VEGETARIAN SLOPPY JOES

FOOD & TRAVEL

VEGETARIAN SLOPPY JOES

Turning My Homemade Veggie Meat Into an Easy Meal

By Teresa Davis | Travel & Lifestyle Explorer

My finished vegetarian Sloppy Joe on a brioche bun with cheese.

After making a big batch of my homemade veggie meat, I wanted to see how many different meals I could make from it. One of the first things I tried was something simple: a vegetarian Sloppy Joe.

And when I say simple, I mean simple. The main work was already done because I had the veggie meat prepared. I only needed to turn a portion of it into that thick, saucy filling I associate with a traditional Sloppy Joe.

START WITH THE BASE RECIPE

This recipe starts with my Homemade Veggie Meat - a mixture of portobello mushrooms, carrots, onion, garlic, cauliflower and 1/2 cup walnuts, along with tomato paste and seasonings. I make a large batch, divide it into portions and use those portions as the starting point for different meals.

Get the recipe: My Homemade Veggie Meat - One Batch, So Many Possibilities

The Veggie Meat Did Most of the Work

What surprised me was how much flavor was already there. The mushrooms, vegetables, walnuts and seasonings in the original veggie meat had already created the hearty, savory base I was looking for.

The homemade veggie-meat base before I transformed a portion into Sloppy Joe filling.

From Veggie Meat to Sloppy Joe

For the Sloppy Joe, I took a portion of the prepared veggie meat, put it into a pan and mixed in tomato paste. I cooked the two together until the mixture thickened and reached a consistency similar to a traditional Sloppy Joe.

That was basically it. I didn't need a long list of additional ingredients because the flavor was already built into the veggie meat. The tomato paste gave it the richer tomato flavor and saucier texture I wanted.

How I Served It

The Sloppy Joe filling piled onto a brioche bun before I finished the sandwich.

Once the filling was ready, I piled it onto a brioche bun, added cheese and served it with sweet potato fries. The brioche bun gave it a soft, slightly sweet finish that worked well with the savory filling.

And Yes, It Really Tasted Like a Sloppy Joe

I'm not kidding - it really did taste like a Sloppy Joe. I think the difference came from the ingredients that were already in the homemade veggie meat. The portobello mushrooms, carrots, onion, garlic, cauliflower, walnuts and seasonings gave the mixture a hearty flavor and texture. Once I added the tomato paste and cooked everything together, it became a completely different meal.

Teresa's Take

What I liked most about this meal was that I didn't have to start another recipe from scratch. I took out some of the veggie meat I had already made, added tomato paste, cooked it until I had the consistency I wanted and put it on a brioche bun.

For me, that's one of the biggest advantages of making homemade veggie meat in a large batch: one base can become several completely different meals.

From This Same Batch

This Vegetarian Sloppy Joe started with my Homemade Veggie Meat. I also used another portion of the same batch for my Vegetarian Hamburger Helper-style dish. Once those recipes are published on my website, I'll link them together so it's easy to move from the base recipe to the meals I made with it.

About Teresa

Hi, I'm Teresa Davis, a Florida travel and lifestyle writer sharing memorable destinations, food experiences and discoveries from my travels.

Every destination has a story. Thanks for exploring this one with me.