Instant Pot Vegan Lentil Sloppy Joes! 1 Pot, 30 min, freezer friendly tangy flavorful sloppy lentils. Serve in sandwiches with slaw or over tater tots or baked potato. Vegan Glutenfree Soyfree Nutfree Oilfree Recipe Jump to Recipe
Lentil Sloppy Joes are a quick meal filled with protein and tons of flavor. They pair well with various condiments. Serve these with some pickled onion, slaw or other toppings. Serve them in wraps or sandwiches or over baked potato, baked fries or potato salad. Make a bowl with some veggies, dip and toasted bread!
Lentils come in various colors and have different cook times. They also vary in flavor. I use green lentils for these vegan sloppy joes as they are more hardy and don’t get mushy easily. They are cooked with onion,pepper, carrots, celery, seasonings such as taco, chili or bbq, and tomato. The result is this hearty flavorful saucy sloppy joes. You can vary the flavor with other herbs and blends, add more or less tomato to preference. Lets make these! As always, saucepan option is in the notes.
More Lentil Recipes to try
- Lentil Bolognese
- Keema Lentils
- Sprouted Lentil Avocado Toast
- Lentil Mushroom Stew with mashed potatoes
- Lentil Soup
- Lentil Wellington
Step by Step Photos
Notes on Vegan Lentil Sloppy Joes
- These sloppy lentils are freezer friendly and meal prep friendly. Refrigerate for upto 4 days and freeze for upto a month.
- Serve these in various formats with various accompaniments such as onion, jalapeno, coleslaw, creamy toppings. In sandwiches or wraps, or over baked potatoes or fries!
- If using brown lentils, pressure cook for 10 mins
Burn Errors: Some Instant Pots can tend to give you burn errors for thick and tomato based dishes. Try the following for a successful result.
- Make sure to mix everything really well to pick up any stuck bits before closing the lid.
- Some tomato sauces can be too thick, use a mix of fresh or diced tomatoes and tomato sauce.
- Add a bit more broth if you generally do run into burn errors in your pot.
- Let the veggie + tomato mixture cool for 5 mins before closing the lid. Some pots heat a bit more saute and that tends to increase the chances of ingredients scorching at the bottom under pressure.
Instant Pot Vegan Lentil Sloppy Joes
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (59.15 ml) broth , or use 1 tsp oil to saute
- 1/2 (0.5 ) onion chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic chopped
- 1/2 (0.5 ) bell pepper chopped
- 1/2 cup (50.5 g) chopped celery
- 1/2 cup (64 g) chopped carrots
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) black pepper
- 1 tbsp chili powder blend or taco seasoning or bbq seasoning
- 1 cup (245 g) finely chopped tomato or tomato sauce
- 1/4 cup (65.5 g) tomato paste
- 1-2 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce optional, (or use soy sauce/tamari, or coconut aminos for soyfree),
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 3/4 cup (135 g) dried green lentils , picked for stones and washed if needed
- 1 1/4 cup (295.74 ml) water or broth
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) salt
- 1 tsp sugar
Instructions
- Add 2 tbsp broth in the Instant Pot on saute. Add the onion, garlic, pepper, celery, carrots and a good pinch of salt. Cook for 3 mins. Deglaze with more broth mid-way. (See saucepan instructions in Notes below).
- Add the spices, tomato, tomato paste, vegan Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice and mix in. Add salt, sugar, lentils, broth, and mix in. Mix well to pick up any stuck bits
- Close the lid and pressure cook at bean/chili setting for 22 mins or at manual/pressure cook for 16 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally. Taste and adjust salt, flavor. (The sauce keeps thickening on cooling even if it looks slightly liquidy when opened. If you used extra broth, wait for a few mins to see if its thickening enough and then you might have to saute for a few mins to reduce. )
- Serve in buns or bread with coleslaw or onion or crunchy greens. or in wraps or over baked potato. These sloppy lentils are freezer friendly and meal prep friendly. Refrigerate for upto 4 days and freeze for upto a month.
Notes
Nutrition
Nancy says
April 4, 2019 at 6:55 pmI can’t wait to try this! So basic and comforting. Sloppy Joes were a childhood fave. Haven’t had them in years and definitely not since going vegan. My mouth is literally watering just thinking about that first bite. Thanks Richa!
Richa says
April 4, 2019 at 7:50 pmthanks!
Maura Parolini says
April 4, 2019 at 8:16 pmRicetta favolosa! Fabulous recipe! 🙂
Rachel says
April 4, 2019 at 10:48 pmI don’t have instant pot. How can I make this recipe?
Richa says
April 4, 2019 at 10:56 pmSee Saucepan instructions right below the recipes under Notes:
Susan Sparkes says
April 5, 2019 at 12:59 amHi Richa – how would brown lentils affect the cooking time? I have these already as I use them for the upside down Lentil Shepherd’s Pie recipe on Sundays.
Richa says
April 5, 2019 at 10:05 amPressure cook for 10-11 mins on manaul/pressure cook
Steph says
April 7, 2019 at 1:16 amEasy to make, plus so tasty.
It made enough for me to freeze some for a quick meal for one.
I did the stovetop version and used only 1 teaspoon of Mexican spice mix as I prefer a milder meal. Delicious!
Meridith says
April 7, 2019 at 11:11 amThank you for suggesting serving over potatoes – I made this yesterday and can’t wait to have it for dinner this evening!
Richa says
April 7, 2019 at 11:56 amawesome! thanks!
Punam says
April 10, 2019 at 10:17 pmI made this a few days ago. I followed the directions exactly as its written and it came out perfect. I used a mini Instapot. Thank you!
Richa says
April 10, 2019 at 11:42 pmawesome! thanks
Deb says
April 26, 2019 at 7:19 amI would like to make this recipe in a crock pot. Do you have any advice for me?
Richa says
April 26, 2019 at 9:44 amprobably cook the times you would for green lentils. 4-5 hour high or 8 hours low
TERRI Dutch says
April 29, 2019 at 11:08 amI made this over the weekend. My husband says it’s a keeper 🙂 SO good. We thought we’d have left overs but we ate it all. I will be making it again for sure.
Richa says
April 29, 2019 at 11:50 amyay!
Darlene says
May 1, 2019 at 5:45 amMade this last night for our dinner; was delicious, hearty & so full of flavors! I made a double batch & leftovers went into freezer 🙂
I love the fact that you vary your recipes, by that I mean you will include sweet treats, main dish meals & on…always something to look forward to in visiting your site!
Richa says
May 1, 2019 at 10:26 amThanks Darlene!
Sheri says
May 25, 2019 at 6:46 pmMy teenage daughter, a vegetarian who hates vegetables, loved it!
I cooked the lentils for 15 minutes and allowed natural release. I like the lentils to be a little softer for this recipes.
Richa says
May 25, 2019 at 6:49 pmawesome!
Tyler says
November 4, 2019 at 6:39 pmThis is an almost weekly recipe in our household it is so good! I love that it’s packed with veggies and it’s so easy for busy weeknights or days I just don’t feel like cooking.
Richa says
November 11, 2019 at 9:32 pmThanks!
Hannah says
November 28, 2019 at 7:37 pmThis was great! Thanks for the recipe 🙂 I used red lentils instead of green, so I pressure cooked for 5 minutes only. Will make again!
Richa says
November 28, 2019 at 10:34 pmawesome!
SJ says
February 1, 2020 at 5:37 pmMy 9 y/o son has a very sensitive palate for heat and thought this was too spicy but still liked it, so I will halve the black pepper next time and just add some extra to my portion. Otherwise this is a hit!