Give Your Sloppy Joes A Spicy Kick With This Korean Condiment

Beyond being a messy dish, the most accurate criticism you can launch at sloppy joes is that they can sometimes be unexciting when it comes to flavor. That's why, when making them at home, one of the best things you can do is add some unique ingredients to the mix to give the dish a more interesting kick. While one strategy to improve the dish is adding cola to your standard sloppy joe recipe to make it sweeter, fans of spicy dishes should add some Gochujang paste to the mix to make the saucy dish much more delicious.

Gochujang is a Korean paste most commonly seen as part of meat marinades for dishes like bulgogi (or the equally incredible bulgogi tacos) and as an ingredient in several sweet and spicy dipping sauces. However, by adding the spicy paste directly into your homemade sloppy joe mix — alongside the other sauces or pastes you enjoy – your dish will be granted the heat, sweetness, and general umami flavor that it needs to take it to another level. 

Suffice to say, adding gochujang to sloppy joes is a tremendous upgrade for the sandwich. But the addition can also lead to even more possibilities for the dish — especially for those who want to make it even hotter. While you can increase the heat by adding more gochujang paste to the mix, I'm a fan of putting jalapenos on my sloppy joes to get the job done. While this can be done regardless of whether gochujang is involved or not, including both ingredients creates a serious spice upgrade for those bold enough to handle that much heat.

Alternatively, if you want to use another popular Korean dish to amplify the sandwich, adding kimchi to the equation is also an incredible move. Similar to its use as an add-on to grilled cheese sandwiches, kimchi is a fantastic topping for your gochujang sloppy joes because it gives the dish a nice tangy flavor and a satisfying crunch at the same time. Plus, if you are still left wanting more spice, adding a slice or two of pepper jack cheese alongside the kimchi creates what I consider to be the perfect sloppy joe sandwich.