Lentil sloppy joes
Sweet, tangy and gloriously messy, these taste like a childhood favorite and happen to be packed with fiber.
- 55 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $1.21 a serving
- 420 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegan
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 cup lentils, brown or green lentils, rinsed
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 can tomato sauce, 8 oz
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 1 tbsp yellow mustard
- 4 hamburger buns
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 2½ cups water
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
Each serving has about 420 calories, 19 g protein, 73 g carbs and 7 g fat, and costs about $1.21 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No green bell peppers? Red bell peppers or yellow bell peppers work.
- No tomato sauce? Crushed tomatoes work.
- No yellow mustard? Dijon mustard works.
- No hamburger buns? Brioche buns work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the lentils in a strainer. the onion and bell pepper and the garlic.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Dolly’s tip: Use brown or green lentils here. Red ones melt into mush, which is great for soup but not for a sandwich.Heat the olive oil in a large, deep or wide pot over medium heat. Add the onion and pepper and cook, stirring now and then, until soft, about 6 minutes.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium heatTimer: 6 min
Stir in the garlic and chili powder and cook for 30 seconds, .
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heat
Add the lentils, water and salt, turn the heat up to high and .
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
to low, cover, and until the lentils are tender and most of the water is gone, 25 to 30 minutes.
Reduce the heat. It means turning the burner down, usually to medium-low or low, so food cooks gently instead of hard. Electric burners cool slowly, so lift the pan off for a moment if it’s bubbling hard.
How you’ll know: Within a minute the bubbling calms to a gentle simmer, or the sizzle turns quiet.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 25 min
Dolly’s tip: Taste a few. They should be soft all the way through with no chalky middle. If the pan dries out first, add a splash of water.Stir in the tomato sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, mustard and soy sauce. uncovered, stirring often, until thick enough to mound on a spoon, 5 to 8 minutes.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium heatTimer: 6 min
to low, then taste and adjust: a little more brown sugar for sweet, mustard for tang, or of salt.
Reduce the heat. It means turning the burner down, usually to medium-low or low, so food cooks gently instead of hard. Electric burners cool slowly, so lift the pan off for a moment if it’s bubbling hard.
How you’ll know: Within a minute the bubbling calms to a gentle simmer, or the sizzle turns quiet.
Pinch. A pinch is what you can hold between your thumb and two fingers, less than an eighth of a teaspoon. It’s a small, forgiving amount, so there’s no need to measure.
How you’ll know: It’s a light sprinkle you can barely see on the food, not a little pile.
Low heat
Toast the buns in a toaster, or cut side down in a dry pan over medium heat, until .
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium heat
Pile the lentils onto the bottom buns, add the tops, and keep a stack of napkins close.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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