Sloppy Joes. They were one of my favorite things to eat as a kid! My mom always apologized for making that meal – as if it were a poor man’s meal and maybe it was. I don’t know. All I know is we loved the burgers with globs of meat sauce plopping out onto our plate! These Sloppy Joe Sliders don’t disappoint!
It’s funny. As an adult and as I chat with my siblings, we realize now, that my mom was not a good cook. She made a few things well ….mostly Mexican foods like enchiladas, taco’s and casseroles. The Sloppy Joes were good because really, how can you mess that up? But when it came to meat – it was always over done. The veggies came from a can! Even asparagus!!! (bleh!) And when she did try and steam some veggies, they were steamed til all color came out of the food and were very mushy. We never complained because there was food on the table and we always our dinner together as a family so it was our time to catch up with one another as she asked about our days. When I look back at how I hated pork chops, I realize now that it has to do with the cheapy, thin pork she’d buy and over cook it til it was pretty much a jerky. But again, we didn’t complain.
I didn’t even really try and cook until I became concerned with my health (peri-menopause) and that was in my early 40’s. Yes, I cooked meals for my family but more often than not, it was a boxed side dish with a broiled piece of chicken breast (skinless of course!). I made meals at that point, I can’t really call it cooking. So when the hubby said, “Sloppy Joe Sliders sound good”, I had to try and figure out how to make them without using the packet my mom used to use. There were a lot of unnecessary ingredients in that little packet!
Cleaner Ketchup! And more! Primal Kitchen Foods does it again!
Thankfully Primal Kitchen Foods came out with a Paleo Ketchup! And guys, it’s so good! I am not really a huge ketchup fan but do use it from time to time to add to a recipe so I’m pretty happy that Primal Kitchen Foods came out with one that doesn’t have a bunch of junk in it! Check out their ketchup here and their other new products they just released, such as mustard and garlic aioli!
I used sweet potatoes as the buns but obviously you can use what ever “bun” you’d like to use. These Sloppy Joe Sliders are more like burger bites and they are kid friendly! These can be a great little “burger” for 4th of July too. Sloppy Joe Sliders with a twist – good and fun to eat ….just make sure you’ve got napkins handy!
- 2 large sweet potatoes (longer vs. thicker)
- 1 pound ground meat
- 1 cup Primal Kitchen Ketchup
- 1 tbsp coconut sugar
- 1/4 cup diced onions
- 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Wash, dry and slice sweet potatoes to 1/4 inch thickness.
- Toss sliced potatoes in olive oil to coat. Lay sweet potatoes on large baking sheet (you may need 2) in single layer. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Bake at 425 degrees for 8 minutes. Carefully turn potatoes over using tongs and bake another 8 minutes.
- In a large pan, cook ground meat into & break into crumbles. Add onions and warm through.
- Add ketchup, coconut sugar and seasonings. Summer on low for 10 - 15 minutes.
- Lay potatoes on plate, scoop some meat into potato slice and top with another slice of sweet potato! Munch away - be careful ...they are sloppy but good!
