These Turkey Sloppy Joe Sliders are a perfectly delicious, lighter meal choice!
Sloppy Joe Sliders
My freshened up recipe uses ground turkey instead of ground beef, there is no oil, sugar, ketchup or salt added, and I used a nice blend of spices to really pump up the flavor so you don’t miss any of that other stuff.
🛒Ingredients needed:
- ground turkey
- tomato sauce
- cider vinegar
- cornstarch
- paprika, cumin and salt
- garlic powder and chili powder
- sweet onion
- canned black beans
- smoked Gouda
- slider sized rolls
✏️How to make Turkey Sloppy Joe Sliders:
*The complete, printable recipe with all ingredients and instructions is at the end of this post.
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Spray a large skillet with nonstick spray. Heat over medium-high. Add turkey, using a spatula to break it up. Cook 4 to 5 minutes, or until cooked through. Add tomato sauce and vinegar to the turkey. Continue to simmer over medium high heat.
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In a small bowl, mix cornstarch, paprika, cumin, celery salt, garlic powder, and chili powder. Stir the spices into the turkey mixture, and continue to simmer 7 to 10 minutes, or until the sauce has reduced slightly and thickened.
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Spray a small nonstick skillet with nonstick spray. Add onion and cook over medium heat until the onion begins to brown, stirring often, 4 to 5 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of water and continue to cook until onions are softened and water has evaporated, about 2 to 3 minutes. Stir onions and beans into the turkey mixture.
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Divide the mixture between the slider buns. If topping with cheese, give the bottom buns with meat and cheese piled on top a quick warming under the broiler to melt the cheese. Add bun tops and serve.
➡️Recipe Tips:
- To prepare this recipe as dairy free, leave off the cheese. Think about using a dairy free alternative.
- To prepare this recipe as gluten free, just be sure to use a brand of black beans that is known to be GF, and serve the Sloppy Joe mixture over rice, quinoa or a baked potato instead of on a roll.
- If you’d prefer burger sized Sloppy Joes, this recipe will make 4.
✔️What to serve with Turkey Sloppy Joe Sliders:
- When keeping things on the healthy side, try serving this broccoli and carrot combination alongside.
- Anything on a bun almost always reminds me of fries. The delicious flavor of Sweet Potato Fries would be perfect with these sliders.
- Kids will enjoy diving into a fresh fruit salad.
★How to Store:
Leftover turkey mixture can be stored in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Just reheat, plop on a fresh bun and enjoy! If you have whole leftover sliders, those can also be stored in the refrigerator, but I’d try to eat them in the next day or two. Otherwise, the buns will likely get a little soggy!
❤️Why I love this recipe:
- This recipe, created on a mother-son adventure, has such fond memories for me that I’ll forever love it.
- It also reminds me of my mom who always added beans to her taco filling. That’s where I got the idea for the black beans in this recipe.
- They’re so easy to make, healthy and everyone who tries them is a fan. What’s not to love?
Here I am with my son Brooks (RecipeBoy.com) in the McCormick Spices kitchens (along with Chef Mark Garcia- Director of McCormick Kitchens). We originally created this recipe in partnership with this company (several years ago), and we created videos at the company headquarters too.
Recipes for Sliders:
- Baked Cuban Sliders
- Grilled Pork Sliders with Greek Cole Slaw
- Philly Cheese Steak Sliders
- Filet Mignon Caprese Sliders
- Baked Cheeseburger Sliders
If you happen to be following the Weight Watchers WW plan, you’ll find a link to the WW Points on the recipe card below.
Turkey Sloppy Joe Sliders
Ingredients
- 1¼ pounds ground turkey (93% or 99% lean)
- One 15-ounce can tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon celery salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ cup (½ medium) finely chopped sweet onion
- 1 cup canned black beans, rinsed
- sliced Smoked Gouda or other cheese (optional)
- 8 slider sized Hawaiian rolls, cut in half (or other small rolls)
Instructions
- Spray a large skillet with nonstick spray. Heat over medium-high. Add turkey, using a spatula to break it up. Cook 4 to 5 minutes, or until cooked through. Add tomato sauce and vinegar to the turkey. Continue to simmer over medium high heat.
- In a small bowl, mix cornstarch, paprika, cumin, celery salt, garlic powder, and chili powder. Stir the spices into the turkey mixture, and continue to simmer 7 to 10 minutes, or until the sauce has reduced slightly and thickened.
- Spray a small nonstick skillet with nonstick spray. Add onion and cook over medium heat until the onion begins to brown, stirring often, 4 to 5 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of water and continue to cook until onions are softened and water has evaporated, about 2 to 3 minutes. Stir onions and beans into the turkey mixture.
- Divide the mixture between the slider buns. If topping with cheese, give the bottom buns with meat and cheese piled on top a quick warming under the broiler to melt the cheese. Add bun tops and serve.
Notes
- To prepare this recipe as dairy free, leave off the cheese.
- To prepare this recipe as gluten free, just be sure to use a brand of black beans that is known to be GF, and serve the Sloppy Joe mixture over rice, quinoa or a baked potato instead of on a roll.
- If you'd prefer burger sized Sloppy Joes, this recipe will make 4.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I need to lighten up all of my casseroles – especially a chicken enchilada bake!
Your turkey joe sliders look great. I would love to revise our King Ranch casserole. It is total comfort food but way too high in calories, salt and fat.
Buffalo wings? Is that possible? 🙂
Bite my tongue, but a lighter carrot cake.
I follow on Twitter!
I would like to revamp my the family favorite recipes that are cheese centric, lasagna and Mac n cheese.
I follow you both on Pinterest
I follow you both on Twitter (@cookingwhims)
I would like to make healthier pancakes!
I recently attended a bread demonstration that they recommended using a dutch oven to bake the sourdough bread. I’ve been waiting to get one so I can try it out!