These are the best healthy sloppy Joes! Saucy and filled with flavour these homemade sloppy Joe's are made without ketchup, without wine, without brown sugar and are filled with veggies to make it a healthier version of the classic recipe we all know and love.
Table of Contents
Why you will love this recipe:
- This healthy sloppy Joe recipe is so good! It tastes just like traditional homestyle sloppy Joes and has the most delicious richly flavoured sauce.
- It is quick and easy to make and is ready in less than 30 minutes! It's also made in one pan so the clean up is so simple and easy - just like my one pan tuna fried rice!
- This recipe is made with no added sugar and is sweetened naturally with dates.
- This recipe is perfect for meal prep, makes great leftovers, and also freezes really well.
- It is loaded with veggies to make it a complete, healthy meal.
- This recipe is not only healthy but it is also Whole30 compliant, paleo, refined sugar free, gluten-free and dairy-free.
If you love healthy ground beef recipes you will also love my easy meat sauce with olives and the best gluten-free meatloaf.
Ingredients and substitutions:
- Lean ground beef - this is my favourite meat for making sloppy joes. I prefer using grass fed and grass finished ground beef but you can use any type of ground beef that you like. You could easily swap this for ground turkey, ground chicken or any other ground meat that you prefer.
- Fresh vegetables - I use sweet bell peppers and onions to give this recipe the most amazing flavour and beautiful colours. You can use any type of bell peppers that you like including red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, orange bell pepper or green bell pepper.
- Canned chopped tomatoes or canned diced tomatoes: these form the base of the sauce.
- Tomato paste - this helps the sauce thicken when it cooks to make it even more delicious.
- Coconut aminos: to help give this homemade sauce the perfect flavour. Instead of coconut aminos you can use soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce instead (just don't make these swaps if you are gluten free or following a paleo or Whole30 diet).
- 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!
- Garlic - to punch up the flavour even more!
- Spices: sea salt, ground black pepper, parsley, mustard powder and smoked paprika all blend perfectly to give this sauce the best flavour.
- Coconut oil - this is used to brown the ground beef. You can swap this for another oil or fat such as butter, avocado oil, olive oil or ghee.
How to make (step-by-step):
Step one:
To make the sauce, add all the sauce ingredients to your Vitamix or other high speed blender and blend the ingredients well until they are smooth.
Step two:
To make the beef and vegetables, place a large pan or large skillet on the stove on medium heat and add the coconut oil to the pan and let it melt.
Step three:
Next, add the chopped green onion and chopped bell peppers to the pan and sauté for a couple minutes.
Step four:
Then add the ground beef to the pan and cook it until it’s no longer pink, stirring regularly to break the meat apart and ensure it cooks evenly.
Step five:
Once the meat is browned add the sauce to the pan and mix well to combine all the ingredients. Then turn down the heat to low and let the meat mixture simmer for 15-20 minutes (until it reaches the thickness you like). Then serve and enjoy!
Top Tip:
If you don't have a high speed blender you could use a large food processor to blend the sauce instead.
Recipe variations and add ins:
- Instead of using ground beef feel free to use ground bison, lean ground turkey, or ground chicken to make these sloppy Joes.
- If you don't have coconut vinegar you can use apple cider vinegar instead.
- You can use either green onion, white onion, sweet onion or yellow onion to make this recipe.
- You could add other vegetables such as carrots or celery.
- Instead of smoked paprika you can use regular paprika.
- For even more flavour you can add a bit of garlic powder or chili powder to the sauce.
- If you are serving a crowd or want leftovers feel free to double or triple this recipe.
How to serve:
These paleo sloppy joes can be served in many different ways. Here are a few ways to eat them:
- Serve the sauce plain and eat it right out of a bowl.
- You can serve sloppy joe's in hotdog buns or hamburger buns. If you are gluten-free be sure to use gluten-free buns.
- If you prefer to make these bunless, you can serve them in a baked potato or in a baked sweet potato. Some people refer to these as potato buns or sweet potato buns.
- Pair this dish with your favorite side dishes such as a apple and kale salad or easy keto coleslaw.
- This is a great recipe to serve for game day or Super Bowl parties.
- I love pairing sloppy joes with grain free cornbread muffins or paleo almond flour biscuits.
How to store:
Store any leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
These sloppy joes also freezes really well in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months.
Frequently asked questions:
All you need to do is bake your potatoes, then slice them in half and fill them with the sloppy Joe sauce.
No, this sloppy Joe recipe is not low carb or keto.
Yes.
Yes.
Other recipes you will love:
- Whole30 Scalloped Potatoes
- Paleo Bread Recipe
- Meatloaf with Blueberries
- Bacon and Vegetable Egg Casserole
- Paleo Chili with Blueberries
- Whole30 Potato Salad
Since you made it this far we are basically best friends so be sure to follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok and Facebook where I share even more recipes and healthy living tips! And don’t forget to leave this recipe a star rating before you go!
Recipe
Healthy Sloppy Joes
Equipment
Ingredients
Sauce Ingredients
- 2 cans chopped or diced tomatoes (equivalent to 796mL)
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 6 dates (sub 2-3 tablespoon honey if not on the Whole30 diet or if on the SIBO diet)
- 2 tablespoon coconut vinegar (sub apple cider vinegar)
- 1 clove garlic, crushed (sub 1 tablespoon garlic infused olive oil)
- 1 tablespoon coconut aminos
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon mustard powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika (sub for paprika if you don't have smoked paprika)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Beef and Vegetable Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon coconut oil
- 3 lbs grass fed ground beef
- 1/2 cup chopped green onion
- 1 yellow pepper, chopped
- 1 red pepper, chopped
Instructions
Sauce Instructions
- Add all the sauce ingredients to your blender bend everything until it's smooth.
Beef and Vegetable Instructions
- Place a large pan on the stove on medium heat and add the coconut oil and let it melt.
- Add the green onion and chopped peppers to the pan and sauté for a couple minutes.
- Add the ground beef and cook until no longer pink.
- Add the sauce and mix well to combine all the ingredients.
- Turn down the heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes (until it reaches the thickness you like).
Notes
- If you don't have coconut vinegar you can use apple cider vinegar instead.
- Nutritional values are an estimate and will vary depending on the exact ingredients used.
- Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Leave a Reply