Homemade Healthified Turkey Sloppy Joes

Healthified Sloppy Joes

I used to love when my mom made Manwich Sloppy Joes from the can growing up!  Originally posted in October 2013, I recently updated this post (June 2021).

This is one of the first things, i.e comfort foods, that we really started to “healthify” in the early days of the journey toward better health.  It is based on a Rachel Ray recipe but cleaned up a bit and cut in half.

To clean and lean up the recipe use:

• ground turkey instead of ground beef
• gluten-free steak seasoning and onion powder
• Wholesome Sweet organic light brown sugar
• organic red bell peppers other ingredients when possible
• organic tomato sauce and tomato paste from a jar (canned tomatoes can be problematic because BPA in the lining leaches into the acidic tomato sauces)

We also used the new Schär sandwich rolls and ate them as open-faced sandwiches. So good!

Because the sloppy joes are on the sweet side, it is fun to serve them with something a little on the salty side, like homemade kale chips!

Kale Chips

We’ve also been making our own kale chips to have with the sloppy joes, too.  It’s so easy to make them at home. Yum!

What do you need to make homemade kale chips?

a bundle of kale
1 – 2 tbsp olive oil (or a generous pour)
kosher salt
That’s it!

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. 

To prep the kale, pull the fringe off of the kale and discard or compost the stems. Wash, rinse and dry. Toss the kale with the olive oil and spread out on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt. Cook for about 7-10 minutes. Serve immediately.

Print

Sloppy Joes | Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free

Clean up and lean up Rachel Ray’s awesome recipe for sloppy joes!

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword turkey soppy joes

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 4

Author Deana Larkin Evans

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp EVOO
• 1 lb natural antibiotic-free ground turkey
• 2 tbsp organic brown sugar
• 2 tsp GF steak seasoning
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 organic red bell pepper, chopped
• 3/4 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 3/4 tbsp GF Worcestershire sauce (like Lea & Perrins)
• 1 cup organic tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup filtered water
• 1 tbsp organic tomato paste
• 2 GF hamburger buns or sandwich rolls

Instructions

1. Heat a skillet over medium high heat and add the oil and ground turkey and cook for a few minutes, about 5 minutes. Drain off any fat if necessary.

2. Mix the steak seasoning, brown sugar, and onion powder together. Add the spices to the ground turkey meat in the skillet and cook until browned, about 2-3 minutes.

3. Add the chopped red bell pepper. Cook down the mixture until the veggies are tender, about 8 minutes.

4. Add the red wine vinegar and Worcestershire sauce and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add the tomato sauce to the skillet. Rinse the container or measuring cup with the water and add to the meat. Add the tomato paste. Simmer over medium low heat for 10 minutes longer.

5. Toast the hamburger buns or sandwich rolls in the oven. When ready, cut in half and scoop the Sloppy Joe mixture onto the buns. Enjoy!

Want More Recipes Like Turkey Sloppy Joes?

• turkey and veggie chili
• herbed turkey meatballs
• healthified stuffed peppers
• easy thai turkey burgers
• meatloaf stuffed peppers with BBQ sauce
• chicken breakfast sausage
• healthy taco night
• dairy-free “beef” stroganoff