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This simple and delicious recipe for Slow Cooker Turkey Sloppy Joes is sure to become a family favorite. A childhood classic just got a little bit healthier and a little bit more convenient!
Don’t get me wrong: there’s nothing wrong with using a can of Manwich sauce to make the occasional Sloppy Joe.
I was raised on the stuff, and my kids have become fond of it as well. But if I told you that I have a simple recipe for something even tastier, healthier, and easier, wouldn’t you want to give it a try?
What You Need
- Ground turkey breast – go for extra lean or substitute with an equal amount of ground beef or ground chicken
- Yellow onion – diced
- Garlic – this gives fresh, bold flavor
- Garlic powder, salt and black pepper – for seasoning
- Water – for adding to the slow cooker
- Worcestershire sauce – adds tang and delicious flavor
- Yellow mustard – adds a spicy kick
- Ketchup & barbecue sauce – these give the sloppy joes a delicious rich flavor
- Hamburger buns – for serving
How do you make Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes?
I promise, it’s so easy! You’ll start by browning the turkey meat in a skillet with onion and garlic. That’s the flavorful base for your sandwiches.
While the turkey cooks, you have a few minutes to whisk together a simple sweet-and-sour sauce.
The sauce and the cooked turkey are transferred to your slow cooker, where they will come together and stay warm until you’re ready to serve your Turkey Sloppy Joes! That’s it, my friends.
This sauce is full of sweet and savory spices, and after simmering for a few hours in your Crock Pot, the flavor gets that much better!
The delicious sauce also keeps the lean turkey meat nice and moist, although you can certainly substitute ground beef or chicken if that’s your preference.
Alternative Stovetop Cooking Method
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown turkey, onion, and garlic. Drain, and return meat to skillet.
- In a large bowl combine remaining ingredients to make the sauce.
- Pour sauce over meat mixture and stir. Cover and simmer over low heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Spoon meat onto sandwich buns to serve.
Way to Use Up Leftovers
We enjoy this dinner on sandwich rolls, but I also like to save the left-over meat for other purposes. It freezes perfectly!
The leftover meat is great when you stuff it inside baked potatoes and top them with grated cheese.
And we recently used some leftovers to make Sloppy Joe Taquitos (similar to these), which were a fun twist on the normal Mexican fare. I just used the sloppy joe meat, some shredded cheddar cheese, and flour tortillas.
So basically, by cooking up a pot of these Slow Cooker Turkey Sloppy Joes, you’re really getting two meals in one. I just love efficiency.
Top Tips and Variations
- Even although browning the turkey and onion seems like an extra step it’s super important for flavor so don’t skip it.
- The sloppy joe mixture can be stored in the fridge for around 3 days or frozen in suitable containers.
- Cooking Just for Two? Cut all of the ingredients in half. The cooking instructions remain the same!
More Sloppy Joes Recipes You Might Like:
Slow Cooker Turkey Sloppy Joes
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. extra lean ground turkey breast or substitute with equal amount of ground beef or ground chicken
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ cup water
- 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
- 1 cup ketchup
- ¾ cup barbecue sauce
- Hamburger buns for serving
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown turkey, onion, and garlic. Drain, and transfer meat mixture to slow cooker.
- In a large bowl combine remaining ingredients to make the sauce.
- Pour sauce over meat mixture and stir.
- Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours.
- Spoon meat onto sandwich buns to serve.
Notes
- Even although browning the turkey and onion seems like an extra step it's super important for flavor so don't skip it.
- The sloppy joe mixture can be stored in the fridge for around 3 days or frozen in suitable containers.
- Cooking Just for Two? Cut all of the ingredients in half. The cooking instructions remain the same!
Nutrition
This post was originally published in October, 2014. The photos were updated in March, 2019.
great recipes and appreciate your sharing! We are trying to move away from prepared foods and sloppy joes will be great to make @ home and healthier with the turkey. I just love cooking with ground turkey, it picks up all the great flavors!
Thanks so much! I hope that you enjoy them! I love ground turkey as a tasty way to lighten up dinners, too. 🙂
I love any good slower cooker recipe and when you add turkey meat to it, my interest gets peaked. I will have to try these sloppy joes for sure! Thanks for sharing! Stopping in from the link up today 🙂
I’m with you, J! LOVE my slow cooker…especially when I can use turkey! 🙂
i have been scoping around looking for some new slow cooker recipes since i finally took mine out of summer hibernation! i am going to have to try these sloppy joes, they look so good..pinning these and may be making them this week since i have some turkey meat in the fridge!
That’s great, Amanda! Thanks so much for stopping by. You’ll love this easy dinner! 🙂
I grew up on the Manwich version too, but my kids have never had sloppy joes. I bet they would like these!
Hi, Michelle! Yes, this is SO kid-friendly! I’m actually using this meat to make baked taquitos for dinner tonight. Everyone will love them! It’s so versatile, which is an added bonus.
My kids like manwich, but I’m not a fan, so I’ll be trying your homemade version. Thanks for sharing it on Merry Monday. I always enjoy your recipes.
Hi, Erlene! Thanks for the parties and thanks for visiting. I hope that you get to try the sloppy joes! 🙂
I love being able to use ground turkey where I can, and this is the perfect idea! Thank you so much for linking up at Tasty Tuesday! Your recipe has been pinned to the Tasty Tuesday Pinterest board! Please join us again this week!
Thanks so much for stopping by, Stephanie!
I love that you are using ground turkey! And the sauce is from scratch too – I gotta try this out. Nothing against Manwhich, but from scratch is always better. Thanks for linking up at Show Me Saturday! Hope to you see there this week.
These look delicious. I love the healthy approach. A wonderful comfort food. Thanks for joining us at Foodie Fridays. Hope to see you again this week.
Blessings,
Shari
Thanks, Shari! 🙂
Delicious. Sloppy Joes are my favorite to make, and I always prefer completely from scratch. Thanks for sharing on Weekend Bites
Perfect for busy Fall nights! Thanks for linking up with SNF! Pinned to our party board!
Yep, they are the perfect busy weeknight dinner! Thanks for sharing, Jaren! 🙂
This looks delicious, I could eat one right now! Thanks for linking up to Sweet and Savoury Sunday, stop by and link up again. Have a great day!!
This is an amazing recipe for turkey sloppy joes. We’ve gotten away from eating red meat so I have had to find new recipes for turkey and chicken. These sloppy joes will be in our monthly recipe rotation. This recipe is so much better than manwich.
Thanks so much, Emily! I’m glad that you love them as much as we do! 🙂
I have been using Manwich sloppy joes as the base for my Shepard’s Pie for years. Make the Manwich and put into a baking dish. Dump a can of drained corn on top of meat mixture. Cover the top with mashed potatoes. Sometimes I make my own potatoes but an easy quick way is to use the already prepared mashed potatoes from the grocery store or Costco.
After reading your recipe, I will try your recipe for sloppy joes so don’t have to rely on always having a can of Manwich on hand. We also love sloppy joes on Martin’s Potato rolls. I use to buy only the Pepperidge Farm white sandwich bread. I would buy several loaves and freeze them since that bread freezes so well. But it seems the grocery stores are carrying very little of that bread, if they have it at all!! So I’ve started buying the Martin’s Potato bread ( the brand name available at all grocery stores, not just Martin’s grocery store) and it is delicious and freezes perfectly.
We love Manwich, too! I definitely use both — depends on how much time I have. When we eat sloppy joes for a quick lunch, I usually just pull out the canned stuff. 🙂 I’ll have to try your shepherd’s pie recipe — sounds delicious!
Potato rolls are great. Those Martin’s rolls and bread are slightly sweet, so I can imagine they’d go well with the sloppy joes. Can’t beat a classic!
I use vegetable soup instead of bbq sauce, everything else is the same.