These Lentil Sloppy Joes are a healthy vegetarian recipe that’s perfect for lunch or dinner. Serve over spaghetti squash to keep it gluten-free or on a bun!
Hi Friends!
Today I’ve got a nice little vegetarian recipe for you. Longtime readers may remember that I followed a vegetarian diet for a while a couple of years ago. Then I wrote this post about how my diet doesn’t need a label, and that mentality has been working well for me for the past three years. I tend to go through periods where I just don’t feel like eating meat…so I don’t. Then things change and i’m back on the chicken train.
Currently, I’m in a lentil-loving phase so I whipped up these lentil sloppy joes a couple weeks ago. They turned out so well that I remade them so I could share with you!
If you’re not a lentil lover, you could easily sub ground meat. You can serve these the traditional way – on a bun…or change things up like I did and serve them in a nice little spaghetti squash boat. Not sure how to cook that? Here are 3 ways to cook spaghetti squash. You could also cook it in your instant pot!
This recipe is very forgiving. Feel free to add some extra veggies or swap out ones you don’t like. If your mixture gets too thick, just add a little water to make them sloppier!
Here’s the recipe:
PrintLentil Sloppy Joes
These Lentil Sloppy Joes are a healthy vegetarian recipe that’s perfect for lunch or dinner. Serve over spaghetti squash to keep it gluten-free or on a bun!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup dry lentils
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2/3 cup onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 medium sweet potato, chopped
- 3/4 cup mushrooms, chopped
- 1– 15 oz can tomato sauce
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 cup broth or water for thinning (optional)
Instructions
- Cook lentils in broth or water according to package directions.
- In a large pan (with a little oil), saute garlic, onion, peppers, sweet potato and mushrooms over medium high heat until sweet potatoes reach desired tenderness.
- Add cooked lentils, tomato sauce, spices and sugar and heat through.
- Add water or broth if needed to reach desired consistency.
- Taste and adjust spices as needed.
- Serve over cooked spaghetti squash or on a bun!
If you want this to cook even faster, toss your sweet potatoes in a little oil, put them in a bowl and microwave 2-3 minutes so they won’t take as long to cook in the pan!
Like I mentioned above, you could use ground meat…just throw a pound in with the veggies and cook thoroughly.
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Let’s chat!
Did you eat sloppy joes growing up? Were you a fan or not?
Enjoy!
–Lindsay–
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Loved sloppy joes as a kid! I love the idea of swapping lentils and serving in spaghetti squash. This looks amazing!
I loved sloppy joes as a kid too. It was a Halloween tradition to have them before we went out trick or treating lol. Random I know. A few years ago I started getting into making lentil sloppy joes and they are so good! I love that too!Great way to swap out the meat.
Yum! These look delicious. I’m bookmarking this recipe to make next week.
This looks like an awesome way to use lentils. My whole family would love these! Definitely adding it to the meal plan for next week!
hope they’re a hit!
I haven’t thought about sloppy joes in so long! Love the vegetarian twist on them.
I was totally a sloppy joe fan, but this lentil version looks way better than the original to me 🙂 And I love the idea of switching things up and serving in a spaghetti squash boat 🙂
Your post about how your diet doesn’t need a label 3 years ago has really stuck with me! Especially when I found out I was iron-deficient last summer, it helped me to feel free in adding iron-rich animal products without ditching the plant based mentality. I too am on a lentil kick and can’t wait to give this a try. Thanks Lindsay!
Yum,
I Bookmarked this recipe, to cook in this weekend, thanks for sharing.
We enjoyed this a lot! Trying to include more plant based meals in our menu! We topped with Siracha!
Very new to vegetarian cooking! Sorry, no intention to make it a fact of life. This was my Very first attempt at cooking with lentils. Pretty impressed! I followed instructions in your ‘preamble’ for cooking. ( 12 minutes at simmer etc). Lentils were still a little crunchy. We had leftovers tonight. Added some water And heated up on the stove for a good bit. Softened the lentils and they were much better tonight. Have to go and find some more green lentil recipes! (Still lots in the bag!). Thanks for this !!
★★★★