It’s the battle of the meatless sloppy joe vs the meatfull sloppy joe! I remember loving sloppy joe’s when I was a little kid. They tasted salty and sweet and were an absolute mess. What kid doesn’t love a mess?!
Trying to be as healthy as possible I decided to make some vegetarian sloppy joe’s last week. I got the recipe here: Bekka’s Vegan Sloppy Joes. Instead of ground beef in these sloppy joe’s you use “beef” crumbles such as Boca Crumbles. SJ’s are so easy to make I might start putting them onto a monthly rotation. Why in the world did I wait so long to make Sloppy Joe’s?! Anyway back to the recipe, first you chop some onion and green pepper. You put that into a skillet with the crumbles and cook until crumble is cooked and the vegetables are tender. Then you add ketchup, sugar, white vinegar, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. Stir it all in, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. I taste tested as it was simmering and it didn’t seem sweet enough to me. I added more ketchup and I still couldn’t really get a real Sloppy Joe taste from it.
Final Product: 
It was okay. I’m not sure I would make it using this recipe again, because to me it didn’t taste like a sloppy joe. Anthony agreed that it was fine to eat, but not a sloppy Joe. Plus the texture with the Boca crumbles wasn’t super appealing.
Now let’s talk about the Meaty Sloppy Joe. I’ve never mad Sloppy Joe before, but I had an idea of what I was looking for. When I saw Rachael Ray’s Super Sloppy Joe recipe I knew that was the one I was going to try. All the ingredients seemed to be what I believe if in a good Sloppy Joe.
First you cook the ground beef in a skillet with some oil. Once the meat is broken up, add a mix of brown sugar and steak seasoning. Mix it well. Once the meat is starting to brown add chopped red pepper, chopped onion, Worcestershire sauce, and red wine vinegar and cook over medium heat for about 5 more minutes. Next add the tomato sauce and tomato paste and mix them in well; simmer for another 5-10 minutes. I taste tested as I was letting this one simmer and it still didn’t seem sweet enough, so I added some ketchup.
Final Product: 
Yummy! Now this one was pretty darn good! It didn’t completely taste like what I remember as a child, but it was very delicious. Anthony also thought it was good and I’m putting this recipe into a monthly rotation. Fast, easy to make, and good! Try it! I encourage everyone to make sloppy joe’s!
Anthony suggested that we do a mix of the veggie crumbles and the ground beef to keep it a bit healthier. I think I’m going to do that and use the Rachael Ray recipe, because the sauce was so much better and more like what I wanted it to taste like. Has anyone had Manwich recently? I thought it was like canned chili, but apparently it’s just sauce! Go figure. Next week I’m going to buy a can of this and see if this might be what I had when I was little. I’ll keep you updated!
