Vegan Sloppy Joes
There’s no reason one of the most iconic childhood classics from the USA can’t be vegan! In fact, these Vegan Sloppy Joes are better than I remember!
I’ve honestly probably eaten more Vegan Sloppy Joes than non-vegan ones as this point in my life. I ate them as a kid for sure, and I loved ’em, but for some reason I love them even more now as a grown up vegan! They have all the flavor (and more) of the originals!
why you’ll dig vegan sloppy joes
These sandwiches are QUICK & EASY! The prep time is only 15 – 30 minutes!
They are also highly customizable and ridiculously delicious too!
I’ve made these the classic way. I’ve topped them with pickles, onions, pickled onions, jalapeños, bbq sauce, and even vegan cheese sauce! You can really go to town and make these however you like.
My wife from Texas prefers hers straight on a white hamburger bun, and I gotta admit, that’s pretty fantastic too. To be honest, I’ve been taking the leftovers cold straight from the fridge and making cold Sloppy Joes and they still hit all the notes!
ingredients for vegan sloppy joes
For the meat / protein in our vegan Sloppy Joes, we have a lot of options. You can go with some store-bought plant-based meat like Impossible or Beyond Meat.
For something homemade, you can also use my Tofu Ground Beef, TVP Ground Beef, Lentil Ground Beef or Tempeh Ground Beef recipes!
The Sloppy Sauce is a tomato based sauce that can be customized to your own taste.
- Tomato Paste, Sauce and Ketchup – Like I said we are going with some tomatoes for a sweet and acidic base!
- Vegan Worcestershire Sauce – Feel free to use a Vegan Steak Sauce if you can’t find Worcester.
- Yellow Mustard – For some more twang!
- Chili Powder – This is a seasoning blend of things like cumin and paprika, not Cayenne Pepper!
- Smoked Paprika – I love Smoked Paprika, it lends a nice smoky flavor, it’s the bacon of spices!
- Nutritional Yeast – For some extra umami flavor!
- Hot Sauce and Chipotles in Adobo – These are optional for some extra spice, so leave out if you don’t like a little heat!
Is manwich Sloppy Joe Mix vegan?
For the Sloppy Sauce, you can take a shortcut and get something like Manwich which is actually vegan. But I much prefer making mine from scratch as it just simply tastes way better, and it’s not too much work either!
how to make vegan sloppy joes
There’s no wrong way to make Sloppy Joes. Just cook your meat and add the sauce! Recently, I found that I liked to make the sauce first so I can taste and adjust it.
So first, we’ll whip up the sauce! I like to add a bit of spicy stuff, hot sauce, chipotles in adobo, so if you (or your kids) are not into anything with some heat, leave those out!
After that, we’ll cook some onions and a jalapeño pepper. You can also use a green bell pepper for less spicy!
Next we’ll brown our vegan meat in a skillet. I like to make it into a giant burger patty so I can get some nice caramelization before I break it up into crumbles.
Once the meat is cooked through we’ll add in our sauce. Stir to combine and taste and adjust for seasonings. Simmer for a few minutes, and that’s it, told you it was easy!
Then just serve it up on a toasted (or untoasted) burger bun and enjoy! You can even throw it on a hoagie roll if you want something less sloppy!
storage
Store in the fridge for 3 – 5 days in some Tupperware or an airtight container. You can also store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Then thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat on the stove or microwave.
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Vegan Sloppy Joes
Ingredients
- 6 Burger Buns
- 1 pound Vegan Meat* (like Impossible or Beyond)
- 1 cup Diced Onion
- 1 Jalapeño (diced)
- 3 – 4 cloves Garlic (minced)
Sloppy Sauce
- 1 Tbsp Tomato Paste
- 8 oz. Tomato Sauce
- 1/4 cup Ketchup
- 1 Tbsp Vegan Worcestershire (or Steak Sauce)
- 1 Tbsp Yellow Mustard
- 1 Tbsp Chili Seasoning
- 1 Tbsp Smoked Paprika
- 1 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
- 2 Tbsp Hot Sauce (optional for some heat)
- 1 Tbsp Diced Chipotle in Adobo (optional for more heat)
- 1/4 – 1/3 cup Water (to thin the sauce)
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Instructions
- To make the Sloppy Sauce, simply combine everything in a bowl and set aside.
- Over medium heat in a bit of oil, cook your diced onion and jalapeño for about 5 – 6 minutes until softened.
- Add in your vegan meat, and crumble it. Cook for 3-4 minutes without stirring, then stir and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
- Once your meat is well browned and cooked to your liking, add in your garlic, cook that for a minute.
- Pour over the Sloppy Sauce and stir to combine. Taste for seasoning. If it feels too thick, you can thin it out with some water.
- Toast your burger buns, slop on as much of the Sloppy Joe mixture that you like and dig in!
- ENJOY!
This is a 5-star sauce! My first time using chipotles in adobo; the resulting sauce is so delicious. Thank you!
Inspired by a recent episode of “Queer Eye,” I’m making Antoni’s Sloppy Joe Nachos. Your Sloppy Joe sauce is perfect for the dish.
Yeah I love chipotles in adobo! So glad you liked it, and Sloppy Joe Nachos sound brilliant!
Absolutely delicious!!
Awesome, glad you dug it!
The only thing I changed was adding a smidge of liquid smoke because I used chipotle powder instead of chipotle from a can and a little bit of cumin (maybe a 1/2 teaspoon-I don’t measure). I used Abbot’s Butcher grounds and added some sautéed chopped button mushrooms cause the Abbot’s grounds are made of mushrooms so I thought that would compliment. I ate 2, my husband ate 3. So that’s a WIN!
Excellent, glad you liked it!!
Made the tvp version!! It was really good! The only point down point I have is that wasn’t sure if you follow the beef tvp recipe completely AND add the sloppy marinade so I kinda improvise and mixed both recipe. I didn’t wanna put too much water in the mix. I’m curious to know how you do? I haven’t add sloppy joe since I was a kid and I absolutely loved it.
Glad you liked it! Yes for the TVP version you make the TVP beef recipe. TVP on it’s own is quite bland!
Perfection, so nostalgic, delicious! Will def make again!
Great recipe! Easy and tasty. Didn’t have adobo, still great. I used beyond beef burger patties and broke them up into group beyond. Definitely making this again. Would like to try with shredded tofu next time.
Excellent! Shredded Tofu works great too! Thank you!
From the UK, never had sloppy joes so can’t compare to the original, but I loved this recipe was really tasted and went well with the pickles!
Thank you Thee burger dude, great recipe
Nice, so glad you liked it! Thank you!
These were fire!
Thanks for doing what youdo!
Love this. I’m from Germany and never had a sloppy Joe growing up, but I first tried your recipe like 3 years ago and it has been a regular craving ever since. Thank you for making classic US fast food vegan and so delicious! You also have a great vibe in your videos which is the cherry on top!
Awesome, so glad you dug them! Happy they’re good in Germany too haha! Thank you!!