Sujuk Sloppy Joes made with ground beef, tomato gravy and loaded with sujuk spices. Ready in less than 30 minutes.

Beef Sujuk also (Sucuk) is a sausage like recipe that is very popular in the Mediterranean region. Here is a sujuk sandwich recipe that everyone will enjoy.

two sloppy joes sujuk sandwiches on top of eachother on a black plate

For my husband and I summer is not summer without sujuk but first...

What is Sujuk sausage?

Sujuk is a form of sausage, ground meat spiced and flavored then encased in some sort of casing (usually animal intestines), formed into cylinders and twisted every 3-4 inches. It is said that Sujuk first appeared in Turkey and I believe has spread to Egypt during the Ottoman era.
Sujuk is a very popular meat product in almost all of the Middle Eastern countries and I was surprised to know it is also common in central Asia.
There are a lot of ways to prepare Sujuk, and by ways I mean spices. Spices differ from country to country and from region to another. Today my sausage flavor bomb is coming from the Middle East.

Now, why summers are not summers without Sujuk? well not any summers actually. You see we cannot find Egyptian Sujuk here is Colorado, so we wait until we visit Egypt to fill our bellies with Sujuk, flavored the way we were brought up to. This year though, we had Sujuk only once and we came back to Colorado still craving for more. We had some problems in Egypt, grandmothers were sick and it was totally chaotic so we did not have a chance to properly satisfy our cravings :).

A sujuk sandwich on a black plate with fries and tomato slices on the side.

Yumm!!☝️☝️ just look at this pickles green olive sinking in a bed of flavored ground beef.. doesn't this make you wanna take a bite?! This recipe falls into the zero percent hard category. A quick and easy family dinner for those nights when you are too tired to cook.

What meat is Sucuk?

In Egypt, Turkey and all the Middle Eastern countries Sujuk is made of beef or lamb. Lately I've found chicken and turkey sujuk in the Egyptian stores but I haven't tried them yet. Other countries might use pork as well.

Sloppy joes sandwich with green olives on a black plate with tomato slices on the side.

Sloppy Joes Sujuk Ingredients

Simple, just ground beef and some sujuk spices. All the spices are probably there in your spice drawer. You know cumin, paprika, coriander and curry powder. The only spice that you might not have is the ground fenugreek but it is conveniently sold online or you can find it in natural groceries as well.

How to make Sloppy Joes Sujuk?

Step by step photos for making sloppy joes

First sautee onion and garlic in olive oil until fragrant.
Add ground meat and brown.
Then you"ll need to add diced red bell pepper and stir for like 10 seconds.
Add all the spices and mix well.
Now pour the broth and tomato sauce, stir well and let it cook until thickened and most of the liquids evaporate.

A sujuk sloppy joes sandwich on a black plate with tomato slices and pickled olives. A pan of sujuk is on the back.

Ways to serve Sujuk meat

One of the reasons that drove me to make this recipe is " the boys". Believe it or not, last time we visited Egypt they did not eat sujuk at all!!. So as a stubborn mom who wants her kids to eat and enjoy food, especially ones she likes, I simply took it out of the casing :). Same flavor but in a form that they relate more to. You can :

Serve it over rice or pasta.
Form it into patties and grill as burgers. Think lamb burgers maybe.
Make a Sujuk pizza.
Mix with some beans and make Sujuk burritos.
How about Sujuk tacos?
Sujuk with eggs for breakfast.
Or you can go to basics and make sujuk sausages if you you have the tool for it. Just mix the ingredients together and stuff the casing.

Sujuk notes:

If you decided to try the patties or the sausages itself do not cook the stuffing. Just mix the spices, garlic, onion and raw ground meat and work with it as is.
Some people add onions and others just use garlic, I like it with both and that's what I did.
Fenugreek is a crucial flavor for this recipe, but I understand that not all people like it. If you do not like it, feel free to skip it. Fenugreek has a powerful smell and I only added ¼ teaspoon but the smell was obvious and it did not bother my family.