, classic ambrosia salad, or an amazing fruit dessert, these are all perfectly suited to match the flavors of your sloppy joe meal! All of my tasty fruit desserts are amazing, and wonderfully suited to summertime meals.

Or go with the classic no-bake cookie that has been served at potlucks and family gatherings for...well, forever. They travel well and there's no need to turn on the oven!

19. Fruit Salad

A fresh salad of summertime fruit that's a light option after such a hearty, savory meal. Simply wash and slice your favorite fruits, then mix with citrus juice ( orange, lemon, or lime ) and a touch of honey.

20. Ambrosia Salad

A creamy fruit salad that combines cool whip and sour cream with mandarin oranges, pineapple chunks, miniature marshmallows, coconut, and maraschino cherries. It's an absolutely delicious dessert salad to serve after your meal!

21. Blackberry Crisp

One of my summertime favorite desserts! This blackberry crisp is a super easy dessert to make that everyone loves!

The fresh blackberries are long-awaited and make a stunning crisp, but don't let the winter weather stop you from enjoying this classic dessert year-round! Frozen berries can easily be used in place of the plump berries of summertime so that you can enjoy this treat all year long!

22. Pineapple Bars

One of my most requested potluck recipes! Everyone loves these sweet and perfectly tangy pineapple bars! Their shortbread cookie crust is the perfect pairing for the luscious pineapple filling!!

23. Apple Dump Cake

It's a snap to make this cake mix recipe when all you need is a 9 x 13 baking pan and 3 ingredients! Top off this buttery apple dump cake with a generous scoop of ice cream for the perfect dessert after your sloppy joes!!

24. No-Bake Cookies

Another nostalgic childhood recipe that is worth repeating over and over again! The fudgy deliciousness that no-bake cookies are known and loved for is so easy to make that you can let the kids make this no-bake dessert while you make dinner!

That rounds out all of my favorites to include with a sloppy joe dinner, even though I'm sure I'll think of more that would be equally perfect! I hope you enjoy your savory, beefy sloppy joes and get a chance to try out some tasty new sides!