Ground Chicken Sloppy Joes with Pinto Beans

Sloppy Joes are the perfect one-skillet meal for a busy weeknight. Adding beans makes them healthier for you but also very budget-conscious as you can increase the serving size.

To bulk up our Sloppy Joes and make them a little more nutritious, I’ve been adding pinto or black beans into our traditional recipe, and you know, my family liked it even better than the original. It wasn’t until I saw something similar this month in Cooking Light Magazine that I realized I had not shared our sloppy Joes recipe with you yet! It’s quick and easy to make these Ground Chicken Sloppy Joes — just 15 minutes is all you need. Pair it with some fresh vegetables, and you have the perfect, quick, skillet dinner. 

Beans are super-foods and we’ve been trying to work them more often into our diet — they are full of protein and fiber and have other health benefits as well. According to WebMd, “the latest dietary guidelines recommend we triple our current intake [of beans] from 1 to 3 cups per week.”  This recipe will surely get us started toward that goal!

You can use any beans you prefer just be sure to both drain and rinse them before adding them to the skillet. This significantly reduces the amount of sodium in the recipe just by rinsing of the liquid used in canning the beans.

This recipe can be made meatless by using tofu crumbles in place of ground Chicken. Alternatively, if you prefer ground turkey or beef, you can substitute that here as well.  My husband liked these so much, he asked it be added to our regular rotation — so that’s really saying a lot.

Weight Watchers Ground Chicken Sloppy Joe Recipe:

1. You can swap the ground chicken for ground turkey or extra-lean ground beef if you prefer. Swapping to lean ground Beef will increase the smart points value of this recipe for all 3 WW plans, blue, green, or purple.
2. Weight Watchers Blue and Purple – 1 sp per serving (1/4 of the total recipe): The bun or bread you choose will add extra points. A typical hamburger bun is 4-5 points and sliced bread is typically 2-3 points for 2 slices depending on which brand you select. 
3. Weight Watchers Green plan – 5 sp per serving (1/4 of the total recipe): – WW Green calculates the ground chicken and beans differently than blue or purple plans, making this a 5 point per serving recipe.
4. Brown sugar is optional and can be used to round out the acidity of the ketchup. If you prefer you may omit the brown sugar, but this will not change the smart point value of the overall recipe.

Check out these similar recipes:

• American Goulash
• Cuban Picadillo

Want To Try This Sloppy Joe with Beans Recipe?

Ground Chicken Sloppy Joes with Pinto Beans

Sloppy Joes are the perfect one-skillet meal for busy weeknight dinners. Adding makes them not only healthier for you but also budget-conscious.

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Course: 30-minute meals, game day

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Servings: 4 Servings

Calories: 317kcal

Author: Ronda Eagle | Kitchen Dreaming

Cost: $8-10

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 pound Extra lean ground chicken I use Perdue (98% extra lean) chicken [See Note 1]
• ▢ 1 onion , diced
• ▢ 4 cloves garlic , minced
• ▢ 1/2 bell pepper, green , diced
• ▢ 1/2 bell pepper, red , diced
• ▢ 15 oz pinto beans , or kidney beans, or black beans, drained and rinsed [See Notes 2, 3]
• ▢ 3/4 cup Ketchup I use Heinz No sugar added ketchup
• ▢ 1 tablespoon brown sugar Optional [See Note 4]
• ▢ 1 teaspoon prepared mustard
• ▢ 1 tsp salt more or less to taste
• ▢ 1/2 tsp ground black pepper more or less to taste
• ▢ 1 tsp hot sauce Optional, if you like a little heat [See Note 5]

Instructions

• Brown the meat and the onion in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, breaking up the meat into crumbles as it cooks.
• Add the garlic, red and green bell peppers and cook 5 minutes more, stirring occasionally.
• Stir in the rest of the ingredients, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes more.
• Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper, as needed.
• Serving size is 1/4 of the total recipe.

Notes

1. You can swap the ground chicken for ground turkey or extra-lean ground beef if you prefer. Swapping to lean ground Beef will increase the smart points value of this recipe for all 3 WW plans, blue, green, or purple.
2. Weight Watchers Blue and Purple - 1 sp per serving (1/4 of the total recipe): The bun or bread you choose will add extra points. A typical hamburger bun is 4-5 points and sliced bread is typically 2-3 points for 2 slices depending on which brand you select. 
3. Weight Watchers Green plan - 5 sp per serving (1/4 of the total recipe): - WW Green calculates the ground chicken and beans differently than blue or purple plans, making this a 5 point per serving recipe.
4. Brown sugar is optional and can be used to round out the acidity of the ketchup. If you prefer you may omit the brown sugar, but this will not change the smart point value of the overall recipe.
5. Not all hot sauce is Gluten-free. If you are cooking for a gluten-free diet, check out the nutritional label on your hot sauce brand.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Ground Chicken Sloppy Joes with Pinto Beans

Amount Per Serving (1 serving)

Calories 317 Calories from Fat 90

% Daily Value*

Fat 10g15%

Saturated Fat 3g15%

Cholesterol 98mg33%

Sodium 1584mg66%

Potassium 1035mg30%

Carbohydrates 28g9%

Fiber 6g24%

Sugar 9g10%

Protein 26g52%

Vitamin A 582IU12%

Vitamin C 36mg44%

Vitamin E 1mg7%

Vitamin K 6µg6%

Calcium 68mg7%

Folate 40µg10%

Iron 3mg17%

Zinc 2mg13%

* (Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.)

Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy, and is sourced from the USDA Food Database.

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