The origin of the sloppy Joe is a matter of debate, with several different stories claiming to be the true origin. My mom always told me a guy named Joe in her town invented them. He owned a diner, and his friends called him sloppy because he never cleaned his room. I suspect that was her ploy to get me to clean my room; no such man existed.
Another story says that the sloppy joe was invented in 1930 by a cook named Joe at a restaurant in Sioux City, Iowa. Joe was known for his loose meat sandwiches made with ground beef, onions, and seasonings. One day, he added tomato sauce to his loose meat sandwiches and the sloppy joe was born. This makes sense as the loose meat and chopped cheese sandwiches were very popular in the Midwest.
However, it came to be this hand-held sandwich made with ground beef, onions, tomato sauce, and spices is always hot at a cabin or a potluck. I like serving mine in my mom’s vintage crock pot as it reminds me of her. No idea why she put chicken gumbo soup from Campbells in her sloppy Joes’ but I do it too as an omage to her!
Crock Pot Sloppy Joes
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 lb. ground beef I sometimes will sub in a pound of turkey, chicken or ground pork depending on what I have on hand
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 medium green bell pepper diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 bottle Heinz chili sauce
- 1 can Campbells chicken gumbo soup
- 1 cup ketchup
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp dry mustard
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 16 oz can fire roasted tomatoes drained
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- Buns for serving
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir the meat 3 to 4 minutes. Add onion and bell pepper; continue to cook until vegetables have softened and beef is cooked through, 3 to 5 more minutes.
- Add galrlic and cook one minute more
- Dump meat into a crock pot set on low
- Add, chili sauce, gumbo soup, ketchup, chili poweder, mustard, soy sauce, fire roasted tomatoes, water and salt. Cook on low for 3 hours stiring every 30 minutes until heated through
- Serve 1/3 cup of meat sauce on each bun
