Ground chicken sloppy joes recipe made in a slow cooker or in a pan on the stove is a low fat way to make your favorite sandwich. Made spicy with a buffalo sauce kick or mild, your family will love this one pot meal.
Sloppy joes with ground chicken is a healthier way to enjoy this favorite old fashioned sloppy joes recipe your Grandma used to make. With ketchup, mustard, and brown sugar or this hot version using Franks Red Hot Sauce. You can tweak to your liking so you make it over and over again. (affiliate links present)
Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes with ground chicken are a delicious low fat option to the Old Fashioned favorite meal. You really just brown the meat, stir everything to combine, cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours just for flavors to deepen!! Perfect Super Bowl meal.
If you are interested in Ground Turkey for this instead of poultry that really doesnโt make a difference as far as the cook time goes. Both are lean proteins that taste fairly similar and much lower in fat than the beef variety.
What youโll Need
We made a slightly larger batch with these using 2 lbs. of ground chicken or ground turkey can be used and will taste very similar to this one. Typically I will dice and add 1 small onion into the mix when cooking in the initial steps to add a bit more texture and flavor with some olive oil.
Then you want to add some different add ins for more of a buffalo chicken flavor like some celery chopped with some minced garlic too. You can use jarred or fresh chopped cloves.
For the base you will want to use some tomato sauce. Spaghetti sauce is an alternative but will give it more of an Italian flavor. And for the heat we used Franks Hot Sauce or Sriracha will work if that is what you have on hand.
Then I like to add agave, maple syrup or organic drizzle of honey for a bit of sweet + Worchestershire sauce for a kick of warm savory with it all.
There are a number of ways to serve these. Hamburger buns is the old fashioned boring method of course but you can add into crescent rolls like our Buffalo Chicken Rolls, bake and create a finger food type of meal as this as the filling too!
Variations
For our Not So Sloppy Joe Sauce you basically use ketchup, mustard and brown sugar. This will yield a Manwich like taste you can adjust to be sweeter or tangier just for your tastebuds. Red pepper flakes or Sriracha are alternatives for heat.
You may have only used this type of meat to make Chicken Nuggets with Ground Chicken before, another fun dinner idea. If you are looking to eat healthy this year but donโt want to give up deliciousness this is a great way to do just that. Same sauce but less grease.
Can you use ground beef instead of ground chicken?
Yes you can of course make this as a lean ground beef recipe as well. If you do 80/20 is typically the best so there is a little fat = flavor. I will say that there is a different flavor profile with chicken vs. beef. The latter does have a deeper richer flavor overall but typically the protein content is pretty similar.
Ground Chicken Sloppy Joes Recipe
Equipment
- 1 slow cooker
- 1 pan to brown meat
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. ground chicken, or ground beef can be used
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 tsp olive oil
Spicy Sloppy Joes
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 3 tbsp minced garlic
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 8 oz tomato sauce
- 1/2 c Franks Hot Sauce
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp worchestershire sauce
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium high heat add your diced onion and ground chicken. (plus diced celery if you choose to add that) Cook until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink.
- Add this ground chicken mixture to your slow cooker. Add your salt, pepper, tomato sauce, buffalo wing sauce, honey and worcestershire sauce. Stir everything to combine. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours just for flavors to deepen.
- Garnish with scallions if desired. Serve on brioche buns with crumbled blue cheese and/or ranch or blue cheese dressing.
Video
Notes
Ground chicken sloppy joes in skillet
If you want to cook on the stovetop, after you brown the meat and saute onions together add all other ingredients and stir to combine. Put lid on and reduce heat to low. Allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes until flavors deepen.Mild Sauce Option
Saute 2 lbs ground chicken in a skillet with diced onion. Lower heat to low and mix in 1.5 c ketchup + 1/3 c mustard yellow + 3-4 tbsp brown sugar or more if you want it sweeter + 1/4 tsp garlic powder + optional 1/8 tsp salt and pepper to taste. Cover with a lid and allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes to deepen flavors.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
in a Pan
You can make this by browning and then simmering with the sauce on the stovetop over medium heat like our Sloppy Joe Philly Cheesesteak dish.
in a Slow Cooker
Below we will explain directions which require a pan to brown meat and then keeping on low to allow the sauce to soak into the meat.
in a Pressure Cooker
If you want to be able to saute and simmer together quickly, follow the same steps as our Instant Pot sloppy joes recipe with these ingredients.
Manwich is a brand of pre-made Sloppy Joe sauce. It comes in a can or bottle and is ready to use without any additional ingredients, other than the ground meat. Typically has a sweeter and milder flavor. Itโs known for its tangy and slightly sweet tomato-based sauce with a hint of spices.
Sloppy Joe mix, on the other hand, is a dry seasoning mix that you need to combine with other ingredients, such as tomato sauce, water, and protein to make the meat mixture.
How to serve
Garnish this easy 30 minute weeknight dinner with scallions if desired. Serve on brioche buns like our sloppy joe bowls with crumbled blue cheese and/or ranch or blue cheese dressing. Printable recipe card is below for you to follow, let us know what you think.
Next day or fresh, we have a bunch of great Sloppy Joe Sides you can serve on the side or inside the bun itself.
