Busy weeknights just got a whole lot tastier! These Turkey Sloppy Joes are a lighter version of the classic - sweet, savory, and ready in 30 minutes.
Made with ground turkey, lots of veggies, and simple sauce, Turkey Sloppy Joes are a flavor-packed meal your whole family will love!
A comfort food that's good for you? Yes, please!
Consider this recipe to be a nutritious and tasty twist on classic sloppy joes. In fact, it's made with 4 cups of veggies and you'd never know.
I've literally been making these turkey sloppy joes for 16 years and it never gets old! In fact, my husband just asked me to make them this week. 😍
Serve turkey sloppy joes on toasted bun with a side of chips, applesauce, sweet potato fries, or a fresh fruit salad. They're so good!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Easy Recipe 30-minute meal! With a sharp knife, chopping veggies is easy. Then it's just a matter of cooking the ground turkey and whisking in a deliciously simple sauce.
- Simple Ingredients Ground turkey, bell peppers, celery, onion, catsup, Worcestershire sauce, and a little bit of brown sugar. All of these ingredients can be found in grocery stores.
- Meal Prep This recipe makes a lot so you can count on having leftovers.
- Kid-Approved Kids love the sweet sauce and get loads of nutrients from the veggies.
Dietitian Tip
Whether you're making sloppy joe's or turkey tacos, adding chopped veggies to ground turkey is an easy way to add fiber, along with a variety of vitamins and minerals to meat dishes.
Ingredient Notes
- Ground Turkey Excellent source of protein.
- Bell Pepper Full of fiber, vitamins (especially vitamin C and vitamin A), and minerals. Green bell pepper is less noticeable than red, orange, or yellow bell pepper.
- Onion and Celery Add perfect texture, flavor, and fiber to these sloppy joes.
- Ketchup This recipe for turkey sloppy joe's calls for ketchup instead of tomato paste or barbecue sauce.
- Brown Sugar Can use light or dark brown sugar. Two tablespoons of brown sugar is more than enough to make the sweet homemade sloppy joe sauce.
- Spices Chili Powder and Cumin are key ingredients to giving this flavor you would expect from sloppy joes.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here's a brief summary of how to make turkey sloppy joes. For the full list of ingredients and specific instructions, scroll down to the recipe card.
- Cook the veggies in a large skillet.
- Add the garlic, spices, and ground turkey to the veggies and continue to cook until the turkey is browned.
- Stir in the remainder of the ingredients. and let it simmer for a few minutes.
- Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Variations
- Meat Ground chicken or ground beef can be used instead of ground turkey.
- Vegetarian Use textured vegetables protein crumbles in place of ground turkey.
- Vegetables Change up the veggies. Just be sure to chop them into small pieces and cook them until they're soft. Carrots and mushrooms are great options!
Helpful Tips
- The smaller you chop the veggies, the less noticeable they'll be.
- Can use fresh or frozen chopped bell peppers.
- There is no need to add water or broth to this recipe, unless you plan on keeping it warm in a slow cooker.
- Allow leftovers to cool to room temperature before placing in an airtight container to be refrigerated.
- Reheat leftovers in a pan on the stovetop or in the microwave.
Questions You May Have
Yes, this recipe for ground turkey sloppy joe's freezes well! Allow the ground turkey sloppy joe mixture to cool to room temperature, then place in a freezer-safe container. Use within 3 months.
While ground turkey and ground beef have a similar texture, ground beef has more flavor than ground turkey. When you add the sweet and tangy homemade sauce that this recipe calls for, you really don't even notice the taste of the turkey.
Excellent question! From what I understand, sloppy joes are made with ground beef, while sloppy janes are made with ground turkey.
Personally, I think calling this recipe turkey sloppy joe's is less confusing than if I were to call it a sloppy Jane. lol
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Did you make this sloppy joe recipe and love it? Please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating or comment below to let me know. A 5-star rating is the best compliment!
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📖 Recipe
Turkey Sloppy Joes
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 2 onions chopped
- 2 bell peppers seeded and chopped
- 2 stalks of celery chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
- 2 tablespoon cooking oil* I use olive oil
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large skillet.
- Add chopped bell peppers, onion, and celery to the skillet and saute for five minutes
- Add garlic, chili powder, and cumin to the skillet. Stir well.
- Add the ground turkey and cook until meat is browned.
- Add the remainder of the ingredients and stir well.
- Simmer on low heat for 5 minutes
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Using a good quality food chopper will save time and will help ensure the pieces of celery, bell pepper, and onion are small enough that they will blend right in with the meat.
- Green bell peppers are less noticeable in this recipe than red, orange, or yellow bell peppers.
- The type of oil you use will depend on the type of pan you have. Some pans (i.e.: ceramic non-stick) advise users not to use extra virgin olive oil when cooking with it (when heating the pan). If this is the case, use a higher heat oil like avocado oil or canola oil.
- The heat setting will depend on the type of skillet you will be using due to the difference in heat conduction. For instance, if you will be using a skillet made by Green Pan or Le Creuset, they often recommend cooking on medium heat.
Bethany says
We are not normally a sloppy joe family but this was delicious and great to have as leftovers for lunch while working from home.
Lisa says
We had these a couple of nights ago. Kids gave it two thumbs up and it is going in the regular rotation! Texture is the best past. Kids who are not fans of the texture of typical sloppy joes liked this recipe.
Kristi says
I'm so glad they were a hit with your kids!!