These delicious Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes are made with ground beef, onion, tomato sauce, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and a whole lot of love poured into the slow cooker!
The BEST Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes
Gather round, friends! Let’s talk back to school prep and getting easy dinners on the menu! 🙂 Some of you might not be knocking on that back to school door just yet whereas we’ve only got a week and a half left! *cries* I am SO sad to see this summer almost ending for us (even though we still have until the third week of September seasonally)! Because the weather is still warm despite going back to school, not only do dinners have to be easy, they have to require no baking. Baking makes our house hot and I do NOT turn on the oven at ALL during the summer generally. I’m a huge believer in using the grill, the slow cooker, and the Instant Pot for summer dinners or when the weather is hot. An easy sandwich recipe like these Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes is perfect and totally my jam, man!
Quick and Easy Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes Recipe
Whether they’re Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes or Crock Pot Sloppy Joes for you based on what equipment you’ve got, so long as they’re easy to make, let’s get it ON! When it comes to busy weeknight meals, I want no fuss no muss, and I’m pretty sure you’re with me on this, aren’tcha friend? Meal planning is the name of the game with back to school season fastly approaching, and this one’s sure to be a family favorite just like it is in our household, I promise you!
The Easiest Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes on the Planet
I am not kidding with you when I tell you that this is the best and easiest Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes recipe on the planet (especially if you have our slow cooker)! With the slow cooker we have, it can brown meat right within the pot, this is a one-pot meal! Set it and forget it, you know? And do it with absolute ease! Who doesn’t like an easy crock pot meal that’s not only kid-friendly but big enough to serve a crowd. Talk about simplicity, this slow cooker sloppy joe recipe takes just ten minutes to get going!
Homemade Sloppy Joes Recipe for the Slow Cooker
We prefer making this homemade sloppy joes recipe rather than use the canned stuff. I like having far more control over what goes into it, as well as the seasonings, etc. Sure you could doctor the canned stuff available out there, but I’ve checked the labels and I’m personally not a fan of corn syrup that’s used. I feel it adds literally nothing to the recipe, you know? We choose to sweeten the recipe naturally using brown sugar. Our sloppy joes recipe is made with lean ground beef, onions, tomato paste, ketchup, brown sugar, and several fantastic spices, all cooked to absolute savory perfection in the slow cooker or crock pot. Once you’ve tried these tasty homemade sloppy joes, you’ll never go back to the kind that comes in a can!
Easy Sloppy Joes in the Slow Cooker or Crock Pot
These crock pot sloppy joes are incredibly easy to throw together for an easy weeknight meal for your family! By simmering the meat all day, it really draws out the flavors, and it makes the meat super tender and juicy. My suggestion when choosing a type of ground beef for this sloppy joes recipe is to use a leaner beef (such as 90% lean ground beef). Since we’re not draining the beef, the less grease the better. You could mix ground turkey with the beef to make this even lighter without sacrificing the taste!
How Do You Make Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes?
To make these easy and delicious Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes recipe from the heavens, you will need the following ingredients:
- Ground beef
- Ketchup
- Tomato paste
- Minced garlic
- Worcestershire sauce
- Large white onion, chopped
- Brown sugar
- Fresh ground salt
- Fresh ground pepper
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
- Ground mustard
- Smoked paprika
You will also need the following kitchen tools:
- Ninja slow cooker
- Mix ‘n Chop
- Wooden spoon
- Small cutting board
- Sharp knife
- Measuring cup
- Rubber spatula
- Spoon or ladle for serving
Set Ninja Cooker on low, spray pan, turn it on the slow cooker low setting. Add ground beef to pan, use the Mix ‘n Chop to grind up the meat.
On a small cutting board, slice and chop your onion into small pieces using a sharp paring knife.
Add diced onions to the meat in the slow cooker.
Season well. Season generously. Remember we’re adding a ton more ingredients and there’s an opportunity to season it later, too. But go ahead and add all your seasonings in at this time. Using the Mix ‘n Chop again, ensure the mixture is well-blended before moving on to the next step.
Add your Worcestershire and minced garlic to the pan, mix with a wooden spoon until well blended. Add in all your ketchup, tomato paste, and brown sugar to the pan, too. Mix with wooden spoon until thoroughly and completely covered and well-blended. Place lid on the slow cooker, and set timer for 4 hours and let it cook for 3 hours practically untouched. (You can stir if you’d like occasionally.)
During the fourth hour, you can opt to taste the sauce to add any additional seasonings needed. You don’t have to add seasoning here, but it’s important to stir.
Cover and cook for the next 50 minutes. Turn off the Ninja Cooker (or turn it to buffet) and remove the lid, but stir to ensure everything is well mixed and to let it slightly cool at this time, let the sauce slightly thicken up. Taste and add to adjust any seasonings if desired.
Stir your final seasonings into the Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes, mixing well.
Turn off the slow cooker if you’re ready to serve. Let it cool a tad before serving. PRO TIP: Before serving, if you’d like to “up” your sloppy joes game, lightly butter both sides of the buns and toast on a hot griddle or in a large skillet over medium high heat. Gently buttering and toasting the bun helps it withstand the weight/sauce of the sloppy joes AND it tastes AMAAAAAZING!
Carefully spoon or ladle beef mixture onto buns to serve. Serve with pickles, chips, or whatever side you like! (Just don’t forget plenty of napkins! They don’t call ’em “Sloppy Joes” because they’re neat and tidy, haha!) Yeah, baby! Let’s do this!
What do you think of this easy sloppy joes recipe? Is this something you can see yourself making for your family during the busy school year? Be sure to bookmark or pin this recipe for later! Also check out our other delicious slow cooker recipes, too! Please let me know what you think of this easy dinner recipe in the comments, I want to hear all about it! 🙂
Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes
Ingredients
- 3 lbs ground beef
- 2 cups ketchup
- 1 small can tomato paste
- 3 teaspoons minced garlic
- 10-12 shakes Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 large white onion chopped
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- fresh ground salt to taste
- fresh ground pepper to taste
- onion powder to taste
- garlic powder to taste
- ground mustard to taste
- smoked paprika to taste
Instructions
- Set Ninja Cooker on low, spray pan, turn it on the slow cooker low setting.
- Add ground beef to pan, use the Mix ‘n Chop to grind up the meat.
- On a small cutting board, slice and chop your onion into small pieces, add to the meat.
- Season well. Season generously. Remember we’re adding a ton more ingredients and there’s an opportunity to season it later, too. But go ahead and add all your seasonings in at this time.
- Using the Mix ‘n Chop again, ensure the mixture is well-blended before moving on to the next step.
- Add your Worcestershire and minced garlic to the pan, mix with a wooden spoon until well blended.
- Add in all your ketchup, tomato paste, and brown sugar to the pan.
- Mix with wooden spoon until thoroughly and completely covered and well-blended.
- Place lid on the slow cooker, and set timer for 4 hours and let it cook for 3 hours untouched.
- During the fourth hour, you can opt to taste the sauce to add any additional seasonings needed. You don’t have to add seasoning here, but it’s important to stir.
- Continue to let cook for the next 50 minutes.
- Turn off the Ninja Cooker (or turn it to buffet) and remove the lid, but stir to ensure everything is well mixed and to let it slightly cool at this time, let the sauce slightly thicken up. Taste and add to adjust any seasonings if desired.
- Stir your final seasonings into the Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes, mixing well.
- Turn off the slow cooker if you’re ready to serve. Let it cool a tad before serving.
- Before serving, if you'd like to "up" your sloppy joes game, lightly butter both sides of the buns and toast on a hot griddle or in a large skillet over medium high heat. Gently buttering and toasting the bun helps it withstand the weight/sauce of the sloppy joes AND it tastes AMAAAAAZING!
- Carefully spoon or ladle beef mixture onto burger buns to serve. Serve with pickles, chips, or whatever side you like!
- Enjoy!
