In my family, we love these vegan sloppy joes! Add this childhood dream meal to your casual dinner rotation and keep the recipe handy for summer holidays, too!
There are only a few core ingredients in this recipe – olive oil, onion, vegan beef crumbles, lentils – the rest are spices and herbs, plus broth and tomato products. With only five minutes of prep and fifteen minutes of cooking, you can have the family around the table chowing down in no time!
You can vary or omit the amount of beefless ground (a vegan substitution for ground beef) in this recipe. If you don’t like vegan “meat,” just add lentils only and omit the beefless ground. If you haven’t tried the beefless ground, maybe give it a chance!
Other ingredient amounts you can play with are the chili powder and cayenne pepper. When you first make it, go lighter on the chili powder and cayenne, then add more, to taste. You can also replace some of the chopped onion with chopped green bell pepper.
The sloppy joe filling can be made ahead and refrigerated until you are ready to serve, up to 3 or 4 days. The flavors blend even better each day in the fridge! Hubs and I had these sandwiches for dinner several nights, heating just enough for two each night. The sandwiches got better every day.
If you find the meatless filling is too thick when reheating it, add a small amount of veggie broth to thin.
We use slider sized buns to eat these, one per meal per person, and we find one slider to be perfectly filling with our salad, chips, etc.
We eat our sloppy joes with slices of avocado and red onions, but the sky is the limit on toppings. Try vegan cheese shreds, jalapenos, and coleslaw, too. For some, yellow mustard would be great on the bun. Or just put out all the toppings and see what your diners come up with! For something a little different, try this Brussels Sprouts Slaw as a topping or a side dish.
This recipe is adapted from Girl Heart Food.
| Prep Time | 5 minutes |
| Cook Time | 15 minutes |
| Servings |
slider sandwiches
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- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 yellow onion chopped, or use bell pepper instead of some of the onion.
- 1-1/3 cup Gardein Beefless Ground (vegan beef substitute crumbles), still frozen
- 1 15.5 ounce can lentils drained and rinsed
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 4 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon chili powder (or to taste, no more than 1 tablespoon)
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste, no more than 1/2 teaspoon)
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth or stock low salt or unsalted, plus enough for an additional splash, if needed
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- 8 vegan slider buns (or small vegan hamburger buns - check the package labels)
- 4 tablespoons ketchup
Ingredients
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- In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat and add the onion once the oil is hot. (If using bell pepper, add at this time, too.) Saute the onion until it's translucent, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add the frozen beefless ground and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the lentils and stir to combine.
- To the skillet, also add the dry mustard, dried oregano, salt, black pepper, and tomato paste. Stir well to combine flavors. Begin adding the chili powder and cayenne pepper and adjust to your taste, being sure not to add more than the measured amounts above. Cook 2 to 3 minutes more.
- Stir in the vegetable broth. After mixing in, add more if you would like a thinner consistency. (I added an additional "splash" of broth to mine.)
- Stir in the balsamic vinegar. Add the ketchup, stirring to combine well.
- Serve on slider buns or small hamburger buns with your favorite toppings. Try vegan cheese shreds, jalapenos, slaw, avocado or onions.
- Leftovers can be stored, covered, in the refrigerator for 3 or 4 days.
I hope you enjoy this recipe! Leave any feedback in comments below. Also, share your comments on Instagram: @key_lime_coconut or on Twitter: @keylime_coconut. We love seeing hashtags #keylimecoconut #keylimecoconutblog and #beachbumvegan when you try our recipes.
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