Crescent Roll Sloppy Joe Bake layers saucy ground beef and shredded cheddar between two sheets of crescent dough, with sesame seeds on top, and bakes until the crust is golden brown. It takes five ingredients, serves 8 and is ready in 35 minutes.
How to make it: Brown and drain the beef, stir in a can of sloppy joe sauce, and spread it over one crescent dough sheet pressed into a greased 9×13-inch dish. Scatter the cheddar over the beef, lay the second sheet on top, sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake at 375°F until golden.
Why You’ll Love It
- Five ingredients: beef, a can of sauce, cheddar, crescent dough and sesame seeds.
- Quick: about 35 minutes start to finish, and only 12 to 15 of those in the oven.
- No buns needed: the filling bakes between two crusts and is cut into squares.
- Easy to change: swap the cheese, the meat or the sauce, or shape it into cups or a ring.
Ingredient Notes
Ground beef: Two pounds, browned over medium-high heat and drained well. Ground turkey, chicken or pork can take its place (see Variations).
Sloppy joe sauce: One 15-ounce can, any brand. A homemade sauce works too, as long as it is thick.
Cheddar cheese: 16 ounces, shredded. Mexican blend, Colby Jack, Pepper Jack or Monterey Jack are good swaps.
Crescent dough sheets: Two 8-ounce cans, one for the bottom crust and one for the top.
Sesame seeds: 1 to 2 teaspoons, sprinkled over the top crust before it goes in the oven.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 15 ounces sloppy joe sauce (1 can)
- 16 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
- 2 cans crescent dough sheets (8 ounces each)
- 1 to 2 teaspoons sesame seeds
How to Make Crescent Roll Sloppy Joe Bake
1. Heat the oven. Heat the oven to 375°F and grease a 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish.
2. Brown the beef. Cook the ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat, breaking it up as it cooks, until browned and it reaches 160°F on a food thermometer. Drain the grease.
3. Add the sauce. Stir in the sloppy joe sauce and mix well. If the filling looks runny, turn the heat to low and simmer for about 5 minutes, until thick.
4. Make the bottom crust. Unroll one crescent dough sheet into the dish and press it with your fingers to cover the bottom. If you use regular crescent rolls, pinch the seams together.
5. Layer the filling. Spread the beef mixture evenly over the dough and sprinkle the cheese on top.
6. Add the top crust. Lay the second dough sheet over the cheese, lightly pressing the seams together and pulling the dough out to the edges. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds.
7. Bake. Bake uncovered for 12 to 15 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the center reaches 165°F. Slice into squares and serve.
How to Keep the Bottom Crust From Turning Doughy
If the sloppy joe mixture is too saucy, the bottom sheet of crescent dough won’t cook through, and too much liquid makes the crust soggy. Aim for saucy, never soupy.
Drain the beef well. Pour off the grease after browning, before any sauce goes in. With ground turkey, chicken or pork, drain off the extra liquid too.
Go easy on the sauce. About 1 cup of sloppy joe sauce for each pound of beef is a good place to start. Add a little more only if you like a wetter filling.
Thicken a thin filling. If it is still runny after the short simmer in step 3, stir 1 tablespoon of cornstarch into 1 tablespoon of hot water and stir that into the pan.
Seal the bottom sheet. Press the dough out with your fingers until it covers the whole bottom of the dish. Any seams should be pinched firmly so the crust holds together under the filling.
Serve it hot. The crust softens as it sits, so this bake is best eaten right away.
Tips for Success
What size baking dish do I need?
A 9×13-inch dish fits two crusts and 2 pounds of beef. For a smaller pan with one crust and 1 pound of beef, use an 11×7-inch dish; a 9×13 also works for that amount, with thinner layers.
Do I need a food thermometer?
Yes. USDA FSIS gives safe temperatures as measured with a food thermometer: 160°F for ground beef, and 165°F in the center of a casserole.
Variations
- Homemade sauce: sauté 1 small onion, 1 bell pepper and 2 cloves of garlic in 1 tablespoon of olive oil for about 5 minutes, brown 1 pound of beef, then stir in 3/4 cup ketchup, 2 teaspoons mustard and 1 tablespoon each of Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar and paprika. Simmer on low for about 5 minutes until thick, and double it for this pan.
- Other meats: ground turkey, chicken or pork all work. Cook ground turkey or chicken to 165°F and ground pork to 160°F.
- Italian: use ground Italian sausage and swap the sloppy joe sauce for marinara or pizza sauce.
- More vegetables: cook diced onion, bell pepper or minced garlic with the beef, or stir corn, chopped pickles or diced tomatoes into the filling.
- French fried onions: scatter 1/2 cup over the filling along with the cheese.
- Sloppy joe cups: cut one 8-ounce can of crescent dough, seams pinched, into 8 squares and press them into greased muffin cups. Fill with 1 pound of beef in sauce, add a quarter slice of American cheese to each and bake at 375°F for 14 to 16 minutes.
- Crescent ring: arrange 16 dough triangles (two cans) in a ring on a pizza pan around a 5-inch opening, fill the wide ends, fold the tips over and tuck them under, then bake at 375°F for 22 to 25 minutes.
Storage & Reheating
USDA FSIS says to refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours in shallow, covered containers and eat them within 3 to 4 days. To freeze, let the baked casserole cool completely, cover it with plastic wrap and aluminum foil, and freeze it for 3 to 4 months. Thaw it overnight in the refrigerator.
Reheat the dish covered with foil in a 350°F oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or warm single squares in the microwave, until it reaches 165°F. Do not reheat it in a slow cooker.
What to Serve With It
Serve it with potato chips, tater tots or fries, a crisp green salad or coleslaw, corn, baked beans or fruit. For the corn, try easy creamy corn casserole. If you like your sloppy joes on a bun, there are slow cooker Amish beef sloppy joes and Philly cheese steak sloppy joes. For more dinners built on crescent dough, try the Reuben crescent bake, 3-ingredient crescent pizza rolls and chicken crescent roll ups.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you make crescent roll sloppy joes?
Brown and drain ground beef, stir in sloppy joe sauce, and layer it with shredded cheddar between two sheets of crescent dough in a greased 9×13-inch dish. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top and bake at 375°F for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden.
Can I bake crescent rolls at 350°F?
Yes. A one-crust casserole, with one 8-ounce can of dough, 1 pound of beef, 1 cup of sauce and 1 cup of cheese in an 11×7-inch dish, bakes at 350°F for about 20 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. This two-crust pan bakes at 375°F.
Can I use regular crescent rolls instead of dough sheets?
Yes. Dough sheets have no perforations, so they press into the pan with no seams to seal. With regular crescent rolls, press the dough into the dish and pinch the seams together firmly before the filling goes on.
Can I make it ahead?
Make the beef filling up to 3 days ahead and keep it covered in the refrigerator, then assemble and bake as directed. Bake an assembled casserole within a few hours on the same day so the crust does not soak up moisture from the filling.
Final Notes
Keep the filling thick, seal the bottom crust well, and bake until the top is golden and the center reaches 165°F. If you make it, tell me in the comments which cheese and sauce you used.
Crescent Roll Sloppy Joe Bake
Want This Recipe Later?
We'll send this recipe straight to your inbox.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 15 ounces sloppy joe sauce 1 can
- 16 ounces cheddar cheese shredded
- 2 cans crescent dough sheets 8 ounces each; regular crescent rolls work with the seams pinched together
- 1 to 2 teaspoons sesame seeds
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 375°F and grease a 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish.
- Cook the ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat, breaking it up as it cooks, until browned and it reaches 160°F on a food thermometer. Drain the grease.
- Stir in the sloppy joe sauce and mix well. If the filling looks runny, turn the heat to low and simmer for about 5 minutes, until thick.
- Unroll one crescent dough sheet into the dish and press it with your fingers to cover the bottom. If you use regular crescent rolls, pinch the seams together.
- Spread the beef mixture evenly over the dough and sprinkle the cheese on top.
- Lay the second dough sheet over the cheese, lightly pressing the seams together and pulling the dough out to the edges. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds.
- Bake uncovered for 12 to 15 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the center reaches 165°F. Slice into squares and serve.
