Sloppy joes are an American classic for dinnertime. I grew up loving sloppy joes and it’s still one of my favorite things to make my family. The only problem with sloppy joes is that by the time you’re done adding all of the ingredients to make the yummy sauce, it’s so full of sugar and refined carbs that it hardly counts as a healthy meal.
Try this recipe instead. With a few minor tweaks, you can still enjoy this delicious meal, but with more natural ingredients you can feel good about feeding your family.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground venison or ground turkey
- 1/4 cup organic ketchup
- 1/4 cup agave nectar or 100% pure maple syrup
- 1 Tbs. yellow mustard
- 1 tsp. sea salt
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
Instructions
- Spray a medium-sized frying pan with olive oil and brown your ground meat.
- Add the salt, pepper, and garlic powder and combine well.
- In a separate small bowl, mix together the ketchup, mustard, and agave nectar or 100% pure maple syrup.
- Add the sauce to the meat and combine.
- Take one or two slices of whole wheat or multigrain bread and toast it.
- Layer your sloppy joe mixture over your toast and enjoy!
TIPS: In our house, we use venison a lot because my husband is a hunter and I have a beef allergy. So anytime a recipe calls for ground beef, we usually just use venison, but I have also made this recipe with ground turkey and it works well, too. The benefit of either of these alternatives is that they are much leaner meats than beef and taste just as great in sloppy joes.
I also use gluten free multigrain bread for my sloppy joes and layer it as the recipes suggests, but you can buy multigrain buns and eat your sloppy joe like a sandwich if you prefer.