Have you met Textured Vegetable Protein yet? She’s about to be your new favorite ingredient. Otherwise known as TVP, this vegan protein is made from soy and then dehydrated into different shapes. My favorite way to use it? As the ground beef base for vegan sloppy joes! This recipe tastes JUST like a classic sloppy joe. (Don’t believe me? Check out the comments section!)
Here’s what you’ll need
Almost everything required to make these meatless sloppy joes are pantry staples!
Olive Oil: Olive oil will bring out the flavors in the veggies and help create beautiful fond in the pan (those are the caramelized bits!) Pepper and Onion: These provide major flavor to our sloppy joes. Just saute until soft! Tomato Sauce: You need quite a bit here for the TVP to rehydrate. It also brings that distinct sloppy joe flavor. Veggie Broth: This thins the sauce just a bit as well as adds flavor to the TVP. Seasonings: We’ve got spicy, sweet, and umami, all wrapped up together. You’ll need chili powder, mustard, soy sauce, brown sugar, vegan Worcestershire, salt, and pepper. (For a smoky flavor, sometimes I’ll add a pinch of smoked paprika!) Textured Vegetable Protein: This is the protein star of the pot! Grab it in the baking aisle or online here.
How to make Vegan Sloppy Joes
This plant-based sloppy joes recipe brings in the classic flavors of family meals from childhood. It’s a quick and easy meal (that’s also affordable and perfect for feeding a crowd). Step 1: Flavor BaseHeat oil in a large skillet. Then saute the pepper and onion until soft and the onion is translucent. This will build up allll those yummy flavors. Step 2: SauceAdd remaining ingredients except TVP. Bring this to a gentle simmer and then stir in the TVP. Step 3: CookCover and cook until the TVP has softened and the entire mixture has thickened. It should look like a basic ground beef sloppy joe by this point. Step 4: ServeServe on your favorite hamburger buns or in wraps.
Sloppy Joe Sides
When eating a warm and delicious sandwich, I love to find pairings that are the opposite. Think crispy and creamy versus the warm, soft bun piled with filling. Here are 25 of our favorite sloppy joe pairings (a few of my favorites below!)
Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Fries aren’t just great on the side – you could use them as a base for the sloppy joe! Think nachos, but with fries. Crispy Baked Avocado Fries are both crispy and creamy and great to throw in the oven while the joes simmer. Creamy Cucumber Salad is the perfect cooling contrast next to a warm sandwich.
