These vegan Sloppy Joes are packed with the most amazing homemade vegan mince and make a simple, hearty, satisfying and delicious comfort food meal.
These vegan Sloppy Joes are so tasty. Messy, but tasty!
Ever since we made our vegan bolognese (and now our vegan mince) we’ve been using it in all sorts of things with just a few changes each time. Making some Sloppy Joes was on the agenda the moment we mastered a really good homemade vegan mince.
Every time we make the vegan bolognese for a new purpose, like when it was used in our vegan lasagna recipe and now used in this recipe, we change the recipe ever so slightly to more perfectly fit whatever it’s being used for.
This one adds some red pepper and celery chopped up really finely for the most perfect sauce for a Sloppy Joe.
And topped with some sliced avocado and a sprinkle of black pepper and some fresh basil, in a hamburger bun of course, the flavors and textures are just perfect.
It’s also really quick and easy so makes a perfect weeknight meal.
How To Make Vegan Sloppy Joes
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Start off by pressing your tofu. This is ideal if you use a tofu press, which is a magic little machine for pressing tofu and a great investment if you eat tofu regularly.
- Alternatively, if you don’t have a tofu press, you can place the block of tofu onto a plate, with another plate on top of it and then place something heavy on top, like a heavy pot.
- Let it press for around 20 minutes, and then drain the water off.
Top Tips: Strictly speaking you don’t ‘have to’ press your tofu in this recipe. You use a firm block of tofu already, but pressing it helps to keep the veggie mince from being too saucy. And since you have to prepare the other veggies anyway, you might as well press the tofu while you do that.
- While the tofu is pressing, add walnuts to the food processor and process into crumbles. Add to a mixing bowl.
- Add sliced mushrooms to the food processor and process until finely chopped. Add it to the mixing bowl with the walnuts.
- Chop your other veggies for the bolognese, like onion, red pepper and celery.
- By this time your tofu should be ready to go, and just mash it with a fork and then add the mashed tofu to the mixing bowl.
- Add cooked lentils to the mixing bowl.
- Mix it all together.
- Add chopped onion and crushed garlic to a pot with olive oil and sauté until the onions are softened.
- Add paprika, cumin, cayenne pepper, oregano and dried basil along with chopped red pepper and celery and sauté to soften the veggies slightly and toast the spices.
- Now add in the walnut, mushroom, lentil and tofu mix along with soy sauce, marinara sauce and tomato paste and mix in.
- Let it cook until you have a mince consistency.
- Add coconut sugar (for flavor balance), black pepper and salt to taste.
- Serve on fresh or toasted hamburger buns with some sliced avocado, black pepper and fresh basil.
Chef’s Tips
Sloppy Joe Mince. The ideal consistency for your Sloppy Joe mince is more dry than a bolognese. So you want to let it cook off a bit so that it’s a nice sloppy mince consistency, but not so saucy that it’ll just slide off your bun.
Toasted buns are great for this, but so are fresh buns (as long as they’re really fresh), so whatever is your preference. Personally I like it both ways, toasted or fresh. If you’re toasting your buns, then put them in the oven under the grill while you’re making the mince so that when it’s ready your buns are perfectly toasted.
Make it gluten-free. The Sloppy Joe mince is gluten-free if you use a gluten-free soy sauce, so if you have a good option for gluten-free buns then this meal can be gluten-free.
Serving. This meal is ideal to serve as is, but if you want to serve something on the side, then some baked potato fries, a delicious green salad or vegan coleslaw on the side would be great too.
Storing and Freezing
Leftover Sloppy Joe mince lasts 4-5 days in the fridge so you can happily keep this meal going for a few days.
The mince can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw it overnight in the fridge and then reheat in the microwave or on the stove on medium heat.
More Delicious Vegan Recipes
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Sloppy Joes
Ingredients
- 8 ounces Extra Firm Tofu (226g) Pressed
- 1 cup Walnuts (100g)
- 2 ½ cups Cremini Mushrooms (240g) Sliced
- 15 ounce Can Brown Lentils Drained, or 1 and ½ cups Cooked Lentils
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 Medium Onion White, Yellow or Brown, Finely Chopped
- 1 Tbsp Crushed Garlic
- 1 tsp Paprika
- 1 tsp Cumin
- ½ tsp Cayenne Pepper
- 1 tsp Oregano
- 1 tsp Dried Basil
- 2 Medium Stalks Celery Finely Chopped
- 1 Medium Red Bell Pepper Finely Chopped
- 1 Tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
- 1 cup Marinara Sauce (240ml)
- ½ cup Tomato Paste (130g)
- 1 Tbsp Coconut Sugar
- ¼ tsp Ground Black Pepper
- Salt To taste
For Serving:
- 8 Hamburger Buns
- Sliced Avocado
- Ground Black Pepper
- Fresh Basil Leaves
Instructions
- Put your tofu on to press, ideally using a tofu press, or by placing it on a plate with another plate on top of it, and then placing something heavy on top like a heavy pot. Leave it to press for around 20 minutes while you prepare your other ingredients.
- Add the walnuts to the food processor and process into crumbles. Place the walnut crumbs into a mixing bowl.
- Add sliced mushrooms to the food processor and process until finely chopped. Add into the mixing bowl with the crushed walnuts.
- Add the lentils to the mixing bowl.
- When the tofu is finished pressing mash it with a fork and then add it to the mixing bowl with the walnuts, mushrooms and lentils. Mix it all up together.
- Add the chopped onions and crushed garlic to a pot with the olive oil and sauté until the onions are softened.
- Add the paprika, cumin, cayenne pepper, oregano and dried basil along with the chopped celery and red pepper and sauté to soften the veggies slightly and toast the spices.
- Now add the walnut, mushroom, lentil and tofu mix along with the soy sauce, marinara sauce and tomato paste and fry until you have a mince consistency.
- Add coconut sugar (for flavor balance), black pepper and salt to taste.
- Serve on fresh or toasted hamburger buns with some sliced avocado, black pepper and fresh basil.
Video
Notes
- Mushrooms. Cremini mushrooms are also called baby bella’s or portobellini mushrooms. They are great for flavor in this recipe but you could also use white button mushrooms.
- Lentils. If you don’t have canned lentils, you can use any cooked lentils, the amount to use (equivalent to a can of drained lentils) would be 1 and ½ cups cooked lentils.
- Marinara sauce. You can use any marinara sauce that you like.
- Nutritional information includes the hamburger bun but excludes avocado.
- This recipe was first published in April 2019. It has been updated with extra tips but the recipe itself is unchanged.
Wow! Really wonderful recipe! I had to substitute a few things that I didn’t have: raw ground-up cashews in place of the walnuts and TVP in place of lentils, also liquid smoke for soy sauce- but regardless the end result was fabulous especially on homemade buns. The flavors were fantastic, I’m definitely saving this recipe and I’ve already sent it to my friends and family. Thank you!
So glad it turned out good for you Jen! Thank you so much for sharing your substitutions and for your great review!
Hi! Alison. Thank you for the recipe. How can I replace the marinara sauce?
Hi Eva, you could use crushed tomatoes instead. 🙂
Hi Alison, the recipe looks good, but my daughter has severe allergies to bell peppers in all colours, can’t smell it or consume it. Is there any other vegetables I can use instead of red pepper? Thank you in advance.
Hi Rania, you can just leave out the bell peppers in this recipe. 🙂
Am I cooking 1 1/2 dry, or is that the amount after cooking ?
Thank you
The lentils? That is the amount after cooking. We used canned, so it was just one drained can of lentils.
Can’t wait to try this on my husband but I’m allergic to walnuts. Could I use cashews instead?
Hi Edie, I don’t think cashews would be a good fit in this instance. Maybe pecans?
So easy. So good. So thankful I found this page.
What can be used in place of tofu?
You could try increasing the other ingredients and leaving it out but I’m not sure how well it will turn out.
Nesh, chickpeas aka garbanzo beans make a great sub 4 tofu as they’re white beans as well.
Could you use red lentils or will it make a difference?
Hi Kat, I don’t think it would make a difference so it should be fine. 🙂
Great recipe! ????
Thanks Angela! xo
These look amazing – I can’t wait to try them! Question, can you make the filling in advance and freeze it?
Thank you!
Hi there, yes I think this should be totally fine to freeze! All the best! 🙂
Oh my! This is so delicious! Everything I have made so far from your site has been awesome!
Awesome! So glad to hear that. Thanks so much for the great review Jenna. 🙂
AMAZING, AMAZING, AMAZING!!!!!
The.BEST.vegan.mince.EVER!
Awesome! Thanks Jackie. 🙂