Here are a few tips for successful vegan sloppy joes:
Don’t cook the lentils in the skillet with the sauce. If you do, they’ll soak up too much liquid. Cook the lentils separately, and then stir them into the simmering base sauce.
Dice everything small. Be sure to dice the onions, peppers, and carrots fairly small so they almost dissolve in the sauce. Then cook those for a few minutes in olive oil before adding the standard yet delicious spices for the “sloppy” sauce—ketchup, tomato sauce, vinegar, and sugar. How can you go wrong with those flavors?
Add water until the consistency is right. After you stir the cooked lentils into the mix, add some water to combine the flavors. If at any point the mixture seems too dry, add more water to thin it out.
HOW TO SERVE VEGAN SLOPPY JOES
I’m not going to lie—I could just eat a bowl of the lentil sloppy joe filling like it was soup. It’s that good! But that aside, serving these in traditional sloppy joe fashion is the way to go. Toast some buns, and add sliced red onion to the bottom bun, so it doesn’t get too soggy. Then pile on the sloppy joe mixture, pickles, and top bun. Bring napkins!
HOW TO STORE LEFTOVERS
Sloppy joe leftovers can be stored in the fridge for a few days. Reheat in a skillet over low heat. Add a splash of water as they reheat to make the mix nice and saucy again.
