"Meal Prep" has become a pretty big buzz word as of late, at least in the food blogging world. And to be honest, I'm still not totally clear what they mean when they say meal prep. When I look at some of the blog posts and Instagram photos, it looks like a lot more work for something that is supposed to actually save you time. And often, their "prep" is way more energy than I'd typically put into an entire meal!
If you're like me and your reality is that you have 20-30 minutes to get a healthy meal on the table, one that your kids will actually want to eat, before running off to soccer, dance, baseball, swimming, volunteering, meetings or wherever it is that you need to be, you need these Weight Watchers friendly Turkey Sloppy Joes recipe in your life! They are 4 WW points on my plan, but you can find out how many WW points they are on your plan HERE.
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In my world, meal prep means frying up some ground meat with onion and freezing it until I need a really quick meal. Then when I get home, I defrost it in the microwave, add a few ingredients and voila! I have dinner.
🥘 Ingredients
You only need 6 ingredients to make these healthy sloppy joes!
- ground turkey or chicken * You could use extra lean ground beef, but just be sure to adjust for WW points
- ketchup
- mustard
- chicken gumbo soup (you can use canned or homemade chicken gumbo soup)
- onions (use white) * you can substitute 1 ½ teaspoon onion powder
- light whole wheat buns (you can use bread or any kind of bun you prefer)
🔢WW POINTS
This healthy sloppy joe recipe is 4 WW points on my plan, but you can find out how many WW points it is on your plan HERE.
💭 Tip
It's hard to eat healthy when you're in a hurry and that's why it's good to have some of your weekly meals at least partially made. Frying up some ground turkey and onion on the weekend isn't too much of an ask. And I suggest you do the same, call it meal prep and call it a day. But please don't go asking me to chop up a zillion vegetables and stuff, then put them into a bunch of separate containers and call it meal prep! As far as I'm concerned, that's simply a make work project I don't have time for, at least at this stage of my life anyway (and likely never).
Either way, I can just serve this Healthy Sloppy Joes recipe with baby carrots or cucumber slices (or even frozen vegetables) and call it a day, knowing I did my veggie duty. And these Weight Watchers Sloppy Joes are only 6 Weight Watchers points per ⅓ cup, including a dinner roll! Most recipes don't include the bun.
🥗 Side dishes
If you wondering what to serve with turkey sloppy joes (besides raw veggies), here are a few WW friendly friendly sides!
- Skinny Coleslaw Recipe
- Quick Cucumber Kimchi
- Shredded Zucchini & Feta Sauté
- Green beans and Mushrooms
The original ground beef version of this Sloppy Joe recipe came from my mother-in-law, but she never actually made it for me. This was one of many recipes my husband found in amongst her collection of scribbled upon recipe cards, after she passed away. But he remembers her making it and that's what's important. And whenever I make it for my family, I always tell the kids "This is Grandma Jean's Sloppy Joe recipe." At least they can experience what it would have been like to eat her cooking, as they were too young to remember. I also feel like I'm carrying on a part of her through her recipes. And that is a warm and fuzzy feeling 🙂 I like those.
💭 Spoonburger vs. Sloppy Joe
I lightened it up, but it's essentially THE BEST Sloppy Joe recipe I've ever had! There are a lot of different ways to make Sloppy Joes, but there is just something about the addition of the chicken gumbo soup that really works. And from what I could find, this type of Sloppy Joe was derived from what they called "The Spoonburger" in the southern United States. This old recipe card shows a nearly identical recipe:
There appears to be a north/south divide, with Canada calling the dish "Sloppy Joes." But no matter what you call it, its simple and delicious! And since this meal can be made from start to finish in 20 minutes flat, the meal prep is not only quick and realistic, it's completely optional!
📋 Turkey Sloppy Joes Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground turkey
- 8 tablespoon ketchup add more ketchup as desired
- 4 tablespoon mustard
- 1 large onion chopped * you could substitute 1 ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 10 oz can of condensed chicken gumbo soup 284 ml
- 6 whole wheat buns
Garnish:
- grated low-fat cheese, melted (optional) * Not included in points
Instructions
- Brown ground turkey and onions in large frying over medium heat on stove top.
- Add ketchup and mustard and chicken gumbo soup.
- Cook for 5 additional minutes.
- Remove from heat and serve over buns.
Garnish:
- Garnish with low-fat melted cheese, if desired.
Sue Slaght
Now this looks super easy and I love that your kids get to know their Grandma's cooking even if they didn't get to know her. An extra special recipe that happens to be a time saver.
Terri Gilson
Thanks, Sue! Yes, it is really easy and fast! And I know Grandma Jean would be happy the kids are eating her recipes! 🙂