15 Best Toppings for Sloppy Joes

Crisp, tangy coleslaw is a classic garnish for sloppy joes. The shredded cabbage and carrots in a sweet vinegary sauce is the perfect offset for the meaty tomato filling on your sandwich.

One of the best things about coleslaw is that it can be a topping or a side. Plus, it is inexpensive to make and will help fill everyone up.

Don’t serve sloppy joes without it.

Shredded or sliced cheese on a hot sloppy joes sandwich is comfort food at its finest. And if your kitchen is like ours, cheese is a must-have on practically every sandwich.

Shredded cheese will melt more quickly, but sliced cheese might be more convenient.

The tastiest cheeses for sloppy joes are:

• Cheddar cheese
• Mozzarella cheese
• Pepper Jack cheese
• Meunster cheese

You are missing out if you haven’t tried Fritos on your sloppy joes. Fritos are a side and a topping simultaneously.

Your kids will love the crunch of their new Fritos sloppy joes burger. Fritos are a topping you won’t want to skip.

Thick pickles made for burgers are right at home on sloppy joes. Choose dill pickles or crunchy bread and butter pickles. The taste of either one complements saucy ground beef.

And if you want to change things up, any type of pickled vegetable is a welcome substitute for classic pickles.

Serve sauerkraut on top of sloppy joes when you want a thick and tangy topping. Sauerkraut is made of shredded cabbage, like coleslaw.

However, it is cooked. This means it does not have the crunch of fresh coleslaw. And the taste is distinctively sour.

Sauerkraut is an excellent topping for sloppy joes and most meaty sandwiches. Like bratwursts, hot dogs, and turkey burgers.

Treat sloppy joes like a burger and lay a leaf of fresh lettuce on top. With its crispy crunch, romaine lettuce is one of the best varieties. But green leaf or even iceberg lettuce are good options too.

You can also try baby spinach, kale, or arugula. Each leafy green offers a different flavor. But each one is a good choice for a topping.

Pickled jalapenos are the perfect finish for sloppy joes. They add a tangy, spicy kick you won’t find elsewhere.

You may like them so much that you start serving them with all your meaty sandwiches. We do it at our dinner table. Give them a try.

Garnish your sloppy joes with potato chips, just like you did as a kid. Brings back memories, right?

Ruffled or flat chips bring a crunch and flavor completely unique but complementary to your sloppy joes filling.

• Ruffles potato chips. Buy here.
• Cape Cod potato chips. Buy here.
• Boulder Canyon potato chips. Buy here.

Sliced red or yellow onions are always a welcome topping for sloppy joes. But fried onion rings are a real treat.

Fried onion rings offer a mild spice with lots of flavors. Get ready to liven up your sandwich with onions.

Bacon makes every sandwich better. Garnish your sloppy joes with crispy or chewy bacon cooked in the oven.

You will love the salty, meaty flavor that only bacon brings. Bacon is a topping best reserved for sloppy joes at dinner with your family. It might be too much to serve at a party with many guests.

French fries on a sandwich? You bet.

Crispy French fries lend a salty crunch to the joes. Kids of all ages will appreciate this side dish turned sandwich topping.

It is unexpected and delicious.

You are missing out if you haven’t roasted your red peppers yet. Sweet and smoky, they are a fantastic garnish to sloppy joes.

You can buy a jar for dinner if you don’t have time to make your own. But after you roast your own, you won’t want the jar stuff anymore.

Mushrooms and ground beef are always a delicious pairing. Sauté a handful of mushrooms for your sloppy joes dinner.

Try white or baby bella mushrooms. Cook them with a bit of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. This simple topping delivers a load of flavor.

Yes, tots are sides, but they can also be a topping. And a delicious one at that.

No kid will complain when tater tots are on the table. Eat a few. Put a couple on your sandwich. Enjoy.

The best tots for toppings are the round flat disks. They stay on the sandwich a little better. But you can make any tater tot work.

Guacamole makes an excellent garnish for sloppy joes. Cool, fresh, and flavorful, guacamole always adds a special something to anything it touches.

If you don’t have time to make guacamole, sliced avocados will do the trick. Picking the right avocado is the key to a great garnish.