This recipe was adapted from the Paleo comfort foods website.

You can find the original recipe for Paleo sloppy joe here.

I always make my own tweaks to any recipe. My tweaks were adding less honey, leaving out the  liquid smoke (never heard of such a thing), and using cayenne pepper and chopped fresh jalapeno instead of chilli powder. I added fish sauce and a squeeze of organic sriracha.

And since I was out of bone broth, I used bone broth fat that I had skimmed off the top and saved as cooking fat. It gave it the same meaty flavor but added a bit to the greasiness of the dish.

I also put a poached egg on top to cut the strong taste of this dish. It also added some creaminess without needing cheese.

Though I usually don’t have the best of luck following other people’s recipes, this one came out perfectly.

I was obsessed with this dish when I was a kid. And would even make it myself using Heinz chili sauce, (a souped up version of ketchup with lots of preservatives and artificial ingredients).

I made this version completely from scratch and it was the best sloppy joe I’ve ever taste. And I’ve had a lot.  It was also the healthiest since I skipped the bun.

So how did I eat sloppy joe without the bun?

I served it over oven baked sweet potato “fries”.

Sort of like a sloppy joe version of chili fries.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil or other cooking fat
• 1 small onion, diced
• squirt of sriracha (optional)
• bell pepper
• honey 1/2 teaspoon
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 can tomato paste (6 oz.)
• 1/2 cup beef broth or beef broth fat
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon brown or yellow (prepared) mustard
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon chili powder (cayenne)
• 1/4 chopped jalapeno
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of fish sauce (optional)

How to

I sauteed the onion in cooking oil for a few minutes and then threw in the diced green bell pepper, jalapeno and chopped garlic.

Then I threw in the ground beef and sauteed for a few minutes.

Then I put in the tomato paste, beef broth/fat, honey, sriracha, honey, mustard, vinegar, salt, fish sauce and cayenne.

I stirred as the wet ingredients into the meat with my spatula, watching it form a savory, tangy sauce. I sauteed the dish, mixing it with my spatula the whole time until the meat was done and the sauce had reduced a bit. About 8 minutes or so on a high medium heat.

I poached an egg by throwing it in boiling water for 2.5 minutes and then fished in out with a slotted spoon and put in on a plate until I was ready to use it.

I plated the sloppy joe, put the egg on top and served it with sweet potato “fries”.