This recipe for Crock-Pot Sloppy Joes is a huge hit with everyone in the family (including the kids)! The flavor is better than what you will find in a can!
Crock-Pot Sloppy Joes
Sloppy Joes are always a classic and a big hit with my kids. But forget about using a can of Manwich because these homemade sloppy joes taste about 100 times better than any sauce you can get from a can!
I like to make a double or even a triple batch of these sloppy joes and freeze the meat in freezer bags once cooked. That way when I know I have a busy day I can just quickly thaw the sloppy joe meat and reheat it up on the stove top and make delicious sandwiches for dinner.
Having pre-cooked freezer meal type ingredients on hand really helps my food budget because I can batch cook when ground beef is on sale and I can buy in bulk AND knowing that I have easy re-heatable meals on hand means I am less inclined to order take-out when we have a super crazy busy day!
While you do need to cook the hamburger on the stove-top (along with the bell peppers and onions) the benefits of cooking the sloppy joe meat mixture in the slow cooker is that it really allows the flavors to meld together.
Ingredients needed for slow cooked Sloppy Joe’s:
- Extra Lean Ground Beef – Because I am on Weight Watchers I use the leanest ground beef that I can find.
- Yellow Onion – To make this kid friendly I only used a half of an onion. You can omit it is your kids don’t like onion at all or you can add the whole onion if you want to.
- Green Bell Pepper – You can use any color bell pepper. Green is just the most commonly available color, but red, yellow or orange bell peppers will work too!
- Ketchup – Use whatever brand you like, I am kind of brand loyal to Heinz low sugar ketchup.
- Bottled Barbecue Sauce – Again, use your favorite brand. I love Sweet Baby Ray’s brand!
- Garlic Powder
- Ground Mustard
- Worcestershire Sauce
Check out these other kid friendly recipes too!
- Crock-Pot Cheeseburger Joes
- Crock-Pot Corn Dog and Beans Casserole
- Crock-Pot Sweet Sloppy Joes
- Crock-Pot Pizza Pasta Casserole
- Crock-Pot Cheesy Chicken Ranch Tater Tot Casserole + Video
Recipe Collections:
| Beef Crock-Pot Recipes | Hamburger Slow Cooker Recipes |
| Kid Friendly Slow Cooker Recipes | Sloppy Joes Crock-Pot Recipes |
| American Crock-Pot Recipes | 4 Quart Slow Cooker Recipes |
| Rating |
Rate this recipe!
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| Servings | 6Servings |
| Prep Time | 20Minutes |
| Cook Time | 3Hours |
- 1 Pound Extra Lean Ground Beef
- 1 Medium Green Bell Pepper Seeded And Diced
- 1/2 Medium Yellow Onion Diced
- 3/4 Cup Ketchup
- 1/4 Cup Bottled Barbecue Sauce
- 1 Teaspoon Ground Mustard
- 1 Teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
- 1/4 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
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Ingredients
Servings: Servings
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- In a large skillet on the stove-top cook and crumble the ground beef along with the onion and bell pepper until the ground beef is no longer pink.
- Drain ground beef mixture and add to a 4 to 6 quart slow cooker.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the slow cooker and stir to mix.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 3 hours to allow the flavors to meld together.
- Serve Sloppy Joe meat mixture on your favorite hamburger buns or rolls (using gluten free buns if you are on a GF diet)
Thanks, going to try it!
Haven’t had sloppy joe’s in ages. And have never made them in the crock pot. Can’t wait to try this. Thanks.
This Was Way Too SWeet.Tomato Sauce Instead Of Ketchup Might Make It Better.
Why on earth would you use a crockpot for this? You are browning the meat in a skillet, so why not just cook there? I love to use my crockpot, but I want to use it to save time. This does not save time, it uses more. It does not take long to just continue on the stove. I just don’t get it. But, I appreciate the recipe; I will use it to make my own SJs without processed canned SJ sauce. Thanks.
Browning in the crock-pot is possible..but takes alot longer. This is one of those recipes that is great to plan for a party or a group. Or when you want to keep it warm but not keep the stove on. You can also cook the hamburger ahead of time, and then use it as a quick freezer meal (package the ingredients and pop in the freezer, bring it out when you do not have alot of time to cook and dump in the crock-pot)
I made it for a group pool party whereby guests could fix a sandwich when they wanted. Served with pickles, slaw, potato salad, chips, etc. Did cut the sweetness with a tad more mustard. Great recipe! Thanks.
Dianne Dennis
Tucson, AZ
Glad the recipe turned out good for you and your party Dianne!
This turned out to be a pretty thin sauce….how would you suggest thickening it a bit?
put the lid on the crock-pot slightly ajar and cook on low a little longer. It will get rid of some of the extra water. You can also use just a little corn starch and mix it in to thicken it.
I made these tonight…..really, REALLY good. I added a few more ingredients: fresh garlic, parsley, chili powder, and thyme. Because I’m gluten free I put mines on romaine lattice leave with a little cheddar cheese. Amazing results, my husband is pleased. Thank you for the recipe.
You’re welcome Tanisha, I am so glad you and your husband loved the recipe. Your additions sound great too! I love recipes like this one that can easily be doctored up to suit your own personal tastes.
Thank you so much for this recipe. Tonight is the second time that I made it in less than a week. It’s a hit in my family.
So glad your family enjoys this sloppy joe recipe Indira! We love that!
Hi
Thought I would let you know I made this yesterday as I was going to be out all day and then watching my son play football (soccer) and wouldn’t be home til 6pm.
I put this on in the morning, having chopped and mixed everything apart from the mince (ground beef) the night before. Then in the morning, I used frozen free flow mince (so it’s frozen in like little pellets) to throw straight into the pot, and turned the crockpot on low for 9 hours.
It tasted amazing and you certainly could not tell that the mince had not been browned first. Everyone loved it and I’ll definitely be making it again, as it was so easy.
So should I put it on 1.5 hours on high?
Probably closer to 2 hours on HIGH LC