These Healthy Sloppy Joes are made with lean ground beef and hidden veggies. This is a healthy and flavorful take on the classic sandwich.
These Healthy Sloppy Joes are weeknight meal perfection. A one-pan meal that is family friendly, filling, and comforting. What more can you ask for?
How to make sloppy Joes healthy
Here’s what I did to make this dish better for us:
- Use lean ground beef or ground turkey.
- Add lots of veggies. This recipe has nearly three cups of finely chopped vegetables in it. I use carrots, celery, onion, and bell pepper. The vegetables cook down into the meat and sauce and you hardly even realize that they’re there.
- Making the sloppy Joe sauce from scratch allows us to control the amount of added sugar and sodium.
What you’ll love about this recipe:
Quick: Less than an hour from start to finish
Easy: Everything cooks in the same pan.
Versatile: Serve this sloppy Joe meat in buns, baked potatoes, or even on its own.
Flavorful: You’ll love the sweet, tangy, savory flavors of this dish.
Leftovers: If you have any meat leftover it reheats wonderfully.
How to serve sloppy Joes
Sloppy Joes are typically served on a soft bun. In an effort to keep this meal lighter I often serve it “open face” on only half of a bun (and eat it with a knife and fork). You can also add the meat into a baked russet potato or baked sweet potato, or just eat it on its own.
Toppings for sloppy joes
My favorite toppings for sloppy Joes are grated pepper jack cheese and pickles. Feel free to top the meat with any cheese that you like. Jalapenos, pickled peppers, or chopped giardiniera are delicious options as well.
You might also like: Healthy Lunch Ideas
More dinner ideas
PIZZA SLOPPY JOES
CHEESEBURGER SLOPPY JOES
LASAGNA SOUP
FRENCH DIP SANDIWCHES (SLOW COOKER OR INSTANT POT)
Recipe
Healthy Sloppy Joes
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- ½ cup finely chopped carrots
- ½ cup finely chopped celery
- ½ cup finely chopped green bell pepper
- ½ cup finely chopped red bell pepper
- ½ cup finely chopped yellow or red onion
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2-3 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
- 3 teaspoons red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 ¼ cups tomato sauce
- ¼ cup ketchup
- ½ cup low sodium beef broth (preferred) or water
- buns or baked potatoes (optional), for serving
Instructions
- In a large saucepan or skillet, saute ground beef in 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat, breaking it up as it cooks. Once the meat has browned, add the carrots, celery, bell peppers, onion, and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are beginning to soften, about 5-8 minutes. If the mixture seems dry at any point you can add another drizzle of olive oil.
- Add the minced garlic and cook for another minute or two, stirring occasionally.
- Add brown sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, tomato sauce, ketchup, and beef broth to the meat and vegetable mixture. Stir to combine. Simmer over medium-low heat, partially covered, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes until the vegetables are tender. If the sauce gets too thick you can add another splash of beef broth and/or water. If the sauce is thinner than you like you can simmer it uncovered and the extra liquid should cook off.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper. Scoop the sloppy Joes into split buns or baked potatoes and serve.
Notes
- You can add ¾ teaspoon smoked paprika into the meat mixture.
- If you have the extra time you can add a roasted poblano pepper into the meat mixture. Roast a poblano pepper, remove the skin and seeds, chop it and stir it in along with the sauce ingredients.
Nutrition
Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below!Recipe updated January 2021. This recipe tastes like the previous version. I increased the quantities of the ingredients to make a slightly larger serving size, as my family was always wishing we had a bit more. This recipe can feed six people with moderate portions or four with large portions
Marye says
I made Sloppy Joes a lot when the older kids were little. This looks delicious!
Aimee @ ShugarySweets says
My kids were just teasing me that I was tearing up at the end of the movie 🙂
Julie @ Julie's Eats & Treats says
Let’s not ever talk about kids leaving unless you want lots of tears! In the mean time I’ll be fixing them this wonderful Sloppy Joe recipe! YUM!
Hilary | For the Love of Basil says
I was literally thinking yesterday how I am craving some sloppy joe’s but trying to eat healthy. SO EXCITED!!!
Jocelyn @BruCrew Life says
I never would have guessed that there were hidden veggies in this sloppy joe! My kiddos would never know either! Love it! And as for getting rid of childhood toys…eventually the clutter starts to take over, and it becomes easier to purge. Still tearful but easier!!!
Katie says
Absolutely LOVE this recipe. It is SO yummy. And I love all the hidden veggies. Can’t even taste them!
Celebrating Sweets says
Yay! Glad you liked it. Thanks for stopping by!
Leila says
Great recipe added some hot sauce. Will definitely make again. Thank you!
Celebrating Sweets says
That’s great! Thank you!
Katie says
LOVE this recipe! I’m a college student and make this for a healthy meal prep to eat throughout the week.
Christin says
We love these in our house and I love that I can get the veggies into the kiddo and hubs. I’m guessing no, but does the calorie count include the buns?
Celebrating Sweets says
Hi, Christin. I’m glad that you enjoyed this recipe! You are correct, the nutrition facts are for the filling only. Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment.
Jennie says
Made this tonight with the pickles and pepper jack cheese on top. Definitely the best sloppy joe I’ve had! I think I can taste the vegetables, but that’s a bonus for me because I love veggies in everything.
Celebrating Sweets says
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂