Sloppy Joe Sauce?

[vhoffman]

I 'm trying to stick to a budget (aren't we all?) and eat heart healthy at the same time, which can be a balancing act!

I'm trying to cut down on fats, eat more of the "good fats" and cut down on sugars, especially high fructose corn syrup, which has been described as "sugar on steroids". The problem is HFCS is found in so many processed foods, salad dressings, sauces, etc.

One of my kids favorites is sloppy joes. I was using the canned sauce, until I realized how high it is in sugar and HFCS. I thought to use the packaged mix with tomato paste, but the first ingredient in it is Sugar!

So, does anyone have a good recipie for Sloppy Joe sauce that doesn't use a lot of sugar? some sugar is ok, just not a ton of it!

 

[castleview]

I used ketchup mixed with lots of onions, green peppers and spices. It saves on money, but I'm not sure if it ups the healthiness.

 

[dturner]

I use the Sloppy Joe mix in the packet - you add one 6 oz. can of tomato paste with it. Tastes a lot better than Manwich.

 

[KTSMOM]

Check out Rachel Ray's kids cookbook. They have one that my DD made a few weeks ago and it was yummy! You might be able to find it on line too.

 

[mom2alix]

You might try this, it's the healthiest recipe for Sloppy Joes I have found since it doesn't have ketchup (which is really high in sugar).

http://recipes.bestsimplerecipes.com/eRMS/recp.aspx?recid=21318

 

[daughtersrus]

I started to make my own Sloppy Joe sauce with Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce, ketchup, chopped green peppers and onions when I ran out of Manwich a few years ago. I've made it this way ever since. I did pick up a few cans of Manwich a few months ago because they were on sale and NO ONE in the family liked it. I ended up throwing out the left overs and giving the extra cans to the food pantry.

 

[disneyfanfamily]

I make mine with 1 pound hamburger, 1 can (small) tomato sauce, onion sprinkles, garlic, salt and pepper, and 1 TBSP. brown sugar. My friend puts mustard in hers, but we do not. If it need a little kick, I add a little bit of BBQ sauce. Easy and yummy.

 

[ticktock]

I make mine with tomato sauce, olive oil, brown sugar, liquid smoke, McCormicks chipolte chile pepper (so good, I put it in everything ), onions and MOST important a red bell pepper. I don't know why, but it's just not the same without the red pepper . I think it's the natural sugars in the pepper that carmalize while it's sauteing.

Oh, I forgot garlic, lot of fresh minced garlic. Um, yeah. We like ALOT of flavour. Must be why we don't like most Disney food.

BTW, this is fantastic made with ground chicken and served over oven frites. Very spicy and flavourful.

 

[sskem96]

I make mine with ground turkey, and the sauce is just ketchup and brown sugar. I recently switched to Sugar Twin brown sugar, and no one has noticed the difference. I do buy the 85/15 turkey, because I didn't like the way the leaner kind browned up, but I figured since I'm draining the fat off and rinsing the meat, it shouldn't really matter all that much. Sometimes I add some dried onion or McCormick sloppy joe seasoning, but I like it just as well without. I do have to put provalone cheese and pickles on it though, so I guess that's where the flavor comes from for me!

 

[ZanneMarie]

I make mine with a can of Chicken Gumbo soup. I don't have a can right now to check the sugar and stuff. I usually use one can per pound and add some ketchup and/or mustard to make it a bit saucier. Weird sounding but tastes good!

 

[dawnball]

Heinz makes a low-carb/low-sugar ketchup (they replace the HFCS with splenda) and you can use that to make sloppy joes. I think that there are some other low-sugar products on the market, too. Our recipe is from "Staff Meals from Chanterelle" and contains:
1 T canola oil
1 small onion in 1/2 dice
2lb lean ground beef (works fine with chicken or turkey too)
2 cups ketchup or more as needed
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp hot pepper flakes
salt to taste
red wine vinegar to taste

saute the onion until translucent. Add the meat and cook until the meat has lost it's raw color, stirring frequently to break up lumps. Pour off and discard juices and fat (we strain it). Add 2 cups ketchup, chili powder, garlic powder, hot pepper flates and salt. Stir and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. If it gets too dry add more ketchup or a splash of water. Stir in a splash of vinegar, remove from heat and serve.

 

[bellarella]

I love this one from the food network. Watch the Montreal Seasoning, though, as it does have a kick to it.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_23182,00.html

 

[MommaPooh]

All we do is take 1 can of diced tomatoes, 1 cup of tomato sauce, 1 small can tomato paste, dash of onion powder (not onion salt), dash of garlic powder (again, not salt) and a dash of chili powder - mix it with cooked meat and simmer for a few minutes. (I pre-cook all hamburger meat once a month) I played around with the combination of spices until I found something the family liked the tast of.

 

[Kellyscrapbooks]

I use bbq sauce ( You can make your own if you'd prefer) diced onion, chopped green pepper and lean beef.

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

We use unmeasured amounts of ketchup, mustard and brown sugar. Our last batch we used Tastefully Simple's Onion Onion and it gave it a nice little kick.

 

[PeachesDoesHair]

We love Rachael Ray's too!

 

[vhoffman]

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I'm really trying to cut back on the carbs, its not only bad for blood sugar, but raises blood triglycerides. Last dr appointment my TG's were quite elevated, so I'm trying to modify my recipies to cut down on sugar, high fructose corn syrup, etc. But hey.....I can't just totally change the things we eat! I've found sometimes simple modifications to recipies are even better than the usual, or many times df doesn't even notice (I don't set everyone up by announcing this is a modified recipie!).

Will try the suggestion to just use tomatoes,tomatoe paste and tomato sauce, along with various spices. Actually, that's how I make spaghetti sauce, with oregano. Looks like I'll be stocking up on canned tomatoes at Costco!

 

[disykat]

I make mine with a can of Chicken Gumbo soup. I don't have a can right now to check the sugar and stuff. I usually use one can per pound and add some ketchup and/or mustard to make it a bit saucier. Weird sounding but tastes good!

Can you still buy chicken gumbo soup? I tried to make this a while back (because I was remembering the "tastee burgers" my relatives in the midwest made) and couldn't find it anywhere! I ended up using another recipe for "loose meat" sandwiches, but it wasn't the same.

 

[Hannathy]

Remember also that when they list sugar first it is in the small amount of powder in that small packet! If you compare even a teaspoon of sugar to the amount of pepper or most spices yes it is going to weigh the most and be largest in volume. If the tomato paste and meat were included it would be much further down the list.

 

[vhoffman]

Remember also that when they list sugar first it is in the small amount of powder in that small packet! If you compare even a teaspoon of sugar to the amount of pepper or most spices yes it is going to weigh the most and be largest in volume. If the tomato paste and meat were included it would be much further down the list.

Good point

I have several packets of the sloppy joe seasoning mix, so what if sugar is the first ingredient? Like you say, the total is quite small, especially when you consider the total volume of sauce, meat, etc!

One can go too far the opposite direction, too. We're trying to cut down on starches, sugars, etc. not totally eliminate them. I think a good compromise is to use the packaged seasoning as opposed to the canned sauce, which is, in my opinion, way too sweet!