Ground Chicken Sloppy Joes is classic comfort food that super easy to make and kid-friendly. We love making this healthier version using extra lean Ground Chicken in an easy homemade sauce. We add a can of pinto beans into the sauce and the kids don’t even care! These Chicken sloppy Joes are absolutely bursting with flavor and ready to serve in 30 minutes.
Recently, we’ve gave our ground beef sloppy joes a makeover to these new and improved Ground Chicken Sloppy Joes. This recipe is made with 98% lean ground chicken making it lean and healthful way of enjoying sloppy joes.
To bulk up our Sloppy Joes recipe and make them a little more nutritious, we add half a can of mashed pinto beans into our recipe then we add the other half of the can as whole beans.
These quick and easy Ground Chicken Sloppy Joes are super simple to make and are on the table in just 30 minutes!
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My kids don’t like / Won’t eat beans. Help!
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 the kids won’t even notice them in the sauce. If your kids aren’t bean-lovers, consider mashing the whole can of beans so it blends fully into the sauce.
According to WebMd, “the latest dietary guidelines recommend we triple our current intake [of beans] from 1 to 3 cups per week.” This loose meat sandwich recipe will surely get us started toward that goal!
What Beans Can I use
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.
- Pinto Beans
- Black Beans
- White Kidney Beans
- Garbanzo (Chick Peas) Beans
- Red Beans
Do I have to Use Ground Chicken
No, you do not have to use lean ground chicken. You use any meat you prefer or no meat at all.
- Firm Tofu
- Soy Tofu Crumbles
- Ground Turkey
- Ground Beef
- Ground Lamb
- Ground Pork
How to make chicken sloppy Joes
Be sure to scroll down for the full, printable recipe card!
- Add the ground chicken to a hot skillet with oil and brown the meat.
- Stir in the chopped vegetables and cook until softened.
- Stir in the seasonings, beans, and water.
- Cover and simmer to your desired thickness.
How do you serve sloppy Joes
Once the meat is cooked, spoon it onto toasted buns – we prefer brioche. You can serve them as is, but they are delicious topped with lettuce and tomatoes.
For a Cheesy Chicken Sloppy Joe, add a sprinkling of sharp cheddar cheese.
Weight Watchers Points for Ground Chicken Sloppy Joes
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
More Easy Ground Meat Recipes
Variations of Chicken Sloppy Joes
- Cheesy Chicken Sloppy Joes – Add 1-1/2 to 2 cups of shredded cheese after the meat is finished simmering and stir into the meat mixture.
- BBQ Chicken Sloppy Joes – Add 1/4 cup BBQ sauce. Top with shredded lettuce, pickles, and coleslaw.
- Mexican Chicken Sloppy Joes – Add 2 TBSP of taco seasoning. Top with jalapenos, Jalapeno-jack cheese, and slices of avocado.
- SPICY Mexican Chicken Sloppy Joes – Add 2 TBSP of Chipolte in adobo sauce, swap bell peppers for jalapenos or serrano peppers, stir in habanero-Jack cheese.
- Cuban Sloppy Joes – Stir in 1 tsp oregano, a can of diced tomatoes, 3/4 cup sliced Spanish olives, and 1/8 cup capers. Add a Bay leaf during the simmering step. Discard bay leaf before serving.
What to Serve with Sloppy Joes?
- Baked Beans
- Potato Chips
- Air Fryer French Fries
- Easy Stovetop Mac and Cheese
- Coleslaw
- Dill Pickle Slices
- Macaroni Salad
- Hot Pepper Rings
- Pickled Jalapenos
Ground Chicken Sloppy Joes with Pinto Beans
Equipment
- saute pan
- Silicone Spatula
- Sharp Knife
Ingredients
- 1 pound Extra lean ground chicken I use Perdue (98% extra lean) chicken [See Note 1]
- 1 cup onion , diced
- 2 tsp garlic , minced
- 1 cup bell pepper, any variety , diced
- 15 oz pinto beans , drained, rinsed, and mashed 9optional)
- 3/4 cup Ketchup
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar Optional [See Note 2]
- 1 teaspoon prepared mustard
- 1 tsp salt more or less to taste
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper more or less to taste
- 1/2 cup Water
- 1 tsp hot sauce Optional [See Note 3]
- 1 jalapeno diced, optional
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, 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 or until sauce reaches desired consistency.
- Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper, as needed. Serve immediately.
Notes
- You can swap the ground chicken for ground turkey or extra-lean ground beef if you prefer.
- 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.
-
Variations of Chicken Sloppy Joes
- Cheesy Chicken Sloppy Joes – Add 1-1/2 to 2 cups of shredded cheese after the meat is finished simmering and stir into the meat mixture.
- BBQ Chicken Sloppy Joes – Add 1/4 cup BBQ sauce. Top with shredded lettuce, pickles, and coleslaw.
- Mexican Chicken Sloppy Joes – Add 2 TBSP of taco seasoning. Top with jalapenos, Jalapeno-jack cheese, and slices of avocado.
- SPICY Mexican Chicken Sloppy Joes – Add 2 TBSP of Chipolte in adobo sauce, swap bell peppers for jalapenos or serrano peppers, stir in habanero-Jack cheese.
- Cuban Sloppy Joes – Stir in 1 tsp oregano, a can of diced tomatoes, 3/4 cup sliced Spanish olives, and 1/8 cup capers. Add a Bay leaf during the simmering step. Discard bay leaf before serving.
-
Weight Watchers Points for Ground Chicken Sloppy Joes
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Loving the new ground chicken version. I joined weight watchers with my wife and thought “there goes the flavor,” but I’m surprised at how flavorful our meals are while still staying within her daily smart point budget.
This was real tasty – I didn’t even mind the beans.
We used black beans to bulk it up and the kids didn’t seem to mind.
Really a clever and tasty way to add more beans into the diet.
Thanks, Patrex. With 3 cups a week, it’s a full-time job!
MAKING THIS TONIGHT
Enjoy! My family like this a lot.
sounds like a great way to make this healthier
Bulking them up with beans is a great idea.
We really like it. You can crush them up some if you don;t care for the texture with them whole or need to hide them in the sauce.
I’m always looking for healthier versions on classics. The addition of beans to bulk it up in fiber is brilliant!
That was our reasoning, too. New guidelines suggest we should each be eating 3 cups of beans a week! That’s a lot of beans!