Loaded Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes
You can say goodbye to that can of Manwich, considering these Crock Pot Sloppy Joes wrack-up the canned stuff out of the water! This easy sloppy joe recipe is a family favorite, and only takes 15 minutes to prep! If you’re looking for archetype repletion supplies you can make superiority of time, this slow cooker recipe is for you.
Classic Sloppy Joes in the Crock Pot
Whenever I remake a favorite meal from my childhood, I get a bit nervous. It’s the same feeling I have when I watch a movie I thought was SO AMAZING in my teenage years. Some of these movies, like “Father of the Bride” for instance, veritably stand the test of time.
Other times, you re-watch a movie like “Dude, Where’s My Car” and realize with some sadness that it was only funny considering you watched it with your weightier friend at 2 AM while breaking off chunks of cookie dough straight from the Tollhouse block.
I had the same feeling remaking my mom’s archetype sloppy joe recipe as I did when I made my other diaper favorites, Crazy Cake and Green Bean Tater Tot Casserole. This was either going to go really well or really badly.
Luckily for all of us, this Crock Pot Sloppy Joe recipe is the Father of the Bride of the supplies world. It holds up! It is just as comforting, wonderfully sloppy, sweet, and tangy as I remember.
Plus, to the unconfined relief of all parents who’ve experienced the mysterious verism of the “witching hour,” you can make them in the slow cooker! With just 15 minutes of prep, you can have these homemade sloppy joes in the crock pot and ready for you just in time to write-up the dinner-time whinge.
Load them up with a slice of cheese and your favorite toppings for a hearty hands-off recipe the whole family will love!
Key Ingredients in Sloppy Joes
We make our sloppy joes recipe with ground whinge and a homemade sloppy joe sauce with ketchup. Here’s what you’ll need to make them:
- Ground beef– You can use 80/20 or lean ground beef. Either will work.
- Onion and (sometimes) untried pepper– We unchangingly add onion to our sloppy joes. Diced small, it’s whimsically noticeable and it adds unconfined flavor. The same goes for the tintinnabulate pepper! If I have one on hand, I love to add it in for a uplift in veggies.
- Brown sugar– I have unchangingly preferred a subtly sweet sloppy joe. The brown sugar gives the recipe a definite sweetness, but it’s well well-turned by the savory tang of our other ingredients.
- Mustard and World Cider Vinegar– For that signature tang! You can use red wine vinegar if you don’t have world cider vinegar on hand.
- Worcestershire sauce– I just love the widow depth and savoriness a little worcestershire gives this sauce.
- Ketchup– You’ll need 1 ½ cups, so be sure to trammels your fridge to make sure you have unbearable surpassing you throne to the store!
- Hamburger Buns– We love serving sloppy joe on brioche buns, but any kind of bun will work just fine. This recipe can moreover be used to make sloppy joe sliders!
NOTE: This sloppy joe meat is gluten free, but you’ll need to make sure you get gluten self-ruling Worcestershire sauce (Lea and Perrin’s and French’s are both GF) and use gluten self-ruling buns for a completely gluten self-ruling sloppy joe sandwich.
Toppings for Slow Cooker Sloppy Joe
Now, let’s stop for a moment and talk well-nigh toppings, considering they can really make the difference between a good sloppy joe and a FANTASTIC sloppy joe.
- Cheese– I don’t often segregate American cheese, but when I do, it’s probably considering I’m eating sloppy joes. While American cheese is a archetype choice, we moreover love eating sloppy joes with Swiss, colby jack, cheddar, and muenster cheese.
- French fried onions– Subtracting a little crunch is unchangingly a good idea.
- Pickles- We prefer a tangy dill pickle, which plays nicely versus the sweet sloppy joes.
- Hot sauce– My husband started subtracting hot sauce to his sloppy joes, and I quickly realized this was brilliant. Add a few drops to the top of your sandwich, or stir it into the mixture itself.
How to Make Sloppy Joes in the Crock Pot
- Brown the whinge and veggies. Heat oil in a skillet over medium upper heat. Add the onions and peppers and saute well-nigh 2 minutes, until just starting to soften. Push the veggies over to the side and add the ground beef. Cook, undisturbed, for a few minutes until the whinge starts to brown. Break the whinge into smaller pieces and protract to melt the whinge and veggies together, stirring occasionally, until no pink remains. Season to taste with salt and pepper. If you have increasingly than a Tablespoon of fat in the pan, phlebotomize it off.
- Stir it all up. In a slow cooker or crock pot, combine the cooked whinge mixture, brown sugar, mustard, world cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and ketchup. Stir well to combine.
- Cook and serve. Set the crock pot to low and melt for 2-3 hours. The crock pot can then be set to warm and kept warm for flipside 1-2 hours. To serve, pile the sloppy joe mixture onto the buns. Top with the cheese, pickles, and onions and enjoy!
Make Superiority and Storage Instructions
This slow cooker recipe is not one you’ll want to start in the morning surpassing work and leave to melt all day. The sloppy joes only take a few hours to cook, so it’s weightier to start the crock pot in the mid to late afternoon.
HOWEVER, you can do all the prep work the morning of or plane the night before. Go superiority and brown the whinge and mix everything together in the slow cooker insert. Cover, and place it in the fridge. Whenever you’re ready, transfer it to the slow cooker and turn to low!
You can moreover melt the sloppy joes in whop and refrigerate in an snapped container for up to five days. Reheat when it’s user-friendly for you.
- To reheat sloppy joe in the crock pot: Add the mixture when to the slow cooker withal with a splash of water and heat on low for 1-1.5 hours.
- To reheat on the stove top: Add to a large pan or pot over medium heat, stirring often, until the mixture is heated to 165 degrees.
- To reheat in the microwave- Microwave, covered, for 1 minute. Stir, and reheat an spare 30 seconds to 1 minute, until hot through.
FAQS
Can you freeze homemade crock pot sloppy joes?
Yes! Sloppy soes are GREAT for freezing! Place the meat mixture in a freezer unscratched container or ziplock freezer bags. Lay unappetizing and freeze for up 4 months. Thaw overnight then reheat as desired.
Can I double this recipe? Can I make unbearable slow cooker sloppy joes to feed a large crowd?
Yes and yes! This recipe can hands be doubled and is perfect for larger gatherings.
Can I use ground turkey instead of ground beef?
Yep! This is technically tabbed a Sloppy Jane, and it’s quite delicious!
Why do you have to brown ground whinge surpassing putting it in the crock pot?
Unfortunately, ground whinge scrutinizingly unchangingly has to be browned surpassing subtracting it to the crock pot. Browning in whop prevents the meat from clumping together and keeps the final dish from stuff too greasy.
What sides go with sloppy joes?
My favorite side dish for sloppy joes is plain potato chips! The crispy, salty fries play so nicely with the tangy sloppy joe. In fact, I love to dip potato fries into leftover sloppy joe meat for a succulent snack!
