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These healthy Chicken Sloppy Joes are tangy, saucy and a delightfully messy low calorie dinner option that’s sure to be a hit with everyone in the family! You’ll need just a few simple ingredients, your crockpot and some buns to get this filling, high protein meal ready.
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For me, sloppy joes are the ultimate comfort food. They’re hearty, filling and have that soft, juicy meat swimming in that glorious sauce. Just irresistible! Almost every week, I end up making my Shredded BBQ Chicken sandwiches and my Turkey Sloppy Joes, and everyone just loves them!
So of course, I had to combine the two and try my hands at a simple chicken sloppy joe recipe too!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy: It’s so easy to make, and the perfect no-brainer meal to make on a weeknight. Simply toss everything in a slow cooker, and it’ll be ready in a few hours.
- Low calorie: This is a low calorie sloppy joe sandwich, with just 215 calories, leaving you with room for lots of healthy options to serve it with.
- High protein: With 34 grams of protein per serving, these shredded chicken sloppy joes are incredibly filling.
- Versatile: It’s perfect for a crowd, and is versatile enough to be tweaked to your liking. You can easily experiment with different mix-ins and seasonings.
Ingredients
- Chicken: I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts for this recipe. You could use another boneless cut of chicken too.
- Mustard: For that deep, earthy flavor. Feel free to use Dijon mustard or ground mustard if that’s what you have at hand.
- Veggies: I cook the chicken with some shredded carrots to boost the nutrition. It cooks down and blends in with meat and sauce, perfect for picky eaters. You also need green onions to garnish and shredded cabbage to layer up on the sandwiches while serving.
- Apple cider vinegar: For that tangy deliciousness. You can also use white vinegar instead if you don’t have it.
- Sauces: Use regular jarred tomato sauce or diced tomatoes. I love using my healthy tomato sauce. You’ll also need some soy sauce for the umami.
- Tomato paste: For a bit of deeper flavor and hints of acidity.
- Seasonings: To season, you’ll need some onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper.
See the recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts, nutritional information, and detailed instructions.
Variations & Dietary Modifications
- Gluten free: Swap the regular soy sauce with tamari or coconut aminos to make the dish gluten free.
- Paleo: To make this recipe Paleo-friendly, use apple cider vinegar for the vinegar and coconut aminos for the soy sauce.
- Swap the meat: Turkey tenderloin, turkey breasts or pork tenderloin work well as substitutes. You may need to adjust the cooking time for these other meats.
How to Make Chicken Sloppy Joes
To make healthy chicken sloppy joes, here’s what you’ll need to do.
Step 1: Prep and cook. Place all ingredients in a slow cooker and stir to combine. Cover the slow cooker with the lid and cook 4-6 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high.
Step 2: Shred and serve. Shred the chicken with forks when it's ready. It should shred easily if it's cooked all the way. Stir the chicken into the sauce, garnish with green onions, and serve.
Storage Directions
- Storing: Store the leftover sloppy joes with shredded chicken in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 4 days. You can also freeze the mixture for up to 3 months in a freezer-safe container.
- Reheating: Reheat the leftovers on the stove over low to medium low heat until warmed through. You can also use the microwave for reheating, just make sure you pause at every 20-second interval and give it a quick mix. If frozen, allow it to defrost overnight in the refrigerator, and then reheat it the way you want to.
Serving Suggestions
To assemble the sloppy joes, you can use a regular bun, a whole wheat bun or a low carb version such as wraps, leaf lettuce, or Unbun, a low carb bun alternative.
- Enjoy these healthy sloppy joes with chicken on their own, or pair them with some healthy coleslaw, Waldorf salad, or Asian broccoli salad to make it more filling and healthy.
- Sloppy Joes are typically served with fries, but I like to stick to healthier options in my household, and end up making some roasted broccoli or roasted cauliflower.
- Sometimes, when I have some leftover mixture, I team it up with my 3-ingredient tortillas or gluten-free tortillas for a quick lunch.
- Use it as a topper on a toasted slice of sweet potato heated in a toaster or toaster oven or over a baked potato.
- Enjoy it with a side of cauliflower rice, half rice with cauliflower rice, a side of quinoa or cooked brown rice on its own.
- If you're craving fries or something that feels starchy try them with some regular fries, tots, veggie fries or this garlic mashed cauliflower.
Recipe Tips
- Veggie loaded: Bulk up the sloppy chicken sandwiches by adding more chopped veggies into the mix. Zucchini, bell peppers, mushrooms, and cabbage are all great choices.
- Use ground meat: Instead of chicken breasts, you could also use ground chicken if you want to enjoy a bit of a different texture. Just be sure to brown it before adding it to the slow cooker. You will only need to cook to heat it through.
- Shredding the chicken: When the chicken is cooked correctly, you should be able to shred it easily with two forks. You can do this right in the slow cooker or remove the chicken to a plate and shred it there.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can! Simply add all the ingredients to the Instant Pot, cover and set the valve to sealing then set the pot high pressure for 30 minutes.Then, manually release the pressure, remove and shred the chicken, add the chicken back to the pot to stir with the sauce then serve!
Yes, this recipe doubles well, just make sure you use a very large slow cooker to accommodate all the ingredients. You should not need to add additional cooking time.
More Delicious Crockpot Recipes
If you tried this chicken sloppy joe recipe or any other recipe on my website, please please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you go in the 📝 comments below.
Shredded Chicken Sloppy Joes (Crockpot)
Ingredients
- 2 lb Chicken Breast boneless, skinless
- 14 oz Tomato Sauce canned
- ¼ cup Tomato Paste
- 3 tablespoons Yellow Mustard
- 2 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Soy Sauce gluten free (or regular if not GF)
- ¾ cup Carrots shredded
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ½ teaspoon Onion Powder
- ½ teaspoon Paprika
- Salt and Pepper
- 3 Green Onions
- Optional: shredded cabbage, buns for serving
Instructions
Slow Cooker Chicken Sloppy Joe's
- Place all ingredients in a slow cooker. Stir to combine.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook for 4-6 hours on low or 2-3 hours on high.
- Remove the cover of the slow cooker then shred the chicken using two forks. It should shred easily.
- Stir the shredded chicken into the sauce. Top with sliced green onions and serve!
Instant Pot Chicken Sloppy Joe's
- Place all ingredients in the Instant Pot. Stir to combine.
- Cover the pot and set the valve to sealing. Set the pot to pressure cook 30 minutes.
- When finished cooking, manually release the pressure by moving the valve to release.
- Once the pressure is released, remove the chicken breasts from the pot and shred with two forks. Place the shredded chicken back in the pot and stir with the sauce.
- Top with sliced green onions and serve!
Notes
- This recipe makes 6 servings. One serving is 1/6th of the recipe which is approximately 2/3 to 3/4 of a cup.
- Consider adding more chopped veggies of your choice to the mixture to bulk it up.
- If you don’t have chicken breasts or just prefer a different texture, you can use ground meat too. Just be sure to brown it first and then cook in the slow cooker just to heat it through.
Nutrition
Does the nutritional value include the bun?
No it does not.