The bean for beef trend continues with this bountiful bean-filled (and meat-free) sloppy joe recipe.
With each bean for beef swapping recipe, I’m getting closer to realizing my (one of many) pipe dreams. Opening a restaurant called Bean. Which, if you haven’t guessed by now, will have a menu solely dedicated to a variety of bean-filled dishes, like bean burgers, bean sloppy joes, and dare I say it… Beanloaf?
Anyway, out of all my bean burger recipes so far, this slider sammich holds its own. I never liked sloppy joes much as a kid, but that’s because I didn’t realize what I was missing. The answer, of course, is beans.
With this recipe, you can forgo the BBQ sauce altogether and use a sloppy joe sauce for a more traditional sloppy joe flavor. But I went with my grocery store BBQ sauce favorite — Stubb’s Sweet Heat, which had the right amount of rich molasses and sweet brown sugar but also delivered a slow smoky kick. But by all means, feel free to choose your BBQ sauce of choice — or even try your hand at making your own.
Time You’ll Need
- 10 minutes prep
- 25 minutes cooking
- Yields ~6-8 sliders
What You’ll Need
- 2 can of chickpeas, drained and dried
- 1 can of red kidney beans, drained and dried
- 1 can of fire roasted tomatoes (14.5 ounces)
- ~1 cup BBQ sauce of your choice (or sloppy joe sauce for authentic sloppy joe flavor)
- salt (to taste)
- 1 ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 ½ tsp chili powder
- 1 ½ tsp cumin
- 1 ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
- 2 finely crushed (to a powder) beef bouillon cube
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1/2 yellow onion, diced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
To Serve:
- hamburger or slider buns
- chopped red & green cabbage
- pickle slices
- red onion slices
What You’ll Do
- Put the (drained and dried!) kidney beans and chickpeas in a large bowl. Mash them half-heartedly with a fork so that it’s somewhat chunky still.
- Next mix in the chili powder, black pepper, some salt, cumin, paprika, and cayenne together with the mashed beans.
- In a large saucepan or skillet, add a tbsp of olive oil over medium heat.
- Then add diced yellow onion and minced garlic. Cook until the onions are soft.
- Next, add the can of fire roasted tomatoes.
- Add the bean paste to the skillet. Then sprinkle everything with the finely crushed beef bouillon cube powder.
- Pour in the BBQ sauce (more or less a cup depending on how sloppy you prefer your joes).
- Mix everything up real nice, and cover. Turn the heat to medium-low and let it all simmer for ~20-25 minutes, making sure to stir occasionally.
To serve:
- Pour a hearty helping over a toasted hamburger or slider bun. Top with pickle slices, chopped cabbage, and onion slices.