Sometimes, we just need some old fashioned comfort foods. In this case, a Sloppy Joe was a reminder of school lunches and dinners at home. In my memory, the topping was always made with ground beef, which we don’t really eat any longer, so when I found this bean-based recipe on Simple Fit Vegan, I couldn’t resist.

This meal comes together in 15 minutes and makes good use of leftover sandwich buns which we had in our freezer ready to be used. For our tastes, we added some of Craic Sauce’s Mill City Red hot sauce to make it more fiery.

For more great vegan meal ideas, be sure to check out the rest of Simple Fit Vegan‘s offerings, and of course, if you’re looking to kick things up a notch or two, take a look at Craic Sauce‘s great hot sauces.

Pinto Bean Sloppy Joes

Ingredients

• 1 tsp oil of choice (olive, canola, coconut, grape seed)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 medium white or yellow onion,chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 15- ounce can tomato sauce
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp coconut sugar/brown sugar/or 1 tsp agave syrup
• 1 28- ounce can pinto beans

Method

1. Heat a large non-stick pan over medium heat. Add olive oil. Let the oil heat up then add garlic, onions, and red bell pepper. Cook, stirring, until caramelized, about 5-7 minutes.
2. Stir in tomato sauce, soy sauce, and coconut sugar. Cook for about 2 minutes until tomato sauce gets hot and bubbly.
3. Gently add in pinto beans. Stir in with the rest of the ingredients.
4. Serve with a bun.

For Noomers, this recipe’s nutrition info *without a bun) Calories: 113 Fat: 1.5 g Saturated fat: 0.2 g Carbohydrates: 20.9 g Dietary Fiber: 5.5 g Sugar: 5.3 g Sodium: 657 mg Protein: 5.6 g