What do you do when you’re hungry, jet lagged, and haven’t shopped in a while? This Sloppy Joe recipe came in handy at just the right moment after returning from 30 hours of travelling home from Cambodia. We happened to have all of the ingredients on hand in the pantry, which made it easy to whip up this meal quickly with little advanced planning!
While it doesn’t taste quite like the meat version, the flavor of this meatless Joe is quite good! We’ve tweaked it a bit to our liking, but feel free to play with the quantities of flavors below. (Note that the texture isn’t much like the meat version either, but if you’re looking for that, I’d try tempeh, seitan or even bulgur wheat.)
Just remember to have the ingredients on hand (and perhaps some buns in the freezer), and you’ve got a quick, easy, and meatless lunch or dinner option!
Two-Bean Sloppy Joes
(3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 1)
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Yield: 4
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Pin RecipeDescription
Most Worcestershire sauces are made with a small amount of anchovies; if you are a strict vegetarian or vegan, you can look for a vegan Worcestershire sauce, or omit it completely.
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion
- 1 green onion or celery stalk (optional, but not essential)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 15-ounce can kidney beans
- 1 15-ounce can pinto beans
- 1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Fresh ground pepper
- Dash hot sauce
Instructions
- Finely chop the onion (and celery, if using). In a skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add the onion (and/or celery) and saute until soft, about 4 to 5 minutes.
- If using canned beans, drain the beans. Add the remainder of the ingredients above (starting with kidney beans) to the skillet, and simmer for about 5 to 10 minutes. Taste, and adjust seasoning as desired.
- Serve on a toasted bun. Top with shredded cheese if desired.
About the Authors
Sonja Overhiser
Cookbook Author and writer
Sonja Overhiser is author of Pretty Simple Cooking, named one of the best healthy cookbooks of 2018. She’s host of the food podcast Small Bites and founder of the food blog A Couple Cooks. Featured from the TODAY Show to Bon Appetit, Sonja seeks to inspire adventurous eating to make the world a better place one bite at a time.
Alex Overhiser
Cookbook Author and photographer
Alex Overhiser is an acclaimed food photographer and author based in Indianapolis. He’s host of the food podcast Small Bites and founder of the recipe website A Couple Cooks. Featured from the TODAY Show to Bon Appetit, Alex is author of Pretty Simple Cooking, named one of the best vegetarian cookbooks by Epicurious.
31 Comments
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar
March 26, 2012 at 5:27 amThis sounds absolutely fantastic! Awesome idea!
Lindsay @ Pinch of Yum
March 26, 2012 at 8:47 amWelcome home, you guys! :) I’m excited to read about your trip!
Lisa in Indy
March 26, 2012 at 1:07 pmOh, sounds yummy, Sonja and Alex ! Bless your hearts – what a trip but so rewarding. Yes, share pics and wonderful stories!!!
Shelley
March 26, 2012 at 6:24 pmwill you be posting that slaw recipe too? :) looks amazing
Sonja
March 28, 2012 at 8:37 pmYes! :) Just did — http://www.acouplecooks.com/2012/03/fresh-cabbage-slaw/
Heidi @ Food Doodles
March 26, 2012 at 6:53 pmMmmm, I love this idea! I have made lentil sloppy joes in the past, but my husband wont touch lentils, so I can’t wait to try a bean version!
Sonja
March 28, 2012 at 8:42 pmOoo, lentils sound like a good idea too! We’ll have to try that.
Victoria
June 17, 2014 at 7:44 pmI have tried lentils too but this texture is much better.
Sara {Home is Where the Cookies Are}
March 26, 2012 at 8:02 pmThis looks fantastic! I love bean based meals like this, and so nice to have a quick comfort food adaptation. Thanks!
Danielle
March 27, 2012 at 2:20 pmWorcester isn’t vegetarian (fyi). I don’t know if you were going for that, but I think vegetarian when I see meatless. I’m going to definitely try this, sans worcester sauce.
Alex
March 27, 2012 at 2:25 pmI guess it depends on your definition of vegetarian — but, I agree that with anchovies, Worcestershire is definitely not vegan. We eat meatless meals mostly for health and environmental reasons, so we don’t mind a small amount of fish in our diet.
Lisa Marie
June 20, 2012 at 9:05 pmYou actually can buy vegan Worcestershire sauce.
Em
March 27, 2012 at 10:02 pmHi, y’all!
Love the website — and how much inspiration you’re providing me as a vegetarian newly transported to the Indy area. A quick note, though: Worcestershire sauce isn’t vegetarian. It has anchovies in it (unless you buy a specifically marked vegetarian brand).
Sonja
March 28, 2012 at 8:47 pmThis is true! Since you weren’t the first to note this, I’ve added a note to the recipe.
We’re not strict vegetarians – we just eat mainly meatless meals for environmental and sustainability reasons. So, occasional fish and local meat is part of our diet!
Glad you enjoy the website – and glad to meet a fellow Indy resident!
Kelly
April 2, 2012 at 7:21 pmthis is delicious! we ate it for dinner tonight and loved it! :-)
Courtney Jones
April 4, 2012 at 3:25 pmWhat a great idea :) Looks incredibly delicious! A great quick meal for a busy weeknight. I’ll have to try this soon!
Kare @ Kitchen Treaty
April 4, 2012 at 10:29 pmYum, yum, yum. I’ve been toying with the idea of vegetarian sloppy joes recently. Looks like this would fit the bill perfectly.
Laura F
April 18, 2012 at 8:14 amHello to my fellow nap-town residents! I made this for dinner last night and it was very good! My husband grew up eating Manwich and said it wasn’t quite as sweet as that, so I may add a little brown sugar next time. I think you could present this recipe as a type of thick chili soup, as well. We both decided this is definitely a “make again” recipe, so thanks!
P.S. for vegetarians: I subbed tamari (soy) sauce for the Worcestershire sauce and it worked out just fine.
Vanessa
April 18, 2012 at 6:52 pmHey there! I have made so many of your recipes and I thought it was time for me to pop in and say how much we (my hubby, my 1 year old daughter, and I) love your creations. This one in particular was a HUGE hit! I will definitely be making this again!
Alex
May 6, 2012 at 8:25 pmThanks for leaving us this comment! We love to hear what recipes people are really enjoying!
Ruth
May 6, 2012 at 8:21 pmI enjoy reading your recipes, have made a couple of them and liked them. Any way you could includ
e nitritional information (calories, protein, etc?)
Alex
May 6, 2012 at 8:24 pmI’m glad you’ve enjoyed the recipes! We don’t like to focus too much on nutritional information, we feel sometimes it can be distracting from our focus on homemade food. Any time you are interested in the facts about one of our recipes, you can just coy and paste the ingredient list and number of servings into the calculator on this website: http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php. Thanks for commenting!
Carla
May 23, 2012 at 2:35 pmThis is a great recipe! I will definitely be trying this soon. Quick question – any reason why fresh garlic isn’t included?
Alex
May 23, 2012 at 2:41 pmI don’t think we left it out for any particular reason, probably just to keep the prep as easy possible. Let us know if you try it!
Vanessa Ann
July 28, 2012 at 12:27 amHi! Just made this & it’s amazing!!! Love the blog! It’s awesome;)
Amanda R
August 26, 2012 at 7:57 pmHi! My husband and I have been big fans of your blog for a while. We recently switched from vegetarian to vegan, and I was so glad to see this recipe. We just made it and LOVED it! We did buy vegan Worcestershire sauce (brand: Annie’s naturals, found in the condiment aisle at Whole Foods). It was great. It is a little pricey for a small bottle, so if there are other vegans out there wanting to make this, it might be worth it to make a homemade version. I found this recipe – from Martha Stewart, oddly enough – but haven’t tried it (http://www.marthastewart.com/258132/homemade-vegan-worcestershire-sauce).
Thank you so much for the tasty recipe! Keep doin’ what you do.
Amanda
Loryn
October 23, 2012 at 8:27 pmI just made this for supper, and I’m so impressed! It was perfect comfort food for a wet fall day. I just made a couple minor adjustments. Left out the Worchestershire, as I’m vegetarian, added some barbecue sauce for a little sweetness, and used balsamic vinegar because I didn’t realize I was out of apple cider vinegar. We ate it on whole wheat ciabatta rolls. It was real hit, and I’ll definitely make it again.
Sonja
October 24, 2012 at 8:39 pmSounds delicious – the adjustments sound great! Thanks for the reminder on this recipe; we’ll have to make it again too! :)
Amber
May 1, 2013 at 7:51 pmDefinately sub the worcestire sauce for either soy or barbeque sauce. I like to sub the worcestire sauce for soy sauce and still add a bit of bbq sauce. YUM
Alla
May 26, 2013 at 7:33 pmThis recipe is delicious! We are making it again this week :)
Victoria
June 17, 2014 at 7:33 pmI made these last week and they are so good. I am a pescatarian so I do use the Worcestershire but either way this is amazing. Best “sloppy Joe” I have had since I quit meat over 3 years ago. Thank you for sharing!