My barbecue aficionado friends will accuse me of being sacrelige. Perhaps even treasonous. But still…
Chopped barbecued beef sandwiches — just like they’re served here in Texas — require nothing but a slow cooker and a few key ingredients.
There. I said it.
Look, I’m a barbecue purist as much as the next guy. But the truth is, unless you’re using one of those old school pits, along with a cord of hickory or pecan wood, you’re cheating.
Barbecue is an art. Plain and simple. There’s a reason they call them pit masters.
I’m not a pit master. And I’m also not a guy who is willing to stand in a two-hour line to grab one of my all-time barbecue joint faves — the Sloppy Joe.
Now, don’t go making the same mistake that I did for years. This is not the same Sloppy Joe served in your local school cafeteria. Neither is it the canned stuff you grew up on. This Sloppy Joe is Texas style, with an emphasis on the smoky chopped/shredded beef and tangy spicy barbecue sauce.
You start this one in your slow cooker as you’re heading out the door in the morning … and everyone loves you forever (at least for one night) the same evening. Seriously.
Finally, I know what you’re thinking. You have that 99-cent bottle of barbecue sauce that you bought for the Little League hamburger cookout. Use it if you insist, but just know that you won’t know exactly what you’re eating and it won’t taste nearly as good as Stubb’s® Sweet Heat Legendary Barbecue Sauce. When the folks at Stubb’s sent me a few of their products and asked me to try them out and talk about them here, I immediately agreed. I’ve been cooking with Stubb’s for years. Not because they are a homegrown Texas company that uses only premium ingredients, but because Stubb’s products are just downright delicious.
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Texas Sloppy Joes
- 1 – 2½-3 lb Beef tri-tip roast* (Certified Angus Beef is your best bet here)
- 1 cup – Chopped sweet red pepper
- 1 – Small onion, chopped
- ¾ cup – Stubb’s® Sweet Heat Bar-B-Q Sauce combined
- ¼ cup water
- 1 TB – Louisiana-style hot sauce
- 2 tsp – Stubb’s® Hickory Liquid Smoke
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 8 – Hamburger buns
- Sprinkle salt and pepper liberally on all sides of the roast; place in a slow cooker.
- Combine Stubb’s® Sweet Heat Bar-B-Q Sauce, water, hot sauce and Stubb’s® Hickory Liquid Smoke; pour over meat.
- Add sweet pepper and onion.
- Cook on ‘low’ setting for 8 hours.
- Separate meat with two forks in the slow cooker, adding more Stubb’s® Sweet Heat Bar-B-Q Sauce, if desired.
- Serve on warmed buns and top with pickles, jalapenos and sliced fresh onion.