Keto Sloppy Joes

A low carb sloppy joe in under 30 minutes

This is an easy keto dinner recipe that can be made in less than 30 minutes.

This keto recipe makes both the sloppy joes mix, as well as the low carb hamburger buns within half an hour!

Keto sloppy joes can also be made ahead of time as the mixture can easily be frozen and reheated when needed. Thus, this makes for a great meal prep recipe and these low carb sloppy joes also make for an ideal keto lunch for work as well!

Keto sloppy joes are a classic comfort food and this recipe can be made even if you’re trying to stick to a budget! This fun dish has all the flavors which the traditional sloppy joe version has, but without the extra carbs and unnecessary sugars! There’s nothing like a warm plate of homemade sloppy joes made from scratch! This recipe makes a healthy sloppy joes which are mildly sweet, whilst still being savory.

This sloppy joe recipe can be served with other Keto friendly sides such as a large green salad, roasted Brussel sprouts or even with mashed cauliflower. If you prefer not to have a bun with your burger, you can also spoon the keto sloppy Joe mixture into lettuce cups!

Grab a low carb bun

I like to pour my keto sloppy joe mix over a homemade gluten free, low carb hamburger buns. This homemade keto bun recipe takes less than 30 minutes to make! Bread is something which a lot of people on a keto diet tend to miss. Well this is the solution for you, especially for when you’re making burgers, or in this case sloppy joes! These buns are fluffy and not just made out of mozzarella, like a lot of other keto friendly bread is.

If you would prefer to buy store bought keto buns for an easier way out, there are brands which make some pretty good ones.

Two brands which we’ve seen around the grocery store which actually make keto hamburger buns are Franz and SmartBun.

Franz buns only have 1 gram net carb per bun which is fantastic, but they do contain gluten!

On the other hand, SmartBuns are gluten free as they are made from a blend of corn and oat flour and flax meal. These are great because you can freeze them along with freezing the keto sloppy joe mixture.

Then, whenever you’re craving sloppy joes, all you would need to do is defrost both the sloppy joe mixture and the keto buns before serving and you won’t need to worry about what to make for dinner and how long it’s going to take you!

Sugar free ketchup

For this recipe, it’s important to use sugar free, unsweetened ketchup. The traditional ketchup is usually sweetened with sugar or high fructose corn syrup, which if added to this recipe, these low carb sloppy joes would no longer be keto friendly.

Sugar free ketchup is more readily available than you would expect it to be due to certain people having dietary requirements which require them to consume less sugars.

You can typically find sugar free ketchup in your local grocery store such as Whole Foods. There are quite a few brands which have started selling ready-made sugar free ketchup.

A brand we highly recommend for sugar-free keto friendly ketchup is Primal Kitchen Unsweetened Ketchup. This ketchup in particular does not contain any added sugars and only has one carb per tablespoon! Primal Kitchen Unsweetened Ketchup can also be bought from Amazon.

Don’t cook the ground beef until browned

It is important to cook the ground beef until it is just pink. Make sure not to leave it until it gets brown before adding the sauces. This way the meat will stay tender and not get a rubbery texture, which is definitely not what you want in your sloppy joes.

Slow cooker sloppy joe instructions

If you would prefer to use a slow cooker rather than a skillet for this recipe, you will need to brown the beef first (or if you meal prep your protein sources ahead of time, add your precooked ground beef) and then add all the remaining ingredients.

These will then need to be cooked on LOW for about 4-6 hours, or HIGH for 2-3 hours. Slow cooker keto sloppy joes typically have a softer texture than skillet sloppy joes.

What other ingredients can I add to keto sloppy joes?

I have seen a number of different recipes that get creative with the ingredients in the sloppy joes meat sauce. Some other ingredients might be:

• bell pepper
• onion powder
• garlic powder
• Worcestershire sauce
• red wine vinegar

My advice, like meatloaf and meatballs, have fun and experiment with it!