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
Link Of The Day:
Perfect timing – I just picked up a big bag of red lentils! I am so making this this week! This look delicious!!!!
Since finding this website a few weeks ago, this was about my 7th recipe I’ve tried! My husband is not especially open-minded and wanted to know why we had baked beans on a bun…ha! But my girls, and their friends, at it without complaint. I liked it so much I just ate it in a bowl like chili! And, I followed it up with my 8th recipe….cupcake batter smoothie! Super filling meal.
Oh, and I couldn’t find canned lentils, so just cooked my own. Had never prepared dried lentils, but they were really easy, cook quickly, don’t require soaking, etc.
I very seldom post comments on the internet recipes but this is the exception. This were excellent. Had trouble with the lentil beans because I used dried but would definitely make this again. Attempting to win my battle with excess weight and this has great nutritional values. Flavor was fantastic and was even able to enjoy the sandwich with a few potato chips. Felt like “cheating”, but was still well into health range on all counts.
These had some great feedback in comments and I was eager to try it after coming home from work (effing starving!)
Seeing the ingredient list, I should have known that it wasn’t going to taste like sloppy joes, and I regret even touching the cinnamon. I HATE curry. Hate it. And that’s what it tasted like. Although I was super disappointed, it was my fault for thinking it was going to taste like sloppy joes (I’ve never made them before and have no idea what the ingredient list would consist of).
Anyway, for those of you who like the idea of cinnamon in savory dishes, I’m sure this recipe is great. But if you’re not into Indian ethnic cuisine, stay far away.
I have made these Lentil Sloppy Joes for my family several times, and it is always a huge hit. I do add a little extra garlic, vinegar and spice (personal taste), but this pleases everyone. It’s easy to make a huge batch and freeze the rest when I don’t have time to make dinner. Thanks for this awesome recipe.
Is there a link for your English muffin recipe? They look amazing!
Her English muffins are Ezekiel brand, she has said in the past.
These were great! I wasn’t sure how the lentils were going to taste (especially how others raved on other sites that they wouldn’t use anything but tvp in their vegan sloppy joes)- but they didn’t have that bland beany taste. This recipe is a keeper! I added green pepper, carrot and celery to add more veggies and make it more of a complete meal. I also used 2 cans of 398ml of tomato sauce, but didn’t use any extra water. It made about 6 meals (1 c each)-so I’ve frozen some for a quick work lunch. Love it – thanks for sharing!!!
Absolutely delicious and easy to make! I just finished eating these sloppy joes for dinner and made the most minor changes (reduced sugar, used and added more vegetable broth and water) from the recipe. I also used dry lentils instead of canned and mixed all the ingredients together and brought to a boil before adding lentils for about 20 minutes. I ended up using more liquid than called for because the lentils were dried and not already cooked. Anyway, thank you for sharing the recipe. I will be making this again. P.S. I recommend adding pickles; they go with everything :).
Another winner! I’d just tried another recipe from a cookbook I have. I thought that was a keeper. But, since I’d had in the back of my mind that I wanted to try this, I did. So *this* keeper replaced that one.