Whole30 and Paleo Sloppy Joes

Name: Whole30 and Paleo Sloppy Joes
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 2 cans chopped or diced tomatoes ((equivalent to 796mL)); 1/4 cup tomato paste; 6 dates ((sub 2-3 TBSP honey if not on the Whole30 diet or if on the SIBO diet) ); 2 TBSP coconut vinegar ((sub apple cider vinegar)); 1 clove garlic, crushed ((sub 1 tbsp garlic infused olive oil)); 1 tbsp coconut aminos; 1 tsp sea salt; 1 tsp dried parsley; 1 tsp mustard powder; 1 tsp smoked paprika ((sub for paprika if you don't have smoked paprika)); 1/2 tsp ground black pepper; 2 tbsp coconut oil; 3 lbs grass fed ground beef; 1/2 cup chopped green onion; 1 yellow pepper, chopped; 1 red pepper, chopped

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This Whole30 and Paleo Sloppy Joes recipe is the best! Saucy and filled with flavour this homemade sloppy Joe recipe is made without ketchup, without wine, and without brown sugar and is filled with hidden veggies to make it a healthy version of the classic recipe we all know and love. Easy to make in just one pan this is the perfect quick and easy meal.

Did you grow up eating sloppy joes? I did! But the recipe I grew up on was made with ketchup and brown sugar, so once I changed to the paleo diet sadly I couldn’t eat that version anymore. I actually hadn’t eaten sloppy joes for years until I came up with this recipe. And you guys, these Whole30 and paleo sloppy joes are so, so good! Saucy, filled with flavour and loaded with hidden veggies, this homemade sloppy Joe recipe is so much healthier than traditional homestyle sloppy joes.

Why you’ll love this recipe:

Move over Nom Nom Paleo, Against All Grain and Skinnytaste! These heart healthy sloppy Joe’s are so good! They taste just like traditional homestyle sloppy Joes and have the most delicious richly flavoured sauce.
This sloppy Joe recipe is without ketchup, without wine and without brown sugar.
They are so quick and easy to make and are a one pan meal that your whole family will love!
These sloppy joes are perfect for meal prep, make great leftovers and also freeze really well.
They are loaded with veggies to make a complete, healthy meal.
These bunless sloppy Joes can be made using a potato bun, sweet potato bun or you can turn them into sloppy Joe bowls too!
Besides being Whole30 and paleo, this sloppy Joe recipe is also gluten free and dairy free.
They can be served on a sweet potato, white potato or as is.

Key ingredients and substitutions:

Ground beef – ground beef is my favourite meat for making sloppy joes. I prefer using grass fed and grass finished ground beef. You could easily swap this for ground turkey, ground chicken or any other ground meat.
Vegetables – I use sweet bell peppers and onions to give this recipe the most amazing flavour and color profile.
Canned chopped or diced tomatoes: these form the base of the sauce. A sloppy Joe just isn’t a sloppy Joe without tomatoes!
Tomato paste – this helps the sauce thicken when it cooks.
Coconut aminos: to help give this homemade sauce the perfect flavour.
Coconut vinegar: this is one of my favourite types of vinegar! It has such a unique flavour. You could easily use apple cider vinegar instead.
Dates: to give the sloppy Joe sauce the perfect amount of sweetness, without any refined sugar or ketchup!
Spices: sea salt, ground black pepper, parsley, mustard powder and smoked paprika. These blend perfectly to give this sauce the best flavour.

How to make this recipe:

Sauce directions:

Step one:

First, add all the sauce ingredients to your high speed blender and let the ingredients soak for 15-20 minutes. Then blend the ingredients well until they are smooth.

Beef and vegetable directions:

Step one:

First, place a large pan on the stove on medium heat and add the coconut oil to the pan and let it melt.

Step two:

Next, add the chopped green onion and chopped bell peppers to the pan and sauté for a couple minutes.

Step three:

Then add the ground beef to the pan and cook it until it’s no longer pink.

Step four:

Next, add the sauce to the pan and mix well to combine all the ingredients. Then turn down the heat to low and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes (until it reaches the thickness you like). Then serve and enjoy!

Variations and add ins:

Instead of using ground beef feel free to use ground bison, ground turkey, or ground chicken to make these sloppy Joes.
If you don’t have coconut vinegar you can use apple cider vinegar instead.
Instead of green onion you could use a medium white onion.
You could make the sauce with honey instead of dates (note that honey wouldn’t be Whole30 compliant).
You could add other vegetables such as carrots or celery.
Instead of smoked paprika you could use paprika instead.

Chef’s tips and tricks:

To serve these sloppy Joes you can eat them plain, serve them in a potato bun or a sweet potato bun, or turn them into sloppy Joe bowls.
This recipe also freezes really well – I love freezing them in my Souper Cubes to make perfectly sized portions that can easily be reheated anytime you need a quick meal. You can freeze it for up to 3 months.
If you are serving a crowd feel free to double or triple this recipe.

How to store:

Store any leftovers in the fridge in an air tight container for up to 5 days.

How to serve:

Serve these sloppy joes plain and just eat the sauce as it is.
You can serve them over potato buns or sweet potato buns.
Serve sloppy joes over vegetable noodles or veggie rice.
You can turn them into sloppy Joe bowls (see the instructions below).

To turn these into sloppy Joe bowls:

Instead of making these with a potato bun or sweet potato bun you can easily turn them into sloppy Joe bowls by topping your favorite cooked veggies with the sloppy Joe sauce from this recipe. Some of my favourite veggies to use are cauliflower rice, broccoli, spaghetti squash and zucchini noodles.

Frequently asked questions:

Why are they called Sloppy Joes?

A quick google search told me that the reason they are called sloppy joes is that a cook named Joe at Floyd Angell’s café in Sioux City Iowa added tomato sauce to his “loose meat” sandwiches and the “sloppy joe” sandwich was created.

What is the difference between a sloppy Joe and a manwich?

Manwich is a brand of pre-made sloppy Joe sauce that is made by Hunt’s. You can buy canned manwich sauce at grocery stores or you could make your own homemade sloppy Joe sauce instead.

What sides go with sloppy Joes?

Sloppy joes pair well with cooked broccoli, cooked cauliflower, a side salad, or chopped raw vegetables. You can also pair sloppy joes with potatoes, sweet potatoes, cauliflower rice or white rice. You could also turn sloppy joes into a sandwich or manwich.

How do you make a sweet potato bun or white potato bun?

All you need to do is bake your potatoes, then slice them in half and fill them with the sloppy Joe sauce. Note that technically white potatoes are not paleo, so if you are following a strict paleo diet then you will need to use a sweet potato bun (white potatoes are allowed on the Whole30 diet). This is a great way to make bunless sloppy Joes!

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Whole30 and Paleo Sloppy Joes

Why you’ll love this recipe:

Key ingredients and substitutions: