I have been eating a mostly vegetarian diet for a little over five years. One of the things I find myself easily doing is eating a lot of carbohydrates. I get plenty of protein too, but when you are searching for substitutes in a dish like sloppy joes, carb-heavy fillers can become the easy choice. I finally upgraded my lentil and bulgar sloppy joes recipe, focusing on getting a serving of veggies instead of carbs. Lentil cauliflower vegan sloppy joes are just as tasty, and help me to focus on eating more vegetables!
Variations to the Lentil Cauliflower Vegan Sloppy Joes recipe:
- I like to pulse the lentils to break up their texture before I cook them. You can skip this step if you don’t mind a non-ground style texture in your sloppy joes.
- You can use a teaspoon of dry mustard powder in place of the prepared mustard if that is what you keep in your pantry.
- I like steak seasoning in this recipe because it easily adds depth of flavor. If you don’t stock steak seasoning, try 1/4 tsp each of garlic powder, salt, black pepper, and paprika.
- Minced carrots and celery would be great additions to add even more vegetables to this dish.
Lentil Cauliflower Vegan Sloppy Joes
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Author: Alison's Allspice
Recipe type: Main Dish
Cuisine: American
Serves: 6 large sloppy joes
Ingredients
- ½ small onion, diced
- splash oilve oil
- ¾ cup brown lentils
- 2-3 cups cauliflower florets
- 15 oz can tomato sauce
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 2 TBS apple cider vinegar
- 1 TBS soy sauce, vegan Worcestershire sauce, maple syrup, and yellow mustard, each
- 1 tsp steak seasoning
- 2 TBS bulgar
- 6 whole wheat buns
Instructions
- In a medium (2 qt) dutch oven or similar sized pot, saute the onion in a splash of olive oil until translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile prepare the lentils and cauliflower. In a blender pulse the dry lentils 3-4 times or until broken up. Rinse the pulsed lentils and set aside. Repeat with the cauliflower, pulsing in the blender until they are about the consistency of rice. Do this in batches if necessary.
- Add the lentils and cauliflower to the pot with the onions. Stir in tomato sauce through steak seasoning. Simmer partially covered for 20 minutes.
- Mix in bulgar and simmer for 10-15 more minutes stirring frequently to prevent sticking. When the sloppy joe mixture is done, it should be thick and starting to dry.
- Serve sloppy joes on whole wheat buns.
Adapted from my Lentil and Bulgar Sloppy Joes recipe. This recipe was shared at What’s Cookin Wednesday, Healthy Vegan Fridays, Meatless Mondays by Confessions of a Mother Runner and The Fit Foodie Mama, and the Plant Based Potluck.
This recipe was featured at Healthy Vegan Fridays!
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