Easy, spicy sloppy joes with a southwestern twist. Pile your bun high with spicy meat and bean filling, melty cheese and all your favorite tex mex toppings.
Sloppy Joes are the quintessential fast and easy meal. They are great for busy weeknights, or to make for a crowd on game day. Sloppy joe meat also freezes really well.
Many of you probably typically go the Manwich route, but it’s actually really simple to make your own sloppy joes with stuff you already have on hand. Plus, you’ll actually know what you’re eating instead of the high fructose corn syrup and other stuff that’s in Manwich.
I’ve made traditional sloppy joes on this blog before. This time around, I wanted to joosh it up a bit.
I love to get creative with the things I have laying around. I find that the more I cook, and the longer I write this blog, the less actual “meal planning” I have to do. I’m getting pretty darn good at knowing what kind of things taste good together, and am much more able to create meals on the fly.
Southwestern Spicy Sloppy Joes
For this particular dish I added a tex mex flair. Southwestern style spicy sloppy joes anyone? The Hubs was in heaven because he loves everything super spicy.
However, not everyone loves it burn-your-face-off-spicy. If that’s the case, substitute red or green bell pepper for the jalapeno and 1/2 the amount of chili powder.
Not spicy enough? Throw in a few squirts of Tapatio or Tabasco.
If you don’t have chipotle chili powder, just double the regular chili powder. Maybe you have canned chipotle chilies. Well, chop up one of those and throw it in!
Vegetarians can even skip the meat and double the beans. See how simple and free form sloppy joes can be?
The only requirement is that its sloppy so pile on the guacamole and toppings and get messy!
If you give this recipe a try, I’d love to see it! Tag me @betsylife on Facebook or Instagram and I’ll share your creations!
Spicy Turkey Sloppy Joes
Easy, spicy sloppy joes with a southwestern twist. Pile your bun high with spicy meat and bean filling, melty cheese and all your favorite tex mex toppings.
Ingredients
- 1 jalapeno pepper diced
- 1 small red onion diced
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 1/4 lb ground turkey or beef
- 1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 14 oz can tomato sauce
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp chipotle chili powder
- 1 can black beans drained and rinsed
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
- Cheddar cheese guacamole, sliced jalapenos, sliced red onion, for garnish
Instructions
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Heat olive oil or cooking spray in a large skillet over medium heat. Add jalapeno, red onion and garlic. Saute until onion begins to soften, about 4 minutes
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Add turkey or beef and cook until browned
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Add in next 5 ingredients (through chipotle chili powder) Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 8 minutes.
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Stir in black beans, salt and pepper, and cilantro. Cook several minutes until beans are heated through.
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Serve on hamburger buns or bread, and top with your favorite spicy food toppings like guacamole, sliced jalapenos, or red onion. Other suggestions: queso fresco, black olives, sour cream
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
substitute bell peppers for jalapeño to reduce spiciness level.
More Easy Healthy Turkey Recipes
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Angie@Angie's Recipes says
March 28, 2013 at 5:21 amThis looks really yum and so much healthier with turkey and beans.
Brandon @ Kitchen Konfidence says
March 30, 2013 at 3:02 pmI am salivating! That sammich looks so good. Love the colors too.
Ashley says
April 19, 2013 at 7:23 pmThis sandwich is amazing! I made it with a few tiny adjustments and credited you on my blog, Fancy Fork (http://fancy-fork.com/2013/04/19/southwestern-turkey-sloppy-joes/).
Thanks for the inspiration!
Leia @ Eat It & Say Yum says
September 30, 2015 at 12:57 pmThese look amazing! That guacamole, the jalapenos, mmmm… Pinned and shared on my Facebook page. 🙂