4 Ingredient Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes

Our easy slow cooker sloppy joes are great when you’re feeding a crowd! Just 4 ingredients is what you need for loose meat sandwiches tonight. A cheap dinner idea that is sweet and savory with a homemade sauce.

Crock Pot Sloppy Joes

Once these are done there are tons of ways to serve them. The traditional would be with hamburger buns but smaller sizes with Hawaiian rolls as sloppy joes sliders is even more fun with the same great taste. We have even eaten this spooned over a bed of tater tots I mean….yes we did!

So below we used our basic 3 ingredients with a few options where you can add a dash of garlic powder and/or diced onions. Those are optional but great touches. If you want a copycat not so sloppy joes sauce with a few others including a bit of bell peppers that is a great one too.

Slow Cooker Ground Turkey Sloppy Joes

You can use any sort of ground meat you’d like really. The directions would stay the same no matter what, unless you needed directions on how to cook frozen ground turkey. I typically will use beef because that is what I have on hand most often. We buy half a cow at the beginning of the year so I have a lot to say the least.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs ground beef cooked will feed 8-10 depending on how hungry they are
• Ketchup is the base of the sauce
• Yellow mustard not spicy
• Brown sugar or more if you want it sweeter
• Garlic powder we like to add
• Onions finely diced, optional
• A sprinkle of salt and pepper to taste if you like but not necessary really

Now if you had even more guests coming over you could certainly cook as much as would fit into your pot. There are some really large versions out there now so as long as you have a few inches on the top between your food and lid you should be good to go. May take another hour or so to heat all the way thru and I would stir a bit more often but you should be good to go.

Another reason why I love this meal. Super cheap overall, can be served a ton of different ways, and no matter who eats these they will be pleased. Live in the Midwest, you might want to try sloppy joe Philly cheesesteak mixture instead, or in another pot. From little kids to grandparents it is always a hit.

Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes with Frozen Ground Beef

• Start this off in a large skillet on your stovetop.
• Add a bit of olive oil with your ground beef or turkey with diced onions if you want to add those.
  • if you were cooking frozen ground beef you would need to do this first and then proceed once browned.
• Cook until meat is no longer pink, then remove and drain grease.
• Pour meat into your slow cooker.
• Add your other ingredients and use a spoon to fold it all together so meat is well coated with the sauce.
• Put lid on and set to low for 2-4 hours on low so flavors can meld together even further.
• If serving for longer set to keep warm with the lid on and stir every hour to rotate. Serve on buns.

Variations

To make it spicy I would recommend adding 1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes with the meat. After sitting for a few hours test it out. If you want it spicier then add another 1/8 of a tsp at a time until you get to the right heat level. Want it sweeter, do the same thing with the brown sugar. More pucker? Add more mustard or dill pickle relish.

If you want this as a really easy prep of a meal I would just buy a big bag of buns from Costco, and done. More from scratch you could thaw frozen rolls right when you turn this on and they will be ready to bake when it is done, perfect timing. It is kinda’ fun served over some pasta cooked to al dente too though, just a thought. 😉

4 Ingredient Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes

As you can see there are quite a bit of variations you can make to these Maid Rite Sandwich ingredients but the base 4 remain the same always. The rest is to make it a family favorite in your home. We like it as is with just the 3 sauce items and meat but have tried others and wanted to provide options for y’all too.

Homemade sloppy joes are just that, usually passed down thru the generations. If yours can only consisted of a can of Manwich and memories you might want to step outside the box a bit more.

You will NEVER ever go back to the can after you try this one. Maybe your granny called them Tavern sandwiches, same thing, but now you can turn them into open faced Texas Toast sloppy joes.

Slow Cooker Loose Meat Sandwiches

We have a printable card at the bottom you can add to your folder or just come back time and time again for directions. Jump to recipe and get started on these. Let us know if you change it up just a bit more with maybe a tad of tomato sauce or Worcestershire sauce too. We love trying this and that beyond our favorite 3.