Manna Sandwiches – easy ground beef sandwiches with comeback sauce and swiss cheese. Hands-down the BEST sandwich we’ve eaten. Ground beef, onion, soy sauce, parsley, basil, and garlic. The sauce puts these sandwiches over the top – mayonnaise, Catalina dressing, ketchup, spicy brown mustard, and sugar. Served on hoagie buns with melted cheese. YUM!
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Pin This RecipeBest Loose Meat Sandwiches
I came across this recipe via a Facebook friend. She posted a link to the recipe and said these Manna Sandwiches were the BEST sandwich ever. BEST ever? How could I not check them out with an endorsement like that?!?! I looked over the recipe and it sounded really good.
What is a Manna Sandwich? A Manna Sandwich is basically a loose meat sandwich. Think Sloppy Joe’s without the tomato sauce. The recipe is from Hoody’s Hoagies in Claxton, GA. I’ve never been to Claxton, GA, but I am considering a road trip after making these sandwiches. The home version was SOOOO good. I’d love to taste the original.
How to Make Manna Sandwiches
Manna Sandwiches are super easy to make. Start with making the sauce. Whisk together mayonnaise, Catalina dressing, ketchup, spicy brown mustard, and sugar. Let the sauce hangout in the refrigerator while you make the sandwich meat.
I like to make the sauce the day before we eat the sandwiches so the flavors can come together. This recipe makes more sauce than you will probably need for the sandwiches. The leftover sauce will keep in the refrigerator for at least a week. The sauce is great on burgers, fries, chicken fingers, fried pickles.
Now to the sandwich meat. Brown some ground beef in a skillet. Drain the fat. Add onion, parsley, basil, and soy sauce to the skillet. Simmer for a few minutes and then assemble the sandwiches,
Slather the sauce on both sides of the hoagie bun. Top with swiss cheese. Pop the buns under the broiler to melt the cheese. Scoop the meat onto the buns and enjoy.
What to Serve with Loose Meat Sandwiches
These Manna Sandwiches were a huge hit at our house. Chicken Legs took one bite and said, “Wow! These are good!”. I agree! I was shocked that such a simple recipe could taste so good. These are definitely going on the menu again very soon! And that sauce – OMG! SO good! We like to serve these sandwiches with some fries, chips, pasta salad, fruit salad. Here are a few of our favorite recipes from the blog that go great with these yummy Manna Sandwiches:
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Manna Sandwiches
Ingredients:
Sauce
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup Catalina or French dressing
- 2½ Tbsp ketchup
- 2 Tbsp spicy brown mustard
- 2 Tbsp sugar
Sandwiches
- 2½ lb ground chuck
- 2 Tbsp dried minced onion
- 2 Tbsp water
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp dried parsley
- 1½ tsp dried basil
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ lb Swiss cheese slices
- 6 (6-inch) hoagie rolls
Instructions:
- Combine sauce ingredients in a bowl. Set aside.
- In a large skillet, cook ground beef until no longer pink. Drain fat. Add onion, water, soy sauce, parsley, basil, and garlic powder. Simmer for 10 minutes, until liquid is evaporated.
- Split the hoagie rolls. Slather them with sauce, and put cheese on top. Place them under the broiler until cheese melts, 1-2 minutes. Divide ground beef between the buns and serve.
Notes:
Steph
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I made these sandwiches the other day……….pretty darn good. 🙂 I will for sure be making these again. The amount of meat makes a lot, so I needed to make up more sauce for the leftovers. I am thinking I will get at least 9 hoagie bun sandwiches out of this recipe and I feel like we piled on the meat. The second time around making them up I didn’t cut the hoagie bun all the way through. Boy……that sure made it easier to eat without all the meat falling out. I still was able to get the bun to open up and slather both sides of the bun with sauce and cheese to go under the broiler.
P.S. I made my sister a sandwich to try, and she really like it too. I will be making this recipe for a family get together in the future. YUM! I followed the directions to the tee. I didn’t substitute or add anything extra.
Which mustard to you recommend using for this recipe? Recipe says spicy brown mustard and the video shows you using Dijon mustard for the special sauce. 🙂
Either works fine.
We have these often. We make a double or triple batch of the sauce to keep on hand for the next time.
I graduated from high school with Hoody – we were band mates for many years. One of the best people from the best family! Sadly, the restaurant in Claxton is no longer open, but EVERYTHING there was delicious!
I made these. They were super easy to make and super tasty. I have passed this recipe off to quite a few of my friends.
Do u put cheese on both halves? Using gourmet hamburger buns
You can if you want to
I’ve made these once before and they were delish. Can’t remember though if I’m to use spicy brown mustard as the written recipe says or Dijon as is used in the video.
It’s so strange googling and finding my grandpa Al Hodges’ recipe. My parents own Hoody’s Hoagies and I had worked in their kitchen for years. I have made many batches of manna! However, we don’t brown the meat in a pan. We put all the liquids and seasonings in a pot, and then tear of chunks of the meat and drop them in. We then place the diced onions on top and cover. After it has boiled and cooked, we cool it down and use a soup ladle to dip the fat off the top, which has an amber color.
As an added tip, don’t cut all the way through the bun. Make it kind of like a hotdog bun so the meat doesn’t fall out everywhere.
Thank you for the tips! Your Grandpa’s recipe is AMAZING!!!
Ari, I googled this sandwich too as I live in Savannah and am headed to Claxton this weekend thinking I’d stop at Hoody’s. I then saw online the restaurant was temporarily closed and your granddad had had some health problems. I hope he is doing better and they will be back up and running soon! All his sandwiches are fantastic!
or I guess it’s your dad. Anyway prayers for recovery!
Yes Ari – I remember the original Sandwich Shop well!
THIS IS THE SECOND TIME WE HAVE MADE THIS & IT IS AWESOME!!!
SO EASY AND BETTER TO EAT THANK YOU FOR AN AWESOME SANDWICH!!!
I made this for my family and it was a big hit! I used all fresh ingredients, instead of dried, and it was so yummy! Will definitely make again!
My family enjoyed. A very filling and flavorful hot sub sandwich.
Just made these for dinner and they are absolutely delicious. Your recipes never fail to please my husbands picky palette.
These are delicious! Just made them. The basil in this is everything! Doesn’t even need sauce! Thanks for new recipe for beef!
SO glad you enjoyed them!
Hmm, I’m thinking add sauce to the meat mixture and go from there?
To Victoria, Jarlsberg, mozzarella, Havarti, Muenster provolone, Monterey Jack, the substitutions are endless. Just use what you like, including American. Just pick a cheese that has melting properties.
What other cheese could i sub for the swiss?