Two pounds of ground beef in a sweet and tangy homemade sloppy joe sauce — browned once, five hands-off hours in the crock, and eight sandwiches at the end.
Three things that make these sloppy joes work
The slow cooker does the real work here, and these are the three places it goes right or wrong.
- Brown with the onion and garlic: They cook into the meat instead of sitting on top of it.
- Drain the beef well: The sauce brings all the moisture this recipe needs, and grease thins it out.
- Save the toppings for the end: American cheese, pickles, and diced onions go on the finished sandwich.
Ground beef Crock Pot recipes aren’t as common as chicken Crock Pot recipes, but this Crock Pot ground beef recipe is just as good – and FULL of flavor!
The Sloppy joe mix that cooks alongside the ground beef is absolutely delicious and I have no doubt that you’ll love it as much as my family does!
This is the kind of dinner where the slow cooker does the thinking. Brown the beef, stir everything in, and five hours later you’re just spooning it onto buns.
Crock Pot Old Fashioned Sloppy Joes Recipe
There’s not much to talk about or explain when it comes to these sloppy joes. My ONLY regret in taking my pictures though is that I didn’t add my toppings.
These sloppy joes should really be topped with a slice of American cheese and pickles, as well as some diced onions.
As for the rest of the “normal” sloppy joe ingredients … feel free to leave those out because these are so full of flavor that you won’t be missing those. Plus, they’re already in the recipe, so there’s that, too. 🙂
Sloppy Joe Mix Recipe (Ingredients):
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1/4 onion, finely chopped
- 1 T garlic, minced
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1/8 cup brown sugar
- 2 1/2 T mustard
- 1 1/2 T Worcestershire sauce
- 1 T Chili powder
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 8 sandwich buns
- 8 slices American Cheese
How to make homemade sloppy joes:
- In a large skillet or a Ninja 4-in-1 Crock Pot, over medium heat, brown beef with onion and garlic and drain
- Spray a 5-quart slow cooker with non-stick spray
- Add remaining ingredients except bund to the slow cooker, mix well
- Stir in beef mixture
- Cover and cook on low for 5 hours
- Spoon beef mixture over buns
- Top with a slice of American cheese, pickles and diced onions (all optional)
What Is in the Sauce
The sauce is ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, Worcestershire, and chili powder. The sugar makes it sweet, the mustard and Worcestershire make it tangy, and the chili powder keeps it interesting.
The cup of chicken broth is what keeps the mixture saucy through five hours of cooking. Without it, you would have dry crumbles instead of a proper sloppy joe.
What I Have Learned Making This
Brown the beef with the onion and garlic, not after them. That way they cook into the meat instead of sitting on top of it.
Drain the beef well before it goes in the slow cooker. The sauce brings all the moisture this recipe needs, and grease will thin it out.
Don’t skip the toppings like I did in my pictures. A slice of American cheese, a few pickles, and some diced onions take these from good to the whole package.
Do I need to add anything else to the mix?
No, and that is the point. The usual extras people stir into sloppy joes are already in the recipe, so the flavor is built in before it ever hits the bun.
Ground beef doesn’t get much attention in the slow cooker world, and this recipe is my argument that it should. One skillet, one crock, eight sandwiches, and nothing to babysit.
Sloppy Joe Mix Recipe
Equipment
- Crock Pot
- Meat Chopper
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1/4 onion finely chopped
- 1 T garlic minced
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1/8 cup brown sugar
- 2 1/2 T mustard
- 1 1/2 T Worcestershire sauce
- 1 T Chili powder
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 8 sandwich buns
- 8 slices American Cheese
Instructions
- In a large skillet or a Ninja 4-in-1 Crock Pot, over medium heat, brown beef with onion and garlic and drain
- Spray a 5-quart slow cooker with non-stick spray
- Add remaining ingredients except bund to the slow cooker, mix well
- Stir in beef mixture
- Cover and cook on low for 5 hours
- Spoon beef mixture over buns
- Top with a slice of American cheese, pickles and diced onions (all optional)