Crock Pot Sloppy Joes
Skip the can with these homemade Crock Pot Sloppy Joes! Ground beef, tomato sauce and delicious seasonings make the best sloppy joes!
A HOMEMADE SLOPPY JOE RECIPE
Is there any food better than the food from our childhood? I bet all of us can name at least 5 foods that we ate as a kid that we will always love and remember. This is definitely one of them for me! Now, I don’t have any problem with good ole Manwich in a can. I like it. But Sloppy Joes are kinda like spaghetti sauce. Sometimes you want to make it up from scratch when you have time!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Yes. The Sloppy Joe filling can be frozen. Place leftover filling in a freezer safe ziploc bag and remove as much air as possible. Flatten it out. Freeze for up to 3 months.
There are lots of options. Generally we eat them with a side French fries or potato chips. Other ideas included: baked beans, tater tots, potato salad, macaroni salad and macaroni and cheese.
The flavors really develop as this simmers gently in the crock pot but it can be made on the stovetop. Brown ground beef and onion in a large pot. Drain excess grease and return beef mixture to pot. Stir in the rest of the ingredients (omit the flour.) Bring mixture to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to medium low and allow it to simmer for about 30 minutes.
In general, one pound of 80/20 ground beef should produce about eight standard Sloppy Joe sandwiches.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
HOW TO MAKE CROCK POT SLOPPY JOES
In a large pan, brown ground beef with chopped onion. Crumble and cook until no longer pink. Drain excess grease. Put cooked ground beef mixture into your slow cooker.
Add in the rest of the ingredients (minus the hamburger buns obviously). Give it all a good stir. Cover and cook on low for about 4-6 hours.
Optional: When ready to serve, toast your hamburger buns. I usually just put a dab of butter in my cast iron skillet. Put the heat on medium. Then put in the buns. Put filling onto each of your buns and enjoy! Optional: Top with a slice of American cheese.
CRAVING MORE RECIPES? GIVE THESE A TRY!
Originally posted: September 2012
Updated photos & republished: January 2023
Crock Pot Sloppy Joes
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 8 ounce can tomato sauce
- ½ cup ketchup
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 Tablespoon cider vinegar
- 2 Tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- salt and pepper, to taste
- hamburger buns, to serve
Instructions
- In a large pan, brown 2 pounds ground beef with 1 small onion, finely diced.
- Cook and crumble until no longer pink. Drain excess grease.
- Put ground beef mixture into a 5-6 quart slow cooker.
- Add in 8 ounce can tomato sauce, 1/2 cup ketchup, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed, 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, 1 Tablespoon chili powder, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 Tablespoon cider vinegar, 2 Tablespoon yellow mustard, 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper, to taste.
- Give it all a good stir.
- Cover and cook on low for about 4-6 hours.
- When ready to serve, place filling on hamburger buns, to serve.
Video
Notes
- To make this on the stove top, brown ground beef and onion in a large pot. Drain excess grease and return beef mixture to pot. Stir in the rest of the ingredients (omit the flour). Bring mixture to a boil (over medium high heat) Cover, reduce heat to medium low and allow it to simmer for about 30 minutes.
- To Toast Buns – put a dab of butter in a cast iron skillet. Put the heat on medium.
Then put in the buns and toast until golden brown.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
I took my chances and tripled the recipe for a large crowd. (I don’t usually try new things on a group) It was a big hit, and I will definitely make this again. The flavors are amazing! Thank you for the recipe.
I want you to know my family loves all of your recipes we have tried! this one was loved by all! my husband and 2 boys loved it. I do follow the skillet instructions and it turns out perfect after simmering 20 to 30 min!
Awww Jess, thank you SO much for taking the time to come back and comment! I can’t even begin to tell you how happy that makes me to hear!! Thank you!!
Very simple but delicious recipe! Definitely more of an authentic sloppy joe taste—think of the canned stuff but better! Love that it came together quickly & I used my Ninja crockpot multi cooker so only dirtied one pan!
The best sloppy joes I ever made. I took it to work and there was NONE LEFT! Everyone kept telling me how much they enjoyed it. Thank you!
My husband and I rarely agree on the rating to give various recipes I try. But this one, hands down, gets FIVE stars from both of us without a hesitation. We normally halve the recipe because I think if I made the whole recipe, we’d eat the whole thing!
Very delicious version of an old stick to your ribs kind of meal. Thank you!
OK, I am highly allergic to a couple of the ingredients. I do know that I can swap white vinegar for the cider vinegar, but I am still struggling with a substitute for Worcestershire sauce other than Soy. Would it change the flavor too much if I omit it all together or would replacing the water with beef stock/broth help? TIA.
I substitute San-J Tamari gluten free soy sauce for Worcestershire sauce.
Easy to make and a sweet sloppy joe taste that is excellent!
Thank you Slater! Glad you loved this one!
My family loved these. They are so much better than what I grew up with out of the can.
This is a keeper. Thank you for sharing!
That makes me so happy!! Thank you Debra!!
This is one of our family’s favorite recipes! Thank you so much for sharing it.
So happy hearing that! Thanks so much Kim!
Huge hit! Soooo much better than out of the can.
Added 1 cup of beef stock and red pepper flakes.
So, so good – thank you!!
I see there is flour in this but it says only add if in crock pot & not on stovetop. Is the reason you add flour to the crockpot version is to help it thicken & to cook down so not runny ?? I’d love an answer because I’d like to try, hopefully for Labor Day. We like a thicker sloppy Joe :)) thanks so much 🙂
Hi Sandy – that’s exactly right! Hope you love it!
Best sloppy joe I’ve had to date. Just the right amount of spice and sweetness. Great balance of saucy but still has the “sloppy” part. This is a keeper in my home!!!!!!
Woo hoo! Love hearing that Dee!! Thank you SO much!
Cider vinegar is listed as in ingredient. Is that apple cider vinegar? I just wanted to make sure.
Hi Jennifer, you are correct! 🙂
I made the sauce and then realized it was for 2 lbs of ground beef instead of 1 lb (which I have). Can I keep the extra sauce in the fridge for awhile?
This was SO good! Our new favorite!
Have made this for just me and have doubled for extra leftovers. I’ve also uses shredded mozzarella cheese and is yummy that way ad well. I love cheese and to me it tastes better with mozzarella. Not saying that the other way isn’t good as I did like it.
I recently found your blog and I have to say, everything I’ve found so far always looks so, so, yummy!! I tried your baked ziti recipe that was really good and easy to make. This one looks like a must try too. I love sloppy joe and haven’t had it in a while so I may just have to make this soon. Thanks for sharing
My hubby will LOVE this. I’ll be using ground venison, which will make him love it even more. I do like the thought of using ground turkey or chicken option as well. Thanks for the recipe! Great website, by the way. I recently started getting your emails with the weekly meal plan and am enjoying them very much.
Can you use ground turkey instead of ground beef
Love, love this recipe. So tasty, hearty, and easy!
Love hearing that! Thanks so much Beth!
I always make this on the stove top. Even my picky eater 9 year old loves this dish.
Loved this recipe
This recipe is one of my favorites to make. I don’t like Manwich because of all the onions and peppers, so I love that with this recipe I can control what I put in. Instead of a whole onion, I buy the frozen chopped onions and just sprinkle in a few of them. In my slow cooker, I’ve found that 6 hours is too long, so last time I made it I only did 4.5 hours and that was plenty long.
My picky son loved this! I did as well. I had never done it in the crock pot and now I’ll continue to do so. I quote my kid “Since it’s called ‘Sloppy Joes’ I’m expected to be sloppy!”
I like the way your boy thinks!! Ha! SO, so happy y’all loved it and thank you for letting me know!
Do I have to use flour when making it in the crock pot? I dont have any so just curious
Hi Brittany! The flour just thickens it up a bit. You don’t have to absolutely have it. It just won’t be quite as thick is all. 🙂
I have never really liked Sloopy Jo's but after making several of your recipes I decided to try it and I am completely in love with this one! I would recommend it to anyone!
going to make this today w/o the vinegar, looks really good!
These.were.AMAZING!!!!!!!!
Yay! Thanks so much JoMarie!!
I am allergic to onions, so I am glad I found this recipe because I can not do the Manwhich stuff.. Thank you!
Hope you love this one Tawnya!
I am making this for 30-35 people in a week. How much would you recommend making for this amount of people? Also, I will be making it the day before our event. Is this still good if reheated?
Hi Trisha, this recipe will serve 8-10 people. So you would probably want to at least triple it. You can cut back the ground beef to about 1 1/2 pounds instead of the 2 pounds. That should help cut back on the cost a little for making so much of it.
I was curious how many servings this recipe makes? I am planning on making this for my husband's birthday!
Thanks! Looks great 🙂
Hi Ashley – this makes a good bit. I think it could easily serve 8-10 (depending on how generous your servings are 🙂 ~Brandie
My favorite part about your website it the picture of all the ingredients you use. Mainly because I buy mostly store brand items also. I thing most store brand items make a great dinner!! This recipe, along with 6 other recipes, will be on my menu for this week!
Just made this recipe today and OMG, DELICIOUS! Love your website and all your yummy recipes. I'm going to try out a few more in the next week and can't wait! 😀
I made these for our pot luck Christmas lunch at work. I cooked my meat and mixed it all at the house, and then when I got to work, I just plugged it in and let it cook while I worked. EVERYONE on the floor was yelling out, "WHAT IT THAT I SMELL?! IT SMELLS SOOOOOO GOOD!" I got as many compliments of the taste as I did the smell. It was excellent! I'll never do a "can" sloppy joe ever again.
My 5 yo breaks out in a really bad rash anytime I've made sloppy joe's using Manwich. I'll give this a try. What is the flour for? To thicken it up?
mmmmm…
Looks great! Love my slow cooker! Even in the summer!
What a great meal….especially with that melted cheese on top. YUUUUMMMM! I'm glad to see a picture of your hubby too….being a visual person, I like knowing what folks look like. What a gorgeous family you are! Thanks for sharing another family favorite…have a yummy day Friend. XO
I love sloppy joes. We ate them all the time as kids. Just such a fun meal.
I'd put meat to thaw for Sloppy Joe's tonight; it's like you read my mind. Checking out your recipe now.
Catherine Denton
I am really starting to feel like I need a slow cooker…
Thank you so very much for this recipe. It was a hit at out church potluck!
I'm going to make these this week! I think my husband, Mr. Picky-Eater, must have been in your family some how because he loves Kraft Cheese Singles!! He WILL NOT eat anything else…..and he puts it on every thing. In other words, he puts a Single on every single thing! : ) Love you and all your recipes!! Congrats on 10,000 likers/followers etc..
Sloppy Joes are still a favorite of mine. I don't think I've ever met a person who was unfamiliar with Sloppy Joes. Great adaptation for the crockpot!