Traditional sloppy joes is an easy American classic recipe made with ground meat. vegan sloppy joes recipes is a plant-based take on it. French lentils or red lentils get a fancy makeover here and yet sloppy Joe recipe is something you will love making at home. All you need is some buns and a cooked lentils. Serve it with some bbq sauce and potato chips or sweet potato fries on side.This dish is a great alternative to making jackfruit sliders with canned jackfruit if you do not have it at home.
Easy vegan sloppy joes can be served with hamburger buns or vegan brioche buns. You can also use whole wheat burger bun to make this homemade sloppy joes. It is a great recipe for easy weeknight dinners when you can just cook the curry in large skillet over medium heat.
You can also cook lentils in slow cooker or instant pot while you finish work. Serve it along with chopped yellow onion, green pepper and tangy tomato sauce. Use curry paste to speed up the process by making the tomato base in advance.
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Ingredients
- burger buns / brioche buns
- chopped red bell pepper
For filling:
- French lentils
- onion
- tomato
- red pepper
- cumin powder
- paprika / red chili powder
- ginger-garlic
- oil
- water
- salt as per taste
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Learn to make the filling in easy steps.
- Soak French lentils in water for 30 minutes.
2. Heat oil in a pot, add chopped onions, ginger-garlic and green chili (if you like it spicy!) to it. Let it cook until onions go brown.
3. Add chopped tomatoes and red pepper to the pan and let it soften.
4. Add cumin powder, paprika and salt. Mix well until you get a rich gravy.
5. Drain the lentils and add it to the gravy.
6. Add 2 cups of water and let it come to a boil.
7. Let it simmer on a medium low flame, until the lentils are cooked.
8. Cook further until you get a curry which has dried a bit. Too much water in it will make the buns runny.
9. Place the curried lentils along with chopped red pepper, between the toasted bun slices and serve fresh.
Substitutions
You may use buns of your choice to make this recipe yours.
Gluten-free - You may use gluten free buns instead of white bread buns to make this gluten free.
Vegetarian - You may use brioche buns (if you like egg wash).
Variation - Vegan sloppy joes in slow cooker
To make sloppy joes in slow cooker, follow the initial steps to make the curry paste with onions, tomatoes and spices.
Add the soaked lentils
Add water (2X times the quantity of lentils that were originally soaked) and cook in slow cooker or instant pot (Hi on Slow cook mode and in seal position) for 5 hours atleast.
Once done,add more water or cook more to reduce water as per your liking.
Other Variations
You can change the recipe slightly if you like it spicier or enjoy a crunchy version.
- Spicy - add chili pepper flakes as per your choice.
- Deluxe - You can also add dill pickles, crispy brown onions, green bell peppers or air fryer onions to this. (Yum!)
Substitutions
- Gluten-free - You can also make lettuce wrap if you want to avoid bread.
- You can also cook brown lentils in pressure cooker if not using canned lentils. If you do not have brown lentils you may use green lentils instead.
- Toast buns in vegan butter or olive oil if making vegan version. Use butter for vegetarian sloppy joes.
Equipment
Le crueset pot
grill pan for toasting buns (optional)
Storage
Store the curry in an airtight container in refrigerator for 1-2 days.
Related links
Lentil sloppy joes | vegan sloppy joes recipe
Equipment
- pan
- le crueset pot
- Knife and chopping board
Ingredients
- 1 cup French lentils
- 1 onion large, chopped
- 1 cup tomatoes large
- 1 red pepper medium
- 1.5 tbsp. cumin powder
- 1 tbsp. ginger-garlic- green chili each
- 1.5 tbsp. red paprika / red chili powder
- salt as per taste
- 2 cups water
- 2-3 tbsp. oil
Instructions
Vegan sloppy joes on stovetop
- Soak French lentils in water for 30 minutes.
- Heat oil in a pot, add chopped onions, ginger-garlic and green chili (if you like it spicy!) to it. Let it cook until onions go brown.
- Add chopped tomatoes to the pan and let it soften.
- Add cumin powder, paprika and salt. Mix well until you get a rich gravy.
- Drain the lentils and add it to the gravy.
- Add 2 cups of water and let it come to a boil.
- Let it simmer on a medium low flame, until the lentils are cooked.
- Cook further until you get a curry which has dried a bit. Too much water in it will make the buns runny.
- Place the curried lentils between the toasted bun slices along with chopped red pepper and serve fresh.
Vegan lentil sloppy joes in slow cooker
- To make sloppy joes in slow cooker, follow the initial steps to make the curry paste with onions, tomatoes and spices.Add the soaked lentils
- Add water (2X times the quantity of lentils that were originally soaked) and cook in slow cooker or instant pot (Hi on Slow cook mode and in seal position) for 5 hours atleast.Once done, add more water or cook more to reduce water as per your liking.
- Serve these lentil sloppy joes between the toasted bun slices along with chopped red pepper and serve fresh.
Notes
Top tip
Toasting buns on a grill gives them a good .
Food safety
Always reheat your leftovers.
FAQ
A cook named Joe added some tomato sauce to loose meat sandwiches and served it in 1930 in Iowa, hence came the name Sloppy Joes. Sloppy joes are also referred to as Spanish hamburgers in north.
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