These Crock Pot Sloppy Joes are a classic, easy, delicious meal to make at home. You’re going to love the tender ground beef with amazing spices and sauces for the perfect balance of sweet, tangy, and savory flavors!
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These juicy, saucy sandwiches are perfect for a quick weeknight dinner or potluck. They’re made with clean ingredients and no preservatives. Our family can’t get enough of these sandwiches! From the rich beef, aromatic veggies, bright tangy acidity from the tomato sauce and ketchup, and the perfect sweetness from the brown sugar, they're guaranteed to be a hit.
If you love easy sandwich recipes and Crock Pot recipes for a crowd, you’re also going to love this spicy and cheesy Jalapeno Popper Chicken, these hearty BBQ Rib Sandwiches, and our Italian Beef Sandwiches!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Hands-Off, Effortless Cooking: The slow cooker does all of the work for you on this one! Just throw everything in the Crock Pot and you’ll have the best homemade sloppy joes ready to assemble in no time.
- Great for Meal Prep: Make a big batch and you'll have plenty for leftovers all week long. This Crock Pot sloppy joes recipe is also easy to double or make ahead and freeze later.
- Kid Favorite: My kids absolutely adore this recipe and all the adults in our family do, too! Slow cooker sloppy joes are a crowd pleaser that we have in our regular rotation.
- Pantry Staples: The shopping list of sloppy joe ingredients is short and you might already have some of them in your house ready to go.
Ingredients
- Ground Beef: I used lean 80/20 beef for this recipe. You could also use 90/10 or even substitute ground turkey or ground chicken for a lighter version of the recipe.
- Green Pepper and Yellow Onion: Fresh, finely diced bell peppers and onions cook alongside the meat to create tons of flavor.
- Tomato Sauce: One 8 ounce can of tomato sauce is all you need to add the acidity and delicious flavor to the sauce. Be sure to buy sauce and not paste.
- Ketchup and Yellow Mustard: Ketchup and mustard add sweetness and tanginess to the slow cooker sloppy joe flavors.
- Brown Sugar: To give a note of molasses-flavored sweetness.
- Chili Powder, Onion Powder, and Paprika: These three spices add classic flavor to the sloppy joes. We sometimes add in garlic powder, too!
- Worcestershire Sauce: For umami taste. It really brings everything together!
See the recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts, nutritional information, and detailed instructions.
Variations
- BBQ Sauce: Swap the ketchup for barbecue sauce for a different flavor.
- Tex-Mex Sloppy Joes: Stir in a tablespoon of taco seasoning and diced jalapeños. Use fire-roasted tomatoes instead of tomato sauce for extra zesty flavor.
- Spicy Buffalo: Add a ½ cup of buffalo sauce and stir in crumbled bleu cheese. Serve on brioche buns.
How to Make Sloppy Joes in the Crock Pot
These easy Crock Pot sloppy joes are so easy and straightforward to make.
- Step 1: Cook the Ground Beef. Brown the meat on the stove, breaking it up into small pieces as it cooks.
- Step 2: Add the Veggies. Throw in the onions and green bell peppers and cook for an additional 4-5 minutes until they become soft.
- Step 3: Drain and Add to the Slow Cooker. After draining off the excess grease, transfer the meat to the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Step 4: Add Everything Else. Add the tomato sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, yellow mustard, chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper, salt, onion powder, and paprika to the slow cooker. Stir to mix everything together.
- Step 5: Cover and Cook. Cook on high for 2½-3 hours or on low for 6-7 hours.
- Step 6: Serve. Serve hot on hamburger buns and enjoy!
Hint: Feeding a Crowd?
You can easily double this sloppy joes in the Crock Pot recipe, just make sure everything can fit in your slow cooker without overfilling!
Expert Tips
- Browning the Meat: Be sure to cook the meat before adding it to the Crock Pot to simmer in the sauce. Browning it adds a ton of flavor. Break up the beef pieces into small pieces for it to have the best texture.
- Drain the Grease: Be sure to drain any excess grease from the beef so that the mix doesn’t get overly oily.
- To Thicken the Sauce: Remove the lid from the Crock Pot during the last 30 minutes of cooking to let moisture evaporate and allow the sauce to thicken.
Storage Directions
- Storing: Leftovers keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
- Reheating: Let frozen leftovers thaw in the fridge overnight. Reheat the dish in the microwave on medium heat for 30-60 second intervals until it is heated through or in a saucepan on the stove over medium heat. If it seems too thick you can add some water or broth to thin it out.
Serving Suggestions
You can make these for a fun family dinner or a big gathering. Here are some innovative and practical ideas on having Crock Pot sloppy joes for a crowd!
- Toast buns or put them under the broiler in the oven, then load them up with barbecue sauce, cheese, pickles, and grilled onions. Scoop a heap of sloppy joe meat on there and dig in!
- Serving a crowd? Make a few appetizers to go with these yummy sloppy joes. Serve them with crockpot chicken wings and honey garlic meatballs. You could also serve the sloppy joes on Hawaiian slider rolls for a fun party appetizer.
- These are so good with potatoes! Serve them with French fries, sweet potato fries, slow cooker crack potatoes or crock pot baked potatoes for filling and satisfying sloppy joe meals.
- Have a fresh green side salad, fruit, or other veggies. You could also make a side of mac and cheese or Brussels sprouts.
More Slow Cooker Beef Recipes
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Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- ⅓ cup green pepper (seeded and diced)
- ½ cup yellow onion (diced)
Sauce
- 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
- ¾ cup ketchup
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1½ tbsp yellow mustard
- ½ tsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp paprika
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the ground beef to the skillet. Cook for 6-8 minutes or until browned, breaking up the ground beef with a spatula.
- Add onions and green peppers and cook for an additional 4-5 minutes or until they become soft.
- Drain off excess grease and add the meat to the slow cooker.
- Add tomato sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, yellow mustard, chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper, salt, onion powder, and paprika to the slow cooker. Stir everything together.
- Cover and cook on high for 2½-3 hours or on low for 6-7 hours.
- Serve hot on hamburger buns and enjoy!
Notes
- I suggest using 80/20 or 90/10 lean beef for this recipe.
- Brown the meat on the stovetop to give it the most flavor.
- Dice the onions and green peppers into small, uniform pieces so they cook evenly.
- Add a few extra drops of Worcestershire sauce if you want!
- Prevent soggy sandwiches by lightly toasting your hamburger buns before serving.
- Let leftovers cool completely before refrigerating or freezing.
Nutrition
*Nutrition information is an estimate. It may vary based on ingredients, brands, and changes in cooking methods listed in the recipe. If you need exact ingredient numbers, I recommend calculating them with your preferred nutrition calculator.
Stef
Made this yesterday, turned out great! I added a jalapeno for a little heat and assembled added cheese and toasted them in the Air Fryer. Flavor was great! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Ryan Allen
So glad you liked them. Toasting the buns in the air fryer pure genius.
P. Gibson
Super, super good! I made it exactly as the recipe was written. Didn’t have to change a thing. Definitely keeping this one! Thank you, Ryan!
Ryan Allen
You are welcome! It makes me happy to hear you enjoyed it.