Who doesn’t love Sloppy Joes? And these may be the best Sloppy Joes ever! These easy sandwiches are packed with lean ground beef, a delicious sauce and healthy vegetables!
Are you looking for a delectable way to get more veggies into your kids? Yep, me too. In a never ending battle to get more nutrition into the foods my kids eat, I developed a sloppy joe recipe brimming with extra nutrition. I knew Veggified Sloppy Joes were a winner when both of my kids asked for seconds. (and shhh…I found my teenager eating the leftovers the next day!)
Given that it is the end of the summer, our gardens are brimming with great produce-tomatoes, zucchini, red peppers, carrots, and all of these were vegetables that I thought would be great in these sloppy sandwiches. The vegetables add bulk to the sandwiches, without having to add more ground beef. This recipe is easy to make ahead and freeze, or make ahead and allow to simmer in a slow cooker. Ta-da! The perfect back to school dinner.
These Veggified Sloppy Joes were a big hit in my house, I bet they will be in yours too!
Veggified Sloppy Joes
Ingredients
- 1 zucchini finely chopped
- 4 carrots shaved and then chopped
- 1 onion finely diced
- 1 red pepper finely diced
- 1 can 14.5 ounces diced tomatoes, drained
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 12 Hamburger Kaiser or Hawaiian buns
Instructions
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In a small skillet, brown ground beef over medium-high heat.
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Drain beef and place in slow cooker.
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In a large skillet, saute carrot, zucchini, red pepper over medium-high heat until tender, about 5-8 minutes.
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Add onion and saute for another minute until onion is translucent.
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Place vegetable mixture into the slow cooker with the ground beef.
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Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
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Cook for 4-6 hours on low.
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Serve on buns (I prefer to use Hawaiian buns as the sweetness pairs so nicely with the savory sloppy joes).
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*If you do not want to use a slow cooker, instead of placing cooked ingredients into a slow cooker, you can place sautéed vegetables and browned ground beef, together with the remaining ingredients, into a large skillet and them simmer for 40-50 minutes.
We love sloppy joes at our house and I love sneaking in veggies–this is So happening!
When I clicked on this post, I thought it was going to be a vegetarian recipe. I could easily substitute the ground beef for veggie so though. It’s been year since I had a sloppy joe, these look delicious!
What a great way to incorporate more veggies into a classic dish!!! I love this! I think my hubby may be a skeptic but I am totally going to give it a try!!
My 14 year old veggie averse daughter was QUITE skeptical, but she actually LOVED them-so go ahead and give them a try!
These sound fantastic! I think it would be a big hit in my family!
I may try this recipe. I did make veggie sloppy joes with an ingredient called seitan before. Have you ever tried it? It is pretty good as well.
I’ve never tried it, but I think some of my vegan friends use it!
I feel good about this recipe. I’m sure it’s delicious!
These sound SO GOOD! This on a Hawaiian roll sounds perfect and easy. Love that you give the option with and without the slow cooker. Thanks!
Thanks! I’ve done them both ways, depending on what I have to get done during the day, and they are equally good both ways!
The pics look so delicious. I’m sure it tasted awesome too.
Thanks! My whole family loves them!
Love this idea of combining veggies with Sloppy Joes recipe! Another tasty way to cook healthier!!! Thanks.
Totally going to try this! One of my kids doesn’t like firm textured meat so this is a great way to increase her iron intake.
I love how those extra veggies are snuck in there. Great job!
I would have never thought to make sloppy joes this way. It looks delicious.
We love sloppy joes! This is such a great way to add more veggies! Thanks!
This is creative!
I was confused for a minute, as the title make me think it was a vegetarian recipe, but it’s still a great way to get more veggies in your diet!
Someday I’ll find a way to make it totally vegetarian, but unfortunately I haven’t found a good protein substitute yet!
I love that you veggified the sloppy joes, maybe I can trick my hubby to eat some zucchini this way 😉
Honestly you can’t even taste it, just bulks things up and adds nutrition. Even my teenager and 5 year old happily eat them (and ask for them)!
Hmm this recipe could be completely veganized! By swapping out the ground beef all together and using beans instead! Then it will be a full blown veggiefication of the sloppy joe!
Absolutely!
I’ve never tried those before. They look really delicious!
Super good-my kids gobble them up!
I love the idea of being able to make these ahead of time and freeze. And boy does this bring back memories for me as my Mum used to always make us kids sloppy joes! Thanks for the post. xo~D Be You and Thrive
Enjoy! We gobble them up!
How creative to use all those veggies!!
Always trying to find a way to get more veggies into my kids!
Love this recipe. What a great idea to hide in the veggies in there! Trying this with my family.
Thanks Jehava! I think your boys would love it!
Yum! These look delicious! Sloppy Joes are part of our regular meal rotation, so I will have to try these!
Cut your veggies small, your kids won’t even notice they are there!
I don’t know if I can sneak these to my husband, but my toddler would love these! Anything messy is good!
Your whole family would love these! XOXO