The benefit of using a slow cooker for sloppy joes is its portability (potlucks!) and the ease of keeping food warm. Eating sloppy joes paleo-style with a couple of lettuce leaves gives “sloppy” a whole new meaning. We’ve branched out into making sloppy joe salads (salad joes!) and used the meat as a topping for baked sweet potatoes, a bed of sweet potato fries, and over a platter of squash noodles. There’s no need to limit yourself to a bun!
Prep time 40 minutes
Serves 12
6 pounds (2.7 kg) ground beef
4 15-ounce (425 g) cans tomato sauce
2 teaspoons dried rubbed sage
1/2 cup (88 g) yellow mustard
2 tablespoons dried minced onion
4 teaspoons chili powder
4 teaspoons (24 g) sea salt
4 tablespoons (32 g) tapioca flour
4 tablespoons (85 g) honey
1 teaspoon black pepper
Diced pickles and Paleo Ranch as garnish (optional)
Salad greens, Squash Noodles, or “Baked” Sweet Potatoes, for serving
1 Brown the ground beef in two batches in a large skillet, draining any excess grease. Transfer the beef to a 6-quart (5.7 liter) slow cooker.
2 Add the tomato sauce, sage, mustard, minced onion, chili powder, salt, tapioca flour, honey, black pepper, and 1 cup (235 ml) of water to the cooker. Stir well.
3 Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.
4 Serve along desired side dish with diced pickles and paleo ranch dressing over the top.
