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Krispy Kreme Sloppy Joe? Not ours, says doughnut chain.

Krispy Kreme Sloppy Joe debuted in California over the weekend, but Krispy Kreme has nothing to do with the sandwich. The Sloppy Joe is the brainchild of a California chef known for deep-frying everything from Twinkies to Kool-Aid. 

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PRNewsFoto/Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corporation/File
Krispy Kreme has denied any involvement with the Krispy Kreme Sloppy Joe, currently being sold at the San Diego County Fair.

Krispy Kreme let National Doughnut Day pass it by this year. Arch rival Dunkin Donuts grabbed all the headlines with its national rollout of the Glazed Donut Breakfast Sandwich, while Krispy Kreme was left offering the requisite free doughnut of years past. And it was fine with that.

But sometimes, the publicity finds you.

The North Carolina-based doughnut chain now finds itself linked to another newsmaking, stomach churning doughnut concoction: the Krispy Kreme Sloppy Joe.

In case you haven’t been to summer camp in a few years, sloppy Joes generally consist of ground beef, a tomato-based sauce, onions, and spices formed into a thick sludge and slopped onto a hamburger bun. In the Krispy Kreme version, it’s covered in shredded cheddar cheese and slopped onto a glazed doughnut.

Don't blame Krispy Kreme for this one. The sandwich is the product of chef Charlie Boghosian at Chicken Charlie’s, a vendor of deep-fried food at the San Diego County Fair. The menu is dotted with a slew of other decadent offerings, including deep-fried Twinkies, bacon-wrapped pickles, fried Kool-Aid, and Krispy Kreme Chicken Sandwiches ( a lighter option for those interested in its Sloppy Joe cousin but worried about the calories. We guess).

“Contrary to recent media and online reports, Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corporation has not partnered with a chef Charlie Boghosian of Chicken Charlie's to produce a Sloppy Joe sandwich,” Krispy Kreme spokesman Brian Little wrote the Monitor via e-mail.

The sandwich will be making a California tour of sorts throughout the summer, according to the Los Angeles Times. Chicken Charlie’s will be at the San Diego County Fair through Fourth of July weekend, then set up shop at the Orange County Fair from July 12 to Aug. 11. After that, it continues on to the Los Angeles County Fair, which runs from Aug. 30 to Sept 29.

The Krispy Kreme Sloppy Joe, of course, is the latest in a growing tradition of doughnuts as sandwich bread. Southern chef and Food Network Star Paula Deen has been trumpeting a recipe for a doughnut hamburger since at least 2008; the Gateway Grizzlies, a minor league baseball franchise, is credited with serving a version at its Illinois ballpark at least two years before that. Astro’s, an eatery in Washington, serves a fried chicken BLT on a chive doughnut.

But the sloppy Joe iteration is new, and probably short-lived. Kripsy Kreme has announced no plans thus far to include the Chicken Charlie’s creation on its menu. Among the myriad of possible reasons we could point to, even regular sloppy Joes aren’t sandwiches likely to be eaten on a regular basis (like a hamburger or breakfast sandwich). Then again, we can and should say the same for any sandwich involving a doughnut. 

The Monitor taste-tested the Glazed Doughnut Breakfast Sandwich in our Boston office last week, to mixed reviews. Due to Chicken Charlie’s West Coast location and the limits of our gastronomical bravery, we won’t be doing the same for the Krispy Kreme Sloppy Joe. 

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