Sandwiches for a crowd (with enough left over for another recipe)

We are hosting a basketball tournament all this week so my colleagues and I are taking turns bringing in dishes for the hospitality room.   (If you are unfamiliar with a “hospitality room,” we provide free grub for all the officials, administrators, coaches, coaches’ spouses, coaches’ children, community dignitaries and other assorted characters—I could go on and on.   There is an unspoken rivalry between schools as to who can have the best hospitality room.)

Being proactive, I decided to make a meal in which any leftovers could be morphed into another dish for another night.   I actually did this during Thanksgiving week when the family was all here—I made these sandwiches one night and turned around and made chili out of the leftovers for the next night.   This is another great recipe from The Kitchen Witch—love that Rhonda girl—that I tripled and added a few other ingredients.   For Rhonda’s original post, click here.    For some homemade sandwich rolls (that I am NOT making this time around), click here.

Loose meat sandwiches with homemade sandwich rolls.

Loose Meat Sandwiches for a Crowd

4 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef
2 large onions, minced
2 large green bell peppers, diced fine
3 T. prepared yellow mustard
3 T. Worcestershire sauce
3 T. Sriracha
3/4 t. fine sea salt
1 1/2 c. water
fresh ground pepper to taste

Cook ground beef, onions, and peppers in a large dutch oven.   Break up meat into small pieces while cooking.  (I use a metal spatula.)    Be careful not to actually “brown” the ground beef.   You just want to cook it through while breaking it up.

Add mustard, Worcestershire, Sriracha, sea salt, water and pepper.   Stir in and continue to break up meat.   Let simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Remove from heat and let cool.   When cool (and this is the crazy part), use a hand mixer and mix on medium and then high for 1-2 minutes.  (My sister thought I was nuts at Thanksgiving for doing this.)

This recipe is a great alternative to the perennial Sloppy Joes.    You can serve these with cheese (the liquid kind or provolone is good) and pickles.   I love to top these with pickled peperoncini peppers.

Just take any leftover meat and throw it in with your favorite chili recipe.

I also made these and took them to a potluck at work in September.   I may have gotten a compliment from some of the staff:   “These taste just like the green hamburgers they used to serve in the cafeteria.”    Don’t ask about green hamburgers, but that is seriously what they were called.   I am still trying to figure out if this was a complement or not!  🙂

11 comments to Sandwiches for a crowd (with enough left over for another recipe)

  • Haha, green burgers…not sure if that’s a compliment or not also. Love these sandwiches and they are great for a crowd. I’ve also used the leftover meat for other dishes too. BTW, I’m sharing your post on my facebook page.

    • Eliot

      Thanks, Rhonda. I appreciate the “publicity.” We’ll see what the rest of the coaches say this week.

  • Ann

    YUM! They look delicious! I’d vote for you for best hospitality room! YUMMY! (but I don’t think I would compare them to green burgers!)

  • LOL, never heard of using a mixer on cooked meat, but I bet it makes it a nicer consistency! I should make more things out of my leftovers but never have-leftovers are always reheated and eaten in the same form. So boring! Althoooooough, I did actually turn some leftover chili into chili dog chili just by adding cut up hot dogs to it and topping it with cheese. Maybe not changing it very much, but I think it qualifies! 🙂 BTW, I so appreciate your comments on the Thankful Thursday guest posts, and for you sharing what you’re thankful for. I used to prompt for that at the end of Thankful Thursdays and stopped, maybe should start again b/c I always get a kick out of others’ thanksgivings.

    • Eliot

      Veronica—Keep up those Thankful Thursdays. They truly get me to Friday!

      Ann–I am still mulling that green hamburger comment over in my head!

  • As a Midwestern girl by birth, I love that you’ve posted a recipe for loose meat sandwiches! Sadly, the ones I ate growing up did not contain sriracha sauce. Sounds like you’ve been really busy!

  • Great for feeding a large crowd, I am sure they were very pleased with the sandwiches.

  • I really like the blend of flavors here as well as the end results. My issue with sloppy joes is that they are way to saucy for my taste. I am more pleased with having flavorful meat without a lot of sauce, which is exactly what you have done here. I do feel that you have some more compliments coming to you from the coaches and I am saving this recipe! Thanks for this one.