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 (30 ml) 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 (5 ml) 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.
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Sloppy joes for a crowd is the party-scale version of the weeknight classic — six pounds of ground beef in a tangy tomato-mustard sauce that feeds a dozen people. Sage and chili powder give it real depth, and tapioca flour thickens the sauce into that perfect sloppy-joe consistency. Set out squash noodles or sweet potatoes and let everyone pile on the pickles.
Pro Tips
- Brown the beef in two batches and drain the grease. Overcrowded meat steams grey, and pooling fat makes the finished filling heavy.
- Whisk the tapioca flour with the water before adding it to the cooker. It dissolves into the sauce smoothly and thickens it without a starchy aftertaste.
- The sage is what makes these taste homemade rather than from a can — dried rubbed sage holds up perfectly through the slow cooker simmer.
- Diced pickles and paleo ranch on top are non-negotiable in my book. The cool crunch against the hot, saucy beef is the whole experience.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I halve this recipe?
Yes, and it still feeds six generously. Keep the slow cooker time the same — the sauce reduces and thickens either way.
How should I serve sloppy joes without buns?
Over squash noodles, stuffed into a baked sweet potato, or piled on salad greens. The sauce is thick enough to spoon rather than pour.
Does this freeze well?
Extremely well. Cool the filling completely and freeze in family-sized portions for up to three months — it is the ultimate future fast food.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
Method
- 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.
