CrockPot Sloppy Joes Recipe

Day 162.

Good morning! It's day 3 of Retro Week, and last night we tried sloppy joes for the first time as a family. I think I was in second grade the last time I had a sloppy joe---and I was pleasantly surprised that it was pretty good, and not overly sweet as I had remembered.

Cooking the sloppy joes in the crock is incredibly easy. I didn't bother to pre-brown the meat, and it cooked and browned nicely for me. I chose to use lean ground turkey because I'm a weirdo with fat and grease--but any ground meat would work great.

The Ingredients.

--1 pound lean ground meat

--packet of sloppy joe mix ( I always use McCormick for spice mixes)

--1 6oz can tomato paste

--1 cup of water (the package says to use 1 1/4. I chose to use 1 because the condensation doesn't escape in a crock)

UPDATED 11/08: guess what? McCormick's spice packet now lists wheat starch. ugh. Use this instead:

--1 T onion flakes
--1 T paprika
--2 T brown sugar
--1 tsp cumin
--1 tsp salt
--1 tsp cornstarch
--1/2 tsp garlic powder
--1/4 tsp ground mustard
--1/4 tsp celery seed
--1/4 tsp pepper

The Directions.

This really will work the best with thawed meat. If you meat is frozen solid, you might want to defrost in the microwave---or be prepared to mix the ingredients into the meat an hour into cooking time.

Mix the meat with the sloppy joe mix and the tomato paste. Add the cup of water, and stir well.

Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours, or on high for 3-5.

The meat is done when it is crumbly and fully cooked.

Serve with hamburger buns, or on top of rice.

The Verdict.

These were delicious! The kids enjoyed the "ketchup meat" and liked that they were kind of messy. I made hamburger buns out of a box of Whole Foods 365 Gluten Free sandwich bread, the same way I did for the Philly Cheese Steaks. The bread came out well--and held up with the sloppiness of the meat.