One of my students’ favorite arguments to have with me is the name of these saucy ground beef sandwiches on hamburger buns. I had no idea that people in other parts of the Midwest called them such different things. Apparently, there are two main varieties and they’re distinguishable based on how saucy they are. Over the past five or so years living in central/southeast Iowa, I’ve heard them be called “Sloppy Joes,” “Loose Meat Sandwiches,” “Beefburgers,” “Maidrites,” "Hot Tamales," and “Barbecues.” We always called them “Taverns” in northwest Iowa, and my students love to remind me that “Mrs. Vande Vegte, that’s a bar.”
Whatever the name, my mom’s recipe is legendary. It was a commonly begged-for meal at our house growing up, and many family gatherings since then involve my mom bringing copious amounts of her Tavern meat. What I like about hers is that they’re extremely flavorful and saucy. According to folks down here, that would make this variety a “Sloppy Joe.” I am not particularly a fan of the recipes that use gumbo soup or no sauce at all, which I’ve found is common in most Tavern recipes (or whatever their name is in your household!).
Also common in family recipes is the inability to make it taste as good as the recipe creator’s. When I got married, I asked my mom to write this recipe on a recipe card for me. She gave it to me, but the recipe included a list of only ingredients… no measurements. She always tells me, “I just dump in whatever amounts I feel like that day, and it always turns out different!” A chef on TikTok that I follow calls this phenomenon “measuring with your heart.” I still don’t think that mine ever tastes as good as hers, but after much trial and error, I have finally matched measurements to ingredients well enough to give you guys an actual recipe that does my mom’s recipe some justice!
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With her permission, I hope you enjoy my mother’s fantastic recipe for Taverns. If you use this recipe, you must call them “Taverns.” Sorry, I don’t make the rules. Average Chefs, make Mama Brasser proud!
Mom’s “Taverns"
Serves 6-8: freezes very well!
Estimated time, start to serve: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
Bag of hamburger buns
2.5 pounds of ground beef*
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 can of tomato soup
1 ¼ cups ketchup
⅓ cup brown sugar
3 Tbsp. chili powder
3 Tbsp. white vinegar
2 Tbsp. yellow mustard
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp. honey (or maple syrup)
(Quick shoutout to my husband’s grandfather who harvests fresh honey from
his own bees and generously gives me quart after quart for cooking! He loves
the idea of me having this blog.)
1 ½ Tbsp. onion powder
1 ½ tsp. celery salt
1 tsp. dry ground mustard; you can just opt for more liquid mustard if you don’t have any
Dash of cayenne pepper (optional)
*Sometimes I brown 4 pounds of ground beef, then scoop out the extra pound and a half to store in a quart-sized Ziplock bag (labeled and flattened) in the freezer. I love having pre-browned ground beef on hand for busy nights. If it’s already browned and flattened in the bag, it takes no time at all to thaw it out for tacos, soups, casseroles, or Hamburger Helper (which is delicious and you can’t change my mind).
Instructions:
1. Brown the ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high or high heat until there are no more pink pieces remaining. Using a meat-mashing/browning tool like this one is a must for this step, especially if you brown ground beef, sausage, turkey, or chicken often! Drain off the fat and return the rest of the beef to the pan.
2. Season the ground beef with salt and pepper according to your taste preferences.
3. Turn the heat to medium-low. Add all of the other ingredients to the pan and stir well.
4. Let the meat and sauce simmer together for at least 10-15 minutes so the flavors can mesh and the sauce can thicken just a little. When I'm not using the oven or microwave, using an old-school kitchen timer like this one for stove-top meals is insanely helpful. Cover the pan if you have a lid. At this point, you could transfer the meat to a crockpot and keep it on low until you’re ready to serve it.
5. Adjust the seasonings, if desired. At this point, due to the size of the recipe and the size of our family (just the two of us), I usually scoop half of the Tavern meat into a labeled quart-sized Ziplock bag and store it flat in the freezer to pull out for another night. This recipe freezes incredibly well!
6. Scoop Tavern meat onto hamburger buns and enjoy! We ate ours with a few chips, baby carrots, and applesauce.
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