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:
I made these for dinner tonight and they were amazing! The only thing I changed was that I chose to leave out the water – it was already pretty soupy when I added the sauce so I didn’t need it. I can’t wait to have the leftovers tomorrow!
I’m not sure if anyone already asked this, but I am just curious what the ingredients that your mom used that can’t be purchased in the U.S.
The main one was a soy product, or maybe seitan, crumbled. I don’t actually know the name!
Katie, I almost never comment on blogs…but this was so delicious, I just had to thank you. 🙂
Thank you for trying it!
Hi Katie,
I have a quick question about the nutrition facts. When I plug the ingredients into calorie count, I’m getting 342 calories/ 129 gram serving (a little less if I substitute 3 cups cooked lentils for 30 oz lentils). Am I missing something here? I’m throwing the recipe in and calling it 10 serving sizes (you said it makes 5 cups, so 10 1/2 cups). I was really excited to see such a low cal/filling recipe, but for those of us watching their weights, there’s a huge difference between 78 calories/serving and 342! I’ve had this issue with some of your other recipes, but usually the difference is not nearly this huge so I figured I’d ask. 🙂
As always, thanks for the recipes!
`Jessica
CalorieCount defaults to dry lentils. That’s incorrect, and it makes a huge difference in the stats. You always have to be careful with those free online calorie calculators, as they’re often wrong.
Thanks! Feel free to ignore the question posted on FB, I didn’t know if these comments posted immediately and I was really hoping to make them tonight so wanted a quick answer if possible. Please keep the recipes–especially these non-dessert ones!–coming! My favorite so far is the mushroom stroganoff–I sub PB2 for the tomato paste and make a Thai version.
EDIT: Made this tonight, it was DELICIOUS! I only had one serving (and some roasted cauliflower) and I was happily stuffed. Very delicious, thanks again for the recipe!
We almost always had family dinners together growing up, although that got more difficult as we got older and busy with different after school activities. These sloppy joes sound great! I bought some dried lentils recently and have been looking for ways to use them since they’re so healthy and high in protein… Can’t wait to try this one!
You’ve done it again! So good…I ate almost a serving while it was still in the pan. And I love that it doesn’t use the soy substitute meat products! Love your recipes…I seriously make at least one thing of yours every other day! I will now have a “better finger”
Hi Katie!
Just wanted to let you know I tried this in the rice cooker…threw everything in the rice cooker together. Instead of canned lentils I added 1.5c of dried lentils, and 3c of water. I did not add an extra cup of water the recipe called for. It was so delicious!!!!!! thank you thank you…I think this is my new favorite meal!!!!
Ever since I found TJ’s refrigerated lentils I’ve been buying a pack of them a week! This is a great switch-up from eating them plain! I did try combining them with avocado + salt + pepper for a quick snack and they were a yummy surprise!
I just wanted to let you know that I took the Sloppy Loes and the Pumpkin Pizookie to a Halloween party today and they were a huge hit! Thanks for the excellent recipes!
I’m not vegan but do try to have 2 days a week where I go vegan and am always looking for ways to keep my meat-loving husband happy and this was a huge hit! Thanks for sharing; we’ll definitely be making it again!