Ground Chicken Sloppy Joes with Pinto Beans

Sloppy Joes are the perfect one-skillet meal for not only a busy weeknight, but they are perfect to feed a crowd — like on the game day. Adding makes them not only healthier for you but are also budget-friendly.

To bulk up our Sloppy Joes recipe 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 loose meat sandwich 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

Ground Chicken Sloppy Joes with Pinto Beans

Ronda Eagle | Kitchen Dreaming

Ground Chicken Sloppy Joes are classic comfort food that is family-friendly. We love making this healthier version using extra lean Ground Chicken in an easy homemade sauce. These Chicken sloppy Joes are bursting with flavor and ready to serve in 30 minutes.

5 from 2 votes

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Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Course 30-minute meals, game day

Cuisine American

Servings 4 Servings

Calories 317 kcal

Equipment

• saute pan
• Silicone Spatula
• Sharp Knife

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 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

1. You can swap the ground chicken for ground turkey or extra-lean ground beef if you prefer. 
2. 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.
3. 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.
    
4. Weight Watchers Points for Ground Chicken Sloppy Joes
   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.

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 317kcalCarbohydrates: 28gProtein: 26gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 98mgSodium: 1584mgPotassium: 1035mgFiber: 6gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 582IUVitamin C: 36mgVitamin E: 1mgVitamin K: 6µgCalcium: 68mgFolate: 40µgIron: 3mgZinc: 2mg

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!