Smoky & savory Vegan Sloppy Joes, made with whole food plant ingredients and naturally sweetened. Only 30 minutes from start to finish, this is a tasty plant based meal that the whole family will love!
Meet one of my favorite vegan meals: the Best and Easiest Vegan Sloppy Joes!
When I went vegan 8 years ago, vegan sloppy joes were one of the meals I made most often. One of the first cookbooks I got was Veganomicon and the recipe I used was from that book. I still have that cookbook, it’s a great one, especially for vegan beginners!
What’s so great about Vegan Sloppy Joes?
- They are super inexpensive to make, with lentils as the base. You can find cheap lentils in the bulk section of your grocery store.
- Going along with the inexpensive bonus, they also use everyday ingredients you can buy at any grocery store and keep in your pantry for last minute meals.
- They are filling and SO satisfying!
- They are oil free, naturally sweetened and FULL of fiber and protein.
- Leftover sloppy joes keep really well in the fridge, and they can also be frozen!
- And best of all, they are so flavorful- rich, smoky, sweet and savory; the sauce will keep you coming back for more!
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How should I serve Vegan Sloppy Joes?
You can go the traditional route and serve sloppy joes on any kind of bun (just check the ingredients to ensure vegan). Either fill a burger bun, or serve open faced. I like the whole wheat buns from Trader Joes.
Or simply serve open faced on sprouted wheat bread, or gluten free bread if needed.
The mixture also tastes good served with a baked potato, or straight out of a bowl! Usually, we just use Ezekiel bread or whole wheat burger buns.
Sometimes, I like to add pickled red onion or sliced pickles. Yum!
FAST AND EASY TIP:
You can buy pre-packaged cooked lentils, or canned lentils to make this recipe even faster! If you do that, this meal will only take you 10-15 minutes to make, talk about fast food. You will need about 3 cups cooked lentils.
Want more easy & healthy vegan dinner recipes? Check out my eBook, Plant Based Family Dinners or any of these recipes:
Spaghetti and Easy Vegan Meatballs
Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese
Don’t forget to follow me on Pinterest for more easy, healthy and tasty plant based vegan recipes!
Recipe adapted from Veganomicon cookbook.
The Best and Easiest Vegan Sloppy Joes
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked green lentils
- 4 cups water
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 medium green bell pepper, chopped small
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- (1) 15-ounce can tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons ketchup (or tomato paste)
- 3 tablespoons yellow mustard
- 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoons salt, or to taste
- For serving: whole grain hamburger buns
Instructions
- First, cook the lentils: In a medium pot with a lid, add the lentils and water. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 18-20 minutes or until tender. Drain excess liquid and set aside.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the chopped onion, green bell pepper and garlic. Use a few tablespoons of water, or vegetable broth, to saute and prevent burning. Stir constantly for 3-4 minutes, using more water as needed.
- Now add the chili powder and smoked paprika, and stir to coat the vegetables for about 1 minute. Add a little water if it's too dry.
- Next, add the tomato sauce, ketchup, mustard and maple syrup. Stir until well incorporated. Add in the cooked lentils and stir. Season with salt to taste.
- Serve on burger buns with red onion slices if desired and enjoy! We also eat this open faced on sprouted wheat bread, over a baked potato or even just out of a bowl, it's so good!
Recipe Notes
- To make this meal faster and easier, you may use canned or packaged already cooked lentils. You will need about 3 cups cooked lentils.
- The sloppy joe mixture freezes well, simply fill freezer friendly containers, leaving a little room for expansion and freeze. Let defrost when ready to use, add to a pot and cook until warm.
- Leftovers will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- Nutritional information is for the sloppy joe filling only.
NUTRITION INFORMATION
Lorrie
Wonderful comfort food. Thank you!
Nora
You’re welcome!
Shanna
I have a can of low sodium lentils (15 oz.). Can I just use the can in place of the uncooked lentils?
Nora
Sure!
Lorna B.
I made this tonight for dinner and my husband and I both loved it. I used 2 1/2 Tblsp. of the chili powder and we liked that amount. Definitely a keeper recipe. I just found your website today and have already tried two recipe (the pumpkin scones). Both were great!! I look forward to trying out more of your recipes! Thanks for your time and work creating them.
Nora
Yay! Thank you for the feedback Lorna! I really appreciate it.
Hayley
This was more delicious than I was expecting. My SO and I thought 3 tablespoons chili powder was a lot so I used 2. Upon eating, we both looked at each other and said 3 would’ve been fine. We enjoyed the leftovers the next night (with a little extra chili powder added) even more!
Nora
I’m so glad you and your son enjoyed this recipe! Thanks for letting me know.
Kelly
Loved! Loved! Loved it!!!! This was so good!!! Thank you for this recipe! It hit the spot and my family ALL ate it! 🙂
Isabella
Just ate them! I used a little less chili powder but overall they were delicious and flavorful. Definitely would make them again!
Mary E, from OH
Just wanted to add that, somehow, I bet this could be tweaked to make a lentil “meat loaf?” Adding perhaps just some whole grain, dried/toasted bread crumbs to soak up more of the liquid? Will leave that idea to you experts. Maybe you already have a vegan “meat loaf” recipe?
Nora
It probably could, but it would be a whole new recipe. Perhaps some breadcrumbs? I do have two meatloafs: The Best Vegan Meatloaf and Lentil Loaf, both of which are fabulous in my opinion. 🙂
Mary E, from Ohio
OH thanks! I will definitely check those out!
Taleesa
Your vegan meatloaf is the best!! I have made it several times and definitely a favorite of mine!!
Megyn
This is a keeper! Delicious.
Nora
Thank you so much!
Mary E, from OH
Just made this today and had to change a few things (out of necessity, for needing to use some things.) Instead of green, bell pepper I used about 3/4 of an orange bell pepper and then I had an opened jar of pimentos (the smallest of the sweet peppers) which I wanted to get rid of, so threw that in also. I think the recipe would be better, as written, I just didn’t have a green pepper on hand. I also included a pinch of cumin, cause I like a taco type flavor, and that adds it. Next, I’m doing whole foods right now and watching the salt, so instead of maple syrup I used date sugar (which is just dried, pulverized dates, so still a “whole food”) and added only a tiny pinch (literally) of pink salt. (Next time won’t add any, cause my sugar free ketchup has salt in it, as did the tomato sauce I used, and the yellow mustard, so no need). I think those are all the changes I made this time, and it was pretty darn good! Going forward I want to make it with green peppers, use a little less date sugar, a bit less chili powder (my nose started running!) and sub half the smoked paprika for regular. Really, this is an EXCELLENT recipe, as is, I just am not a super spicy person, so want to tone it down just slightly. I really appreciate this recipe, though, cause it gives me a very nice base from which to work and I think my next batch will be just right! Also, pimentos really do work as a sub for some of the bell pepper, if anyone wants to try. 😃 Oh, also, start to finish, chopping up everything myself, getting all the spices together, then washing everything (pots and pans, and putting them away) this took me more like 2 hours, but I’m kind of slow and, thankfully, I’ll have lots of left overs in the freezer! (I’m the only one eating it.)
Nora
Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Sue Sesko
So happy we tried this recipe! It is excellent, we are tired of eating meat that doesn’t taste like it used to…….
Nora
I’m so happy you liked it! Thank you.
jennifer remaley
Dear Nora,
Just made this. Amazing!! I am not a fan of chili powder so I used McCormick taco seasoning instead. Will be making again and again!!
Nora
That’s wonderful, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Marie
Any suggestions for making this in a crockpot? Just put it all in the pot together? More water? Less water? I want to make this for a potluck!
Nora
I’ve never tried it in a crock pot! I think the same amount of water would be fine, but I don’t really know how long it would take, sorry! Maybe I’ll experiment one day.
Marie
Thanks for your reply! I’ll try it out and let you know!
Lisa
An alternative to adding the cooked lentils to the sauce:
1) soak the dry lentils in hot water for 3-4 hours. Process in food processor til almost smooth. Put in a bowl. Add a little salt and a little baking powder.
2) Pan- or deep-fry small spoonfuls of this batter til medium-brown. Put all the fried pieces in a bowl, break them up somewhat, add to the sauce, cover and simmer til the sauce is absorbed. You may need to add more liquid to the sauce.
Jo
My husband and I loved the flavor! We used whole wheat pita bread. I am going to try it on a baked potato next time. Thank you for sharing this recipe with us.
Laurel Silva
These were absolutely AMAZING! My non-Vegan husband loved it too. Even my 3 year old son was licking his plate clean!
Jill
We loved the flavor of these. Any suggestions on how to make this in the instant pot?
Nora
I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe! To make it in the Instant Pot, I would first cook the lentils in the IP (6-8 minutes). Drain them, and set aside. Then using the Instant Pot saute feature, I’d cook the rest of the dish, so not using pressure, but just the saute feature. It may be possible to make it all at once using pressure, I’m not sure! It would be fun to play around with.
Lindsay
I made this last night. Amazing and easy to make! Some vegan recipes are hit and miss but I’m 2 for 2 so far with noracooks.com. I am definitely going to try all the recipes Nora posts!
Thanks Nora for creating easy delicous recipes!
Nora
Thanks so much Lindsay! I’m glad you liked these, and I hope you find many more to enjoy! 🙂 I LOVE creating easy delicious recipes, so you are welcome!
Janet shogren
Just had your sloppy Joes. It was delicious. Even the meat eaters in my home.loved it.
Nora
Yay! Thanks for sharing.
Stephanie
These were great! I was looking for a meatless sloppy joe recipe to use up a green pepper from my veggie share. I should have doubled the recipe, now I’m making it again. Thanks for the recipe
Nora
So glad you like the sloppy joes Stephanie! I know, these go fast in our house too!
Christine
This was really good! Tasted like a sloppy joe… we didn’t miss the meat.
Nora
I’m so glad! Thanks for sharing Christine. 🙂
Leslie
I made these tonight and they are so perfectly rich and delicious! I like them much better than the meat version. It’s also very easy and fun to make. Thanks for bringing us this recipe!
Nora
Oh goody! Thanks so much for sharing, glad you guys enjoyed them!
Sam Wester
Made these and they were so good. Had with coleslaw. Will definitely be making again. Thanks for the recipe. Totally complaint for my wfpb no oil way of eating.
Nora
Great idea with the coleslaw! I’m glad you enjoyed them!
Anne Vaughan
Hi Nora! One meat item I really miss is sloppy joes! Can’t wait to try this recipe. Thanks
Nora
Oh great! These are so good, I think you’ll love them.