A method is provided in one example embodiment and includes receiving at a network element a packet associated with a flow and determining whether a flow cache of the network element includes an entry for the flow indicating a classification for the flow. The method further includes, if the network element flow cache does not include an entry for the flow, punting the packet over a default path to a classifying service function, in which the classifying service function classifies the flow and determines a control plane service function for handling the flow, and receiving from the classifying service function a service path identifier (“SPI”) of a service path leading to the determined control plane service function. The flow is subsequently offloaded from the classifying service function to the network element.