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Garden Sloppy Joes

Healthy vegetable-packed lunch or dinner favorite!
Video

Cooking for a Crowd

Cooking for a Crowd

Use these recipe sheets to prepare for larger groups:

Photo of Garden Sloppy Joes
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Makes: 6 Sandwiches
Nutrition Facts: View label

Ingredients

1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped or shredded
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 pound lean ground meat (15% fat turkey, chicken or beef)
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1 can (15 ounces) whole tomatoes, crushed
1 can (8 ounces) mushrooms or ½ pound chopped fresh mushrooms
¼ cup barbecue sauce
6 whole wheat buns, split in half to make 12

Directions

  1. Wash hands with soap and water.
  2. Sauté onions, carrots, green bell pepper and ground meat in a 2 to 3 quart saucepan over medium-high heat for 5 minutes.
  3. Add tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, mushrooms and barbecue sauce.
  4. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until thick, stirring occasionally.
  5. Toast buns if desired. Spoon sauce over bun halves. Serve open-faced.
  6. Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours.

Notes

  • Add your favorite fresh, canned or frozen chopped vegetables.
  • Try whole wheat English muffins instead of buns. 

Comments

This is really tasty and so easy to make!  A great way to get kids to eat some veggies in something that usually is just meat and sauce.

This a great recipe and an excellent way to sneak vegetables for our kids to eat! I made this recipe as it called for with my summer students. I did however, first brown my meat, drained the fat and than added the vegetables to saute, I waited to add the mushrooms till the last 10 minutes of cooking time since mushrooms cook fast. I modified the recipe by adding 1 teaspoon garlic powder and 1/2 teaspoon paprika to enhance more flavor.   I topped it off with low fat chedder cheese on a whole wheat English muffin. It was delicious! I plan to make this recipe for my family on a regular basis!

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