Do you need to get dinner on the table without much thought? These Freezer-Friendly Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes do the trick with plenty of meat and vegetables!
{This post was sponsored by Indiana’s Family of Farmers. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Referral links are used in this post.}
We love recipes for freezer meals in this house. Since John works full time at our veterinary hospital and runs our farm with his dad, there are times that we are all running flat-out busy from sunup to sundown. Sometimes we (and by “we” I mean John… because let’s be honest here… mornings are not my thing) hit the ground running before dawn and don’t stop until well after sunset.
The busiest time of year for us is late winter/early spring and the summer. Our calves are usually born between February and April, so we are all on high-alert for momma cows giving birth. Summer brings grass growing, which means that hay needs to be cut, raked, baled, and stored for the winter. There’s a reason for the saying “make hay while the sun shines” – when the weather is right, we go all out to get the hay cut and inside before it rains. Add in the maintenance of our large vegetable garden, and it makes for some late, tired nights!
How to Make Freezer-Friendly Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes
And these are the days that I rely on my freezer meals to feed us. All you have to do for these Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes is thaw the bag in the refrigerator overnight, toss everything into the crockpot the next morning, and dinner is ready when you are.
I found this recipe in Freezer-Friendly Recipes by Gooseberry Patch. I adjusted the recipe a bit (and made it in my Crockpot!). It really is the perfect recipe for a freezer meal!
Getting this recipe ready for the freezer was especially fun because I did it with a group of my farmwife friends! We all got together, had a freezer meal party, and made 64 freezer meals in 2-1/2 hours! It was a lot of work, but it was also a lot of fun, and well worth it! You can check out our party on Indiana’s Family of Farmers Facebook Live videos here and here.
Are you wondering about all the yummy recipes we cooked up? You can find the entire list here. You’ll want to make every single one of them!
My friend Cherie at The Queen of Free has some great tips for you to plan your own freezer meal day. I’ll add one more tip of my own – get someone to watch your kids! You’ll have plenty of chaos in the kitchen already, without adding a toddler or two who is trying to “help.” Get a babysitter for the day, or (better yet) send them to a grandparent’s or friend’s house for the day.
Enjoy!
Free Printable Ground Beef Buyer’s Guide
Have you ever gotten confused at the grocery store when you’re trying to pick out ground beef for tonight’s dinner? We can help! This Ground Beef Buyer’s Guide has everything you need to know about buying ground beef, plus you can download a free printable cheat sheet to keep handy in your kitchen or your purse!
Tools for Cooking with Ground Beef
Every kitchen needs a few basic tools… These are ones that I use all the time when I’m cooking with ground beef!
- 5-Quart Saute Pan
- Mix and Chop
- 6-Quart Slow Cooker
- Instant-Read Digital Thermometer
- Probe-Style Digital Thermometer
3 Ways to Take the Fear Out of This Recipe
- Types of Ground Meat
- How to Convert Oven Times to Slow Cooker Times
- Why is Ground Beef Brown in the Middle?
3 More Recipes to Try
Serve These Freezer-Friendly Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes with One of These Recipes:
Printable Recipe Card for Freezer-Friendly Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes:
Freezer-Friendly Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 bell pepper chopped
- 3 stalks celery chopped
- 2 14-1/2 ounce cans petite diced tomatoes
- 1-1/2 cups traditional pasta sauce
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup brown sugar packed
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 6-8 sandwich buns
Instructions
- Brown ground beef in a large skillet.
- Add ground beef and the rest of the ingredients (except sandwich buns) to <g class="gr_ gr_255 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_run_anim Grammar multiReplace" id="255" data-gr-id="255">a 6-quart slow cooker and mix well.
- Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, stirring occasionally.
- If the sloppy joe mixture has too much liquid, turn the slow cooker to high, and cook uncovered for another 30-45 minutes.
- Serve on split sandwich buns.
To freeze before cooking:
- Brown ground beef. Then put all ingredients (except sandwich buns) in a gallon-size Ziploc freezer bag. Label and freeze.
To thaw and cook:
- Thaw freezer bag in the refrigerator overnight. Place all contents of the freezer bag in a 6-quart slow cooker and cook as directed.
To freeze after cooking:
- Let cool, then spoon into a gallon-size Ziploc freezer bag. Freeze flat.
To thaw and reheat:
- Thaw freezer bag in the refrigerator overnight. Reheat the meat mixture in a large skillet on the stove (medium heat for 15-20 minutes) or in a 6-quart slow cooker (high for 1-2 hours) until warmed through.
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