These easy slow cooker vegan sloppy joes are a great meal prep dinner idea! Takes minutes to prep and ready in a few hours! Flavorful, kid-friendly, and great for a crowd.
Sloppy joes themselves are really easy to make; however, these slow cooker vegan sloppy joes are even easier. Literally we are just going to throw most of our ingredients together in an slow cooker and then the recipe is good to go.
If you want an easy, kid-friendly, vegan-dinner idea, then this is one of the best recipes for you to make.
While sloppy joes are usually themselves, by slow cooking this recipe, the flavor is able to get soaked in even longer and the taste is absolutely impeccable.
Lentils are a great meat replacement because they are filling and take on somewhat of a similar texture in that they are hearty.
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SLOW COOKER VEGAN SLOPPY JOES INGREDIENTS:
Below are notes about the ingredients before we get into the full recipe located lower in this post on how to make this easy crockpot vegan sloppy joes:
- lentils – you want to use green or brown lentils for this recipe. Red lentils break down too much so they won’t be great for this recipe
- onions, garlic, and bell peppers – These three are our aromatics of the dish and create the base layer of flavor that is perfect is giving this knock off burger lots of flavor.
- seasonings- We have a unique blend that we highly suggest not altering. Obviously, you can taste and adjust as needed, but we definitely recommend starting with the base we suggest
- diced tomatoes – We love fire roasted tomatoes in this dish. Adding the tomatoes into the lentils when it first start cooking allowing for the flavor to develop
- soy sauce and liquid smoke – the soy sauce gives us an umami flavor and the liquid smoke helps the recipe seem like it’s been out under a smoker for hours
- ketchup, yellow mustard, brown sugar – these three are the base of any sloppy joe recipe and give that sloppy yet sweet
SUBSTITUTIONS AND VARIATIONS:
- lentils – you could sub the dried lentils for canned lentils. If you do this, reduce the stock to ¾ cup.
- diced tomatoes – While we love fire roasted tomatoes in this dish, any diced tomatoes would work
- soy sauce and liquid smoke – soy sauce can be swapped with coconut or liquid aminos if needed
- yellow mustard – try swapped the yellow mustard for dijon for a little different taste
- brown sugar – replace with coconut sugar, date sugar or a syrup like maple syrup
How do I make the best slow cooker vegan sloppy joes?
The biggest tip that we can give here is to not overcook it. Most slow cooker recipes need between 4 and 8 hours; however, this one only needs 3. Other than that, follow the exact recipe amounts.
How do I make this vegan sloppy joes faster?
If you need to make this recipe faster, we suggest you follow our recipe for our regular (non-slow cooker) vegan lentil sloppy joes.
Frequently Asked Questions:
This recipe is already very allergen friendly. You just need to swap the soy sauce for coconut aminos or a no soy soy sauce depending on your allergens.
Yes! Once made and cooled, this sloppy joes recipe can be stored in an air tight container for up to 5-7 days.
You can do it in the microwave for 60-90 seconds depending on the amount or you can add into a saucepan over medium low heat for 5 minutes or until heated through. Either way you choose, you may want to add a splash of vegetable stock before reheating.
What other easy vegan dinner ideas could I make?
- Vegan Beefless Stew
- Taco Bell Copycat Mexican Pizza
- Easy Black Bean Tacos
- Vegan Lentil Tacos with Spinach and Feta
- Vegan French Bread Pizza
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Slow Cooker Vegan Lentil Sloppy Joes
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried lentils (green or brown)
- 1 sweet onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced (other colors work too)
- 2 ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon chili powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 15oz can diced fire-roasted tomatoes (NOT drained)
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce (can use coconut aminos or no soy soy sauce)
- 2 teaspoon liquid smoke
- 2 ¼ cups vegetable stock
- 1 ½ cups ketchup
- ¼ cup brown sugar (can sub coconut sugar)
- 4 teaspoon yellow mustard
- 1-2 tablespoon sriracha, optional only if you want it spicy
- 8 hamburger buns
Instructions
- Into a slow cooker add everything from the lentils to the vegetable stock. Stir very well together.
- Turn on slow cooker. Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3. Do not overcook. Most all of the liquid should be evaporated, if not all to continue cooking a bit longer.
- Remove lid and add in the ketchup, mustard, and brown sugar. If wanting it spicy, add the sriracha.
- Stir together and serve on buns.
Notes
Nutrition
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Did you make and love this recipe?
Click the 5 stars in the recipe card above or below in the comment section! This is a great way to support us so we can continue to bring great recipes!
JENNY
This recipe is one of the best vegan recipes I have ever made! It was so delicious and flavorful! Thanks for sharing!
LarishaBernard
best compliment ever!
Cheryl Burgess
You knocked it out of the park again! I made this yesterday. It smelled amazing while cooking, and I couldn’t wait to try a spoonful. OMG! How could such a simple recipe taste so good?! I was never much of a sloppy joe fan in my pre-vegan days, and I’m not sure why I decided to make it now. But I’m so glad I did. I don’t even care if I have a bun to put it on. I love just eating out of a bowl. Thanks for another great recipe.
LarishaBernard
HAHA love it. So happy you gave it a try
Trudi
I goofed and added everything to the pot before I finished reading. Will this ruin the batch adding the last three ingredients too soon?
LarishaBernard
No you’ll be fine
Sarah
Ok so I just did this up to the ketchup! My 12 year old was by me, and I “joked” – ‘oh no I was not suppose to add that!” and I thought I was kidding… but then realized I indeed was not kidding! No coming back! LOL – So glad to see your post!
LarishaBernard
HAHA, glad this one is oops-proof!
Melis
My house smells delicious! My 8 year old and I approve of this recipe!
Tam
Are you able to freeze it for later?
LarishaBernard
Yes you can
Sarangeli Oppenheimer
I’ve never had a sloppy joe so I have nothing to compare it to. Nonetheless this was so easy to make and delicious!
LarishaBernard
Glad you enjoyed it!
Jerrold Branch
Made this in a Dutch oven and it was amazing! Great rolls and cole slaw only added to an already amazing meal!
LarishaBernard
So happy to hear that you enjoyed that recipe. We appreciate you leaving a review
helan
Thanks For Sharing this Amazing Recipe. My Family Loved It. I will be sharing this Recipe with my Friends. Hope They will like it.
LarishaBernard
So happy to hear that
Kameco
Ummm, this is amazing!!!! I saw it on YouTube and was like I’m going to try that. I wanted to do something without a processed “meat”. As it was cooking it smelled just like Sloppy Joe sauce, but Ba-be when I was finished cooking and the finally touches were added. Magnificent. Love, love, love this. Thank you for sharing.
LarishaBernard
haha, love it! So happy that you enjoyed the recipe