Lentil Sloppy Joes!
Seeing as I’ve posted recipes for both Healthy Oreos and Healthy Butterfingers this week, I figured a non-dessert post was in order. After all, a person can’t live on chocolate, cookies, and candy, alone. We can come close…
Anywhoos, so last night I made these:
Thinking of sloppy joes brings me back to high school.
My mom always placed high importance on family dinner nights, and she’d somehow manage to make a big meal even on days we were super busy. (We were always super busy!)
My sister and I played on the school’s varsity tennis team, with long practices each day, and Friday nights were particularly animated: we’d board a bus in the afternoon, then play intense matches until well after dark. Intense might not be a strong enough word… we sometimes played against China’s future Olympic team!
Ever the supportive parent, my mom attended almost every match. Yet, when we’d finally drag our tired (and hungry) bodies off the courts, there it would magically sit, waiting for us:
A home-cooked meal.
Sloppy joes became one of our favorite Friday-night dinners, and one of our mom’s favorites as well, because she could make them in the morning in the crock pot. Her recipe is actually meatless (I’ve been a vegetarian since high school), but it calls for a few ingredients one can’t buy in the US. So last night I changed it up, and I incorporated lentils into my new creation.
Although I didn’t use a crock pot for this recipe, I imagine you could. The recipe comes together very quickly, and there’s even a microwave option!
Did you sit down to family meals when you were growing up?
Or do you try to have family meals with your own kids? My family tried to all eat together whenever we could. Sometimes after-school activities got in the way; and sometimes we were forced to eat in the car, en route to soccer practice or art class. But when we got the opportunity to sit down as a family, we took advantage.
I don’t remember ever eating dinner in front of the television, unless it was a special “movie night.”
Lentil Sloppy Joes
(Sloppy Loes)
- 2 15-oz cans lentils, drained and rinsed (about 3 cups cooked lentils)
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 1/4 tsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1-2 stevia packets, or 3-5 tsp sugar or sweetener of choice, or to taste
- 14 oz tomato sauce (I used no-salt-added)
- up to 1 cup water
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp soy sauce (or soy-free alternative)
- optional: 1/2 an onion (diced) and 2 tsp oil
Lentil sloppy joes: If making these on the stovetop: sauté the onion and garlic in the oil until onion is translucent. Add lentils and spices, stir, then add all other ingredients and cook uncovered (stirring occasionally) until thick like sloppy joe filling. If making this in the microwave: add all ingredients to a large microwave-safe dish (minus the onion and oil, which you won’t use with this method). Microwave until it boils, stir, then repeat the process until it is thick like sloppy joe filling. Makes about 5 cups.
View Sloppy Joes Nutrition Facts
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Success! I made this for dinner last night and everyone loved it more than the meat version! My carnivorous father even declared he “must have more” and went back for seconds! Great job, keep the sarvory recipes coming Katie! 😉
The onions aren’t in your ingredient list. How much of them do I need?
Yup, they’re there 🙂
optional: 1/2 an onion (diced)
I JUST made this recipe! It was awesome! A huge hit with both me and my fiance!
I love the sound of this recipe; when I grew up we had family sit down dinner until I was in high school then I got way too busy to be able to have sit down dinners.
I used to loved sloppy joes when I was younger. I’m glad I found this recipe!! I will be trying it out tonight! Thanks for all your posts!! It is my go-to vegan blog!!
When we’re all together we mostly sit down at the dinner table to eat, but at times we sit in front of the TV or eat outside if it’s good weather.
I made this for dinner tonight- everyone loved it! I toned down the chilli powder; used 150g – 200g (5 – 7oz) of tomato paste instead of tomato sauce as I wasn’t sure what’s classified as tomato sauce in the US, apparently tomato sauce in Australia is Ketchup; and I dissolved 2 -3 tsp of Vegemite in a little warm water to add in case leaving some of the chilli out was a bad idea! I thought the cinnamon was an unusual ingredient, but it blends really well with the other flavours. Sloppy Joes aren’t something usually found on an Aussie menu, so it was a different experience for us. Served on hot dog style buns with a side of seasoned string beans. So yummy! Thanks Katie, we love all the recipes we’ve tried xx
Alright the Picture & Comments have convinced me! I only hesitated because I never like sloppy joe sandwiches from school when i was younger.. & when i read the title aloud, my dad said eww.. HAHA but I don’t care, i gotta try these tomorrow, they inspired me to request one night a week as a Family “experimental” dinner, which i plan to use this on them first thing! If It turns out, maybe thanksgiving?!? Atleast for myself, b/c everyone else has turkey, but what about me?….oh yes.. PIE! haha 🙂
I tried this with black beans tonight and it was delicious! I also didn’t add any apple cider vinegar because I’m fresh out. I’m so happy to have found a perfect vegan comfort food recipe and will be making this again soon. 🙂 Thanks!
This is a keeper recipe for sure… so yummy and hearty! I’m not sure I’ve ever had a “real” sloppy Joe (never liked BBQ flavor as a kid), but these were awesome. I have a dumb question, though… after I added everything except the water, it already looked close to the right thickness so I decided to leave it out since I figured it was just if the mixture was too thick. Should I have added it anyway and just let it cook down? I didn’t see the point since the thickness/flavor was already great, but I’m curious if they would have turned out differently. It’s also possible I had less lentils and that’s why I needed less liquid (I cooked the amount of dry lentils that should have made 3 C, but didn’t re-check after they were done). Anyhow, great recipe!
Edit: looks like a couple of people did the same thing (skipped the water). Trying very hard not to go back in the kitchen and eat more… (c;
the minced garlic in the ingredient list… is that fresh garlic or dried?! stupid question maybe, but it will surely make a huge difference in taste. thanks!
fresh 🙂