Give Leftover Meatloaf New Life As Hearty Sloppy Joe Sandwiches

Meatloaf can make a delicious comfort meal, but if you've got it sitting around for a while, it can start to get old having to eat it night after night. So, rather than eating the same thing until it's gone, why not try repurposing your meatloaf into sloppy joes?

Essentially, all you need to do is crumble the meatloaf up so that it resembles ground beef again. Then, warm it up in a frying pan, add a bit of sauce, and slap it onto some buns for a fast and easy sloppy joe sandwich.

Now, while that might be the gist of how to implement this trick, there are a couple of additional things you can do to elevate your meal and give it a pop of flavor. And, if you've still got screeds of meatloaf sitting around, there are a few other easy ways to repurpose it into a new and tasty dinner.

One of the first tips and tricks for turning leftover meatloaf into sloppy joes is what kind of sauce you'll go with. If you're looking for an easy way to make your filling, you can use store-bought barbecue sauce and mix it with your meat as you warm it on the stove. However, you can also try making your own version. To do so, follow the recipe for standard sloppy joe sauce and mix that in with your meatloaf instead.

Besides whether you'll use homemade or storebought sauce, it also pays to think about add-ins. To give your meatloaf a bit of a kick, for instance, you can mix in things like hot sauce or chipotle peppers. Other add-ins include a bit of paprika, cumin, or cinnamon. Or, you can mix in a dash of maple syrup or brown sugar to add some sweetness and depth to your sauce.

Finally, you can add some cooked, chopped onions or sautéed garlic to your mixture for another pop of flavor to the final sandwich. Whichever of these tricks you use, you'll wind up with a delicious meal to bite into.

Besides sloppy joes, there are other tasty things you can do with leftover meatloaf. Another way to use up your leftovers is to sandwich meatloaf between two slices of bread, top it with a bit of cheese, and add a bit of ketchup. Then, stick the whole thing in the microwave for a sandwich that's even easier to make than sloppy joes. Or, use slices of it as a replacement for the beef patty in your favorite hamburger.

Moving away from sandwiches entirely, you can crumble it up and cook it in your favorite tomato pasta sauce for a meaty topping for spaghetti. For this, you can doctor things up further by adding herbs such as basil and oregano. Or, add crumbled meatloaf to a pot of hearty soup. 

These are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to using up your leftover meatloaf. So, feel free to have some fun and cook up your own methods of getting rid of it when it's hanging about.