Crock-Pot Sloppy Joes

Dinner last night was delicious! There's something so comforting about eating a Sloppy Joe. I'll admit I usually just buy the canned sauce stuff, brown some ground beef, and throw in the sauce. I'm trying hard to rid our house of processed junk, and holy cow! Have you looked at the label on one of those cans of sauce?? The sodium amount is INSANE, and there are so many "ingredients" that I can't even pronounce! I am proud to say that I will NEVER buy another can of that "sauce".

We had family over for dinner last night, so this recipe is tripled. It made a TON! (With plenty of yummy left-overs) If you're not feeding an army, definitely adjust the recipe.

Ingredients
3 Pounds Ground Beef
2 Medium Onions - Finely Diced
1 Bell Pepper - Diced *I had tri-color whole mini peppers on hand, and just diced those up.
3 Tsp. Garlic - Minced

Sauce
2, 15 oz. Cans Tomato Sauce
1/2 Cup Water
2 Cups Ketchup
3 Tbls. Red Wine Vinegar
3 Tbls. Worcestershire Sauce
2 Tbls. Yellow Mustard
2 Tbls. Brown Sugar *This wasn't in my original recipe, I added it after tasting.
1 Tbls. Chili Powder
1 Tsp. Garlic Powder
1 Tsp. Red Pepper Flakes *You can omit, if you don't want it spicy. I love a little kick though!
1 Tsp. Salt
1/2 Tsp. Black Pepper

The sauce ingredients. *Brown sugar not pictured, and the 2nd can of tomato sauce.

Directions
Brown ground beef in large skillet, and drain fat. Add diced onions, peppers and garlic. Saute for a few minutes, to soften veggies. While meat is browning, add all sauce ingredients to the bottom of a crock pot, and stir. Add browned beef mixture to sauce, and stir to combine. I gave my sauce a little taste before adding the meat. You can adjust if you like. Cook on low 6 hours.

Browning the meat.

 Diced onion, peppers and shh... I cheat and buy already minced garlic.

 Veggies and garlic added.

 Sauce mixture, all ready for the meat!

Yummy!!

I served the Sloppy Joe's on buttered, toasted hamburger buns with waffle fries and corn on the cob. For dessert we had strawberry oatmeal bars (recipe to follow). You can also try with ground turkey or chicken, for a leaner meat option.

Enjoy!