Life is insane for us right now. It's a long story that maybe I'll share soon but the bottom line is - I've been overwhelmed for a couple of weeks straight and feel like I'm just barely hanging onto sanity. Enter Crock Pot Sloppy Joes.

Let me explain. Since I can't do anything but hustle for the next 10 days on the situation we've got going on - I woke up this morning and decided I needed to simplify our regular household stuff as much as possible.
So, I grabbed a notebook, went to the frig and freezer and made a menu for the next week using up things we already had on hand. More specifically, thinking of things I could toss in the crock pot and walk away from.
One of the first things I spotted as I walked through the kitchen were some leftover buns that were not going to last much longer. I hate wasting food so after racking my brain for recipes that needed buns (other than hamburgers - we just had those!), I settled on Crock Pot Sloppy Joes. I quickly checked the freezer and sure enough, I had everything else I needed to make this easy, delicious recipe.
I love making these because I often keep pre-cooked ground beef in the freezer along with frozen diced peppers and onions. A few other staples thrown in and we have delicious, easy, homemade sloppy joes. Even if you don't have the cooked frozen meat or veggies, the recipe still comes together very easily and it's a favorite for my whole family.
We usually do some mac & cheese or frozen fries on the side and call it a meal. Easy peasy 🙂
Note: if I don't have cooked ground beef already in the freezer, I'll brown it in a skillet with the onions and peppers, then drain it and transfer it to the Crock Pot.
Anywho... I've gotta get back to work on the house, so here's the recipe for you:
PrintRecipe
Slow Cooker Homemade Sloppy Joes
- Total Time: 4 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 1.5 – 2 lbs. cooked ground beef
- ½ cup chopped onion
- ½ cup chopped bell pepper
- 3-4 cloves minced garlic
- 1 tbsp. yellow mustard (like French's)
- 1.5 cups ketchup
- ½ cup brown sugar
- salt to taste
- ground black pepper to taste
- Buns
Instructions
- In a 3 quart slow cooker(or larger), add all ingredients. *If you like, you can cook the ground beef in a skillet with the onions and pepper so that they're tender going into the slow cooker. Honestly, it works beautifully either way and I've done both!
- Stir it all up and let it simmer on low for 3-4 hours.
- Serve hot on buns... it's SO delicious! Way better than anything you'll get out of a can!
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 4 hours
Kim
Love it! Thanks for sharing!
Marie
This looks super easy to make. I actually just polled my family to see if they like sloppy joes because I don't so I know I've never made them for them. It was a resounding "Yes" so looks like I'm going to be using your recipe soon. 🙂 Thanks for sharing at Merry Monday this week!
Kathy
Wthis recipe was easy and delicious ! I added a little Worcestershire sauce and red pepper flakes . I saved this and will make again !
Rose
Mmmm, sounds so good!