Sloppy Joe Meatballs Paula Deen Style

This recipe comes from Paula Deen's Magazine. I added green pepper to her recipe and I also put these meatballs in my crockpot after baking them instead of back in the oven.

• Ready In: 1 hr
• Serves: 20-30

Ingredients

• 1  lb ground beef (chuck)
• 1  lb ground sausage (Jimmy Dean)
• 1  small onion, diced up
• 1⁄2 green pepper, diced up
• 1 1⁄2 cups panko breadcrumbs (Japanese breadcrumbs)
• 1 (1 1/3ounce) packet  Manwich sloppy joe mix
• 1  large egg
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1  cup ketchup
• 3 -4  tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1  tablespoon mustard
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2-1  teaspoon black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400'
2. Lightly grease a foil lined baking sheet or use a lightly greased cooking rack inside a rimmed baking dish.
3. In a large bowl, combine the two meats (beef and sausage),onion, green pepper,panko breadcrumbs,and Sloppy Joe mix.
4. Stir in egg.
5. Shape mixture into 1 inch balls and place on prepared baking sheet.
6. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until done.
7. If baking in oven with sauce,reduce oven temp to 350'
8. In a small bowl combine ketchup,tomato sauce, brown sugar,worcestershire sauce, mustard, and salt and black pepper.
9. In a 13x9 baking dish (lightly greased) add meatballs. Pour the sauce over meatballs and toss gently.
10. Cover and bake 30 minutes more.
11. Serve hot.
12. NOTE: If using crockpot, add baked meatballs to crockpot and pour sauce over top and gently toss to cover meatballs. Let simmer on low for 30 minutes to 1 hour.