Make up a big batch of Crock-Pot Loose Meat Sandwiches to feed a crowd with this delicious mid-western recipe. Serve on buns with chips and pickles!

Slow Cooker Loose Meat Sandwiches
Loose meat sandwiches are a classic mid-western dish that is kind of hard to explain to someone who has never had one before.
They are kind of like sloppy joes, but without the tomato based sauce. There is a nice beefy flavor from the ground beef and beef bullion, and little tang from the vinegar and Worcestershire sauce and just a little sweetness from the brown sugar and cooked onion.
To start with you brown your ground beef (extra lean preferred) and onion in a skillet on the stove-top. Then add the meat and everything to your slow cooker and let it cook on LOW for just a few hours. This really allows the flavors to meld together. And, if you are serving a lot of people you can just flip the slow cooker to the WARM setting, set out buns, rolls, cheese and other toppings and let folks make their own sandwiches.
When ground beef goes on sale at the grocery store I will often make a double (or even triple batch) of loose meat and bag it up in freezer bags so that I have dinner or lunches that I can just pull out of the freezer and just heat up.
I have even been known to take a frozen bag, a package of hamburger buns and some cheese on over to a sick friend so that they don’t have to cook dinner. Always a hit.

Special Diets
Low Calorie | Low Carb | Low Fat | Low Sodium | Low Sugar
This recipe for Crock-Pot Loose Meat Sandwiches is Weight Watchers Friendly on the new Personal Points plan. You can see the WW personal points for this recipe here on the Weight Watchers website. Click here for MORE of our Weight Watchers Recipes


Crock-Pot Loose Meat Sandwiches Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound Extra Lean Ground Beef
- ½ medium Yellow Onion
- ½ tablespoon Brown Sugar
- 1 tablespoon White Vinegar
- ½ tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
- ½ teaspoon Beef Bouillon Granules
- 1 tablespoon Low Sodium Soy Sauce
- ½ cup Water
Instructions
- In a large skillet set on medium-high heat on the stove-top, cook the ground beef with the onions, crumbling the meat and cooking until no longer pink. Drain off excess fat and add meat to a 5 quart or larger slow cooker.
- Add remaining ingredients to slow cooker and mix well to combine.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 2 hours.
- Turn slow cooker to WARM setting to keep warm while serving.
- Serve on buns with american or cheddar cheese and pickles on top!
Notes
Nutrition

Why would you go to the trouble of cooking hamburger on the stove, and then dirty a crock pot when you could be done in about 15 minutes on the stove?
Also, I’m NOT a fan of yummly. I linked to the recipe in an email, the directions link said the recipe had been moved, I searched, it sent me to the wrong place. Redid it and FINALLY caught up to it here.
The slower cooking time makes for a more flavorful meat in our opinion. It allows the flavors to meld a little bit.
I am also not a fan of Yummly…that is why we don’t have Yummly sharing links on our site. Sorry it took you a while to get to the recipe.
How does 1 pound of lean hamburger feed 12 people/or make 12 sandwiches on hamburger buns ????
Or are these supposed to make 12 “slider “size Sandwiches ????
Sliders
This recipe looks great. Yesterday, before I found your site, I made loose meat sandwiches. I brown and crumble the beef into oblivion, bring to a boil with beef broth, then cover and simmer stove top for no less than 2 hours. You’re correct, it amplifies the flavor, not to mention the tenderness.
I hope you will give this recipe in the slow cooker a try J.R.!
What is the serving size?
Hi Carlie, the serving size of this recipe is 1/12th of the recipe.
What is the serving size of 1/12th of the recipe?
Hi Alanna, I don’t really measure out the servings into cups. The serving size is 1/12th of the recipe.
Alanna, weigh the entire thing once it is cooked then divide by 12. That will give you 1/12.
I can see a lot of the people commenting here have never really cooked loose meat from the not understanding the fact that the meat absorbs the liquid and expands and it is not like a hamburger. Great recipe, the slow cooking makes it so much better than cooking on the stove in a pan or a pot and gives the meat time to absorb the liquid more fully!
Also I find adding minced garlic to any loosemeat recipe gives a great flavor. But I love garlic and add it to just about anything 🙂
Garlic is always a good addition Jonathan!