Reduced-Fat Sloppy Joes

October/November 2009

Why this recipe works:

Substituting ground beef with chewy wheat berries, ground vegetable protein, or tofu for our Reduced-Fat Sloppy Joes fooled nobody. Sautéed mushrooms were the answer. We replaced more than a third of the beef with mushrooms before anyone noticed a difference. We didn’t need cups of ketchup to make a great Sloppy Joe sauce. We drastically reduced calories by adding canned tomatoes to a bit of ketchup.

Using lean ground beef helped us cut down on fat and calories, but the meat dried out easily. Simmering the meat in the cooked sauce for just a few minutes kept it tender. Traditional recipes have 570 calories, 30 grams of fat, and 10 grams of saturated fat per serving. Our changes brought the numbers down to 300 calories, 9 grams of fat, and 3 grams of saturated fat.

Serves 4

If the mixture becomes too dry during cooking, add water a tablespoon at a time to reach the desired consistency.

Ingredients

2 teaspoons vegetable oil
6 ounces white mushrooms, sliced thin
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 small onion, minced
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
1 1/4 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
1/4 cup water
10 ounces 93 percent lean ground beef
Salt and pepper
4 hamburger buns

Instructions

1. Process Mushrooms Heat 1 teaspoon oil over medium-high heat in large nonstick skillet until shimmering. Add mushrooms and cook until browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer to food processor and pulse until mushrooms are finely ground.
2. Make Sauce Heat remaining oil in empty skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Cook onion and processed mushrooms, covered, stirring occasionally, until tender, 8 to 12 minutes. Stir in chili powder and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add tomato sauce, ketchup, Worcestershire, sugar, vinegar, and water. Simmer over medium-low heat until vegetables are completely tender and sauce is slightly thickened, about 15 minutes.
3. Simmer Beef Add beef and simmer, breaking up meat with wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper. Divide mixture among buns. Serve.

Slimmer Sandwich Without Slimmer Flavor

Supplementing lean ground beef with browned white mushrooms gave us the same meaty flavor with fewer calories and less fat than traditional versions.

LEAN BEEF
Ninety-three percent lean ground beef cuts the fat, but not the meatiness.
WHITE MUSHROOMS
Mushrooms have no fat and few calories. We browned, then ground them to bring out their beefy qualities.