Instant Pot Hawaiian Sloppy Joes

If you’ve been around my blog, then you know we have a thing for Hawaii. We just love the flavors of the island and my husband’s family actually comes from there! So when we have a chance to give our food a Hawaiian spin, we take it!

The other night I felt like making Sloppy Joes in the Instant Pot. The kids love them and I had all the ingredients on hand. My husband Ryan, in true Ryan fashion, wasn’t feeling plain old Sloppy Joes. He suggested we try something new and a little more exciting. So of course, our thoughts went straight to making them Hawaiian in some way. With just a few extra ingredients our Hawaiian Sloppy Joes came to be!

Well, I’m pretty pleased with the way they turned out! So pleased that we decided to make the recipe again, two days later, so we could share it on the blog. By the way, the kids ate it all again, and there were no complaints about eating the same thing twice! They loved it!

These Hawaiian Sloppy Joes are fairly simple to make. One pot and just a little bit of prep! Here we go!

Making Hawaiian Sloppy Joes In The Instant Pot

This is some sweet Hawaiian goodness right here! The flavor in these Hawaiian Sloppy Joes borrows from the flavors in my Instant Pot Hawaiian Chicken. This recipe is much simpler though, and can be prepped and cooked when you’re running short on time.

Gather and Prep Your Ingredients

Can’t have Hawaiian without some pineapple! You’ll need a can of crushed pineapple in 100% juice. Do not get the one in heavy syrup. You’ll also need a sweet onion, bell peppers, soy sauce, garlic cloves, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, brown sugar, and of course ground beef.

Chop one medium-sized sweet onion. This should give you about a cup and a half of chopped onion.

You’ll want a cup of chopped red and yellow bell peppers.

These are the peppers I used. I picked them up at my local grocery store. If you can’t find these peppers, big red and yellow bell peppers work perfectly also.

Mince 4 cloves of garlic.

Sauté the Onions and Garlic

Set your Instant Pot to sauté and let it warm up for a few minutes.

Add one tablespoon of oil to the pot and allow it to heat up before adding the onion and garlic.

Once the oil is hot, add the onions and garlic to the pot, mixing as they sauté.

Allow the onions and garlic to sauté until the onion starts to become slightly translucent.

Add the Chopped Peppers

Next you’ll want to add the chopped peppers and sauté them for a couple more minutes.

Brown the Ground Beef

Now you’ll want to add the two pounds of ground beef to the pot. I use ground sirloin 90/10 so that there is not so much fat left in the pot after it cooks. I find that the 90/10 is the best balance. It’s still flavorful but not terribly fatty. An even leaner ground beef such as 93/7 or 96/4 would also work great but I certainly would not use anything fattier.

Cook the ground beef until it browns all the way through. This is how it should look before going to the next steps.

The following ingredients really give these Instant Pot Sloppy Joes that special tropical taste of Hawaii.

Add the Soy Sauce, Worcestershire Sauce and Brown Sugar

Now add a quarter cup of soy sauce, one tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce and a quarter cup of brown sugar.

Add the Can of Crushed Pineapple

Add one whole can of crushed pineapple in 100% pineapple juice. Do not drain the can. You want to add the entire can including the juice. Mix well. This will be the last time you mix the ingredients before closing the Instant Pot.

Add the Ketchup and Tomato Paste

Dump one cup of ketchup and two tablespoons on top of the ground beef mixture. DO NOT MIX.

Just leave the ketchup and tomato paste sitting on top of the ground beef. It is important that you do not mix it in. You can now turn sauté off by hitting cancel.

Close the Instant Pot and Set the Cook Time

After turning the sauté feature off you can close the Instant Pot. Once the pot is closed, set the pressure release valve to sealing and cook on Manual High Pressure for 5 minutes. (Some models of Instant Pots say “Pressure Cook” instead of “Manual”)

Always make sure that the pressure release valve is set to sealing.

Once the cooking time has completed, allow for a 10 minute NPR (Natural Pressure Release). This means you do nothing until your display reads like shown below.

Open the Instant Pot and Mix

Once the 10-minute Natural Pressure Release has completed, release any remaining pressure manually. Once the pin drops, open the pot. This is what you will see.

Mix everything together well.

To further thicken the sloppy joe beef mixture, set the pot to sauté again and allow the liquid to cook off for about 3 more minutes.

You’ll want to stir the mixture often to ensure that some of the sloppy joe mixture doesn’t burn and stick to the bottom of the pot.

Hawaiian Sloppy Joes Fresh out of the Instant Pot

This Hawaiian Sloppy Joe mixture is so delicious! It’s sweet goodness in every bite!

For that special finishing touch, serve these Sloppy Joes on sweet Hawaiian buns. These are the ones I got. These would also be great served on sliders when you’re having a get-together with friends or family.

Serve Your Instant Pot Hawaiian Sloppy Joes

Before serving the sloppy joes, it’s best to toast the insides of the buns. This will help prevent the bottom half of the bun from getting soggy. I also scoop the sloppy joe mixture out of the Instant Pot using a slotted serving spoon to allow any excess liquid to drain off.

IT’S YOUR TURN TO MAKE THESE HAWAIIAN SLOPPY JOES!

Did you make these Hawaiian Sloppy Joes? I hope you enjoy these Instant Pot Hawaiian Sloppy Joes as much as we did! Let me know in the comments if you try out the recipe and don’t forget to pin and share the recipe if you love it!

5-Star Rating: If you loved these sandwiches, I’d appreciate it if you could give them a 5-star rating to show how much you loved them.

MORE QUICK, EASY, AND DELICIOUS RECIPES

Looking for another sandwich recipe? Here are a couple more easy sandwich recipes I know you’ll love:

• Instant Pot French Dip
• Instant Pot Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork

Need a soup to go with your sloppy joes? If you’re looking for a perfect soup to serve with this recipe, then check out my Instant Pot Soup Recipes post.