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5.0 from 405 votes

30 Minute Healthy Turkey Sloppy Joes with Homemade Sauce

Delicious chicken or turkey sloppy joes with an easy homemade sauce and made with simple, wholesome ingredients. This healthy turkey sloppy joe recipe can easily be doubled or tripled for a crowd, and can even be made in your slow cooker! The perfect weeknight dinner that kiddos and adults love.

Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Total Time
30 mins
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 422 kcal
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: American

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 small white onion, diced
  • 1 red bell pepper or green bell pepper, finely diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 pound 94% lean ground turkey or chicken
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • ½ cup ketchup (I use Trader Joe’s Organic Ketchup)
  • ¼ cup your favorite BBQ sauce (I used Stubb’s Spicy BBQ sauce, but a sweet one is great too!)
  • 1 ½ teaspoons Worcestershire sauce 
  • 1 ½ teaspoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
  • ½ cup filtered water
  • Optional: ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper, if you like spice
  • For serving:
  • 4 hamburger buns of choice
  • 2-4 ounces shredded pepper jack cheese (about 1/2-1 cup)
  • Optional: Jalapeno slices

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. In a large skillet, add olive oil and place over medium heat. Add in the garlic, white onion and bell pepper; saute for 5 minutes or until onion is translucent. Move mixture to the sides of the pan
  2. Add ground turkey to the skillet and season with salt and pepper; break up the meat and cooking until no longer pink, 5 to 7 minutes.
  3. Once turkey is cooked, add the onion/bell pepper mixture back in. Then add in ketchup, bbq sauce, worcestershire sauce, vinegar, mustard and water. If you like a little heat, add in cayenne pepper. 
  4. Stir well to combine and bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low and cook for 10 minutes longer until sauce thickens. If sauce looks too thick, add in a tablespoon of water.
  5. Next add cheese on top of meat mixture, cover with a lid and let the cheese melt for 2 minutes (or until melted). Transfer meat onto hamburger buns and top with jalapeno slices. Enjoy!

Notes

  • To make this in the slow cooker: simply brown and breakup the turkey, then throw all the ingredients into the slow cooker and cook on high for 2-3 hours or on low for 6 hours. Reduce water to 1/4 cup total.
  • To make it gluten free: Make sure all ingredients you use are GF and also be sure to use gluten free buns.
  • To make it dairy free: Leave cheese off, or use a dairy free cheese option.

Nutrition Information

Serving 1sloppy joe Calories 422cal (21%) Carbohydrates 36.6g (12%) Protein 31.7g (63%) Fat 16.3g (25%) Saturated Fat 5.7g (29%) Fiber 4.1g (16%) Sugar 9.8g (20%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 4servings

Amount Per Serving

Calories 422

% Daily Value*

Serving 1sloppy joe
Calories 422cal 21%
Carbohydrates 36.6g 12%
Protein 31.7g 63%
Fat 16.3g 25%
Saturated Fat 5.7g 29%
Fiber 4.1g 16%
Sugar 9.8g 20%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.