Crock Pot Sloppy Joes

Crock Pot Sloppy Joes take your favorite weeknight meal and turn it into something even easier to make, with more flavor in every bite! The saucy, hand-dripping filling is slow-cooked until tender and every single flavor has been absorbed into the meat, before it’s pressed between two soft hamburger buns.

If your mouth is watering just reading that, scroll down for the recipe and other expert tips so you can have some finger-licking, slow cooker Sloppy Joes in no time!

Reasons You’ll Love This

Superior Slow Cooker – No Crockpot hate will be tolerated here! Slow cookers make the most flavorful, and not to mention, easiest dinners you’ll ever have.

Not ‘Joe-king’ – No seriously, I am not kidding when I say that Sloppy Joe in the Crock Pot may be even better than regular Sloppy Joes!

It’s ‘Joe’ Good! – Don’t let the name ‘Sloppy Joes” fool you. While they can be a bit messy, the mess is worth the overwhelming joy you will feel when you take your first bite.

Kid Friendly – Sloppy Joes are definitely a nostalgic recipe, and your kids will love them too!

No Fuss – All you have to do is throw some sloppy joe in the Crockpot, then let the magic happen.

Sloppy Joes in the Crock Pot might just be the best thing to ever happen to your weeknight dinner plans. Not only does this take minimal effort to make, but it makes for a tasty, fan favorite meal!

Ingredient Info

Let’s discuss how to make Crockpot Sloppy Joes, as well as the ingredients that are needed. Please take note that below you will find discussion, expert tips, and answers to frequently asked questions about this recipe to help you recreate it in your kitchen. If you *just* want the recipe itself, scroll down. The full printable recipe itself, with exact measurements and instructions, is found at the bottom of this page.

Lean Ground Beef – The leaner the ground beef the better because you don’t want a ton of fat cooking into the recipe, and you’ll add some ground sausage which already has enough fat in it.
Ground Pork Sausage – Pork has a really nice flavor that blends into to the tomato sauce. You can also use turkey sausage if you’d prefer.
Onion – You just want one small white or yellow onion, chopped.
Green Bell Pepper – This adds a wonderful flavor to the Sloppy Joes, but can be omitted if you don’t like bell pepper. You can also substitute for some de-seeded and deveined jalapeños.
Tomato Sauce – Any brand of tomato sauce works fine for this recipe.
Ketchup – The key ingredient! It adds a bit of sweetness and tanginess to the joes that you don’t want to skimp out on!
Brown Sugar – Make sure to firmly pack the brown sugar before adding it to the recipe.
Apple Cider Vinegar – For the sweet tang you know and love in a Sloppy Joe.
Yellow Mustard – I think this adds a really bright flavor to the Sloppy Joes, but you can use brown mustard if that’s all you have.
Flour – Flour will thicken up that Sloppy Joe sauce so it’s not runny.
Hamburger Buns – The classic hamburger buns will do just fine. If you want to serve smaller Joes, you can use rolls instead.

Step By Step Instructions

Heat a large dutch oven or deep skillet over a medium high heat. Add the beef, sausage, diced onion and green bell pepper and cook until the meat completely browns. This takes approximately 10 minutes. Drain the meat well once there is no more pink.
Add the browned meat to the Crockpot.
Pour in the tomato sauce, water, ketchup, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, mustard, chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, salt and flour.
Stir to combine, then allow it to cook on high for 4 hours. Once the 4 hours is up, serve on hamburger buns of your choice and enjoy!

Tips and Advice

Storage – You can store the leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days or in the freezer for up to a month. To freeze, add the sloppy joe filling into a plastic Ziploc freezer bag. Zip up the bag, flatten it out, and lay it flat in the freezer. To reheat, allow it to thaw in the fridge overnight, or defrost in the microwave.

Stovetop Method

You can also make these Sloppy Joes on the stovetop using the same ingredients EXCEPT for the flour. Here’s how:

Brown the beef, sausage, onion and bell pepper over medium high heat as normal and drain.
To the meat, add in the tomato sauce, and the rest of the ingredients except for the flour.
Reduce the heat to medium, cover the dutch oven or deep skillet with a lid and let it cook on the stove for 30 minutes.
Remove the lid, give it a stir, then serve on hamburger buns!

Equipment

For this recipe you’ll need a Crockpot or slow cooker, a dutch oven, and something to stir with. If you want something extra fancy to dice your veggies, check out this veggie chopper that will do it in seconds!

FAQs

Can ground beef be put in the Crockpot raw?

It depends. For this recipe, the meat needs to be browned before you add the sauce. If your slow cooker has a meat browning feature, then you can absolutely put it in the Crockpot! If you choose to do it this way, just know that the meat will still need to be drained before you add the sauce ingredients.

Do you use butter or oil to brown ground beef?

Nope! Ground beef and sausage usually have enough fat in the meat and don’t require any oil in the pan to prevent it from sticking.

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This makes a wonderfully easy weeknight meal. Here are some great sides for Sloppy Joes that you have to try!

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