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a slow-cooker insert filled with thick reddish-brown sloppy joe beef, with small softened onion and green pepper pieces visible throughout
Andre Lewis

Crockpot Sloppy Joes

Brown the beef before loading the slow cooker so you can remove excess fat and keep the finished sauce from feeling greasy. The long low cook is for bringing the onion, pepper and tomato flavors together, not for hiding a raw block of meat under a lid. Keep the added broth modest because a covered crock loses very little moisture. If the filling is loose at the end, give it an uncovered finishing stretch rather than adding more sugar or piling wet meat onto the buns. This larger batch makes sense when people will eat at different times.
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 6 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 6 hours 55 minutes
Servings: 10
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 2 lbs 90% lean ground beef
  • 1 large yellow onion finely diced
  • 1 green bell pepper finely diced
  • 1 can tomato sauce 15 oz
  • 3/4 cup ketchup
  • 1/4 cup tomato paste
  • 2 tbsp unsulfured molasses
  • 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tsp yellow mustard
  • 1/4 cup low-sodium beef broth
  • 1 tsp fine salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 10 sturdy hamburger buns split

Method
 

  1. Brown beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat for 8 to 10 minutes, breaking it into small crumbles, until it reaches 160°F. Drain excess fat.
  2. Transfer beef to a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker. Stir in onion, pepper, tomato sauce, ketchup, tomato paste, molasses, vinegar, Worcestershire, mustard, broth, salt and pepper.
  3. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours, stirring once if convenient, until the vegetables are soft and the filling is thoroughly hot.
  4. If the sauce is loose, uncover and cook on high for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring, until it clings to the beef. Keep hot at 140°F or above if holding for serving.
  5. Toast the split buns and divide the filling among them as people are ready to eat.