Indian Sloppy Joes

I guess I was just craving them one day, but then started with the “what if?”s... and suddenly, I had 5 fleshed out recipes for Sloppy Joe variants!

We shot a bunch of them during our stay at MacGregor Point Provincial Park back in April, and I’ve shared a few so far: Traditional Sloppy Joes, Sloppy Giuseppes, and Cajun Chicken Sloppy Joes.

Today I’m sharing the second last of that batch of recipes - Indian Sloppy Joes.

This is a chicken based Sloppy Joes recipe, modeled around my Butter Chicken Recipe... so I guess “Butter Chicken Sloppy Joes” would also work.

Anyway, I was all proud of myself for coming up with something I’d never heard of, but apparently there are a few people out there doing Sloppy Joes inspired by Indian Cuisine: “Bombay Joes”.

He’d been a bit skeptical about the idea, but ended up raving about them. He says it’s a “fun spin on regular Sloppy Joes”, and just kept finding himself wanting more.

This recipe was specifically developed as a camping recipe, but it works just as well at home. My prep work and freezing makes for super easy meal prep suppers, or you can just prepare it from scratch - totally up to you.

The thing about these Butter Chicken sandwiches on a camping trip, though... Is that it’s a convenient way to indulge a craving for Indian food.

With all the spices premeasured and veggies frozen, all you need is some ground chicken, tomato sauce, and a bun, basically.

We frequently find ourselves hours away from the nearest Indian restaurant, so it’s handy to have these as an option. It’s obviously not an authentic Indian dish, but the seasoning is *legit*!

Anyway, let’s take a look at what you’ll need for this recipe:

Ingredients

This recipe uses fairly simple ingredients for the most part. If you’ve got a decent spice rack at home, you might even have everything you need, right on hand.

Either way you shouldn’t have any real difficulty finding everything you need in any grocery store.

As always, I’ve got a few ingredient notes for you:

Lean Ground Chicken

While Sloppy Joes usually start out with ground beef, I decided to use ground chicken for this Indian Sloppy Joes recipe - the whole thing IS themed around butter chicken, after all!

That said, ground turkey would definitely be a good substitute.

Of course, you could always use lean ground beef or ground pork if you prefer, but the flavour profile will be a bit different.

Spices

The bulk of the ingredients in this recipe are the spices - and this is why I like to do up pre-measured spice packets. I don’t bring my entire spice rack in the RV when we go camping!

Also, doing them up assembly-line style is a big time saver for future batches.

Anyway, this recipe uses:

Coriander Powder
Cumin Powder
Garam Masala
Garlic Powder
Ginger Powder
Fennel Seeds
Red Pepper Flakes
Salt and Ground Black Pepper

Fresh Produce

This recipe uses a couple items of fresh produce in the mix itself, then optional produce for serving.

You’ll need a bell pepper and a small onion in the Sloppy Joes mixture itself - this can be done ahead of your trip and frozen. I generally use a red bell pepper, mostly for aesthetics. Feel free to use a green bell pepper... or orange/yellow, if you prefer.

In terms of the onion, I just use what I have on hand - usually a yellow onion. White onion or red onion work just fine, though.

For serving, I like to use thinly sliced red onion and cilantro, when we have it. Realistically, the filling has so much flavour, it doesn’t really NEED anything - I just like that bit of fresh topping for some contrasting texture.

Everything Else

Rounding out this recipe, you will need:

Burger Buns - we use Kaiser rolls
Tomato Sauce
Plain Yogurt
Brown Sugar
Olive Oil

... I just really don’t have anything to add, as far as these last few ingredients go!

How to Make Indian Sloppy Joes

The full recipe is in the printable recipe card at the end of this post. Here is my visual walk through, including the directions for prep work that can be done in advance.

Pre-Trip Food Prep

Using a Sharpie, label a medium sized Ziploc Freezer with “Indian Sloppy Joes”, and as much of the instructions as you need or want. Set aside.

Measure the brown sugar and spices into a small, snack size baggie.

Press out any excess air, seal the baggie, and set aside.

Peel and chop your onion, seed and chop the pepper. Add the veggies to the freezer baggie, along with the spice packet. Press out all excess air, seal, and freeze until you’re almost ready to make your Indian Sloppy Joes.

Make Your Indian Sloppy Joes

Get a medium campfire going, or get your charcoal on the go. (If you’re making this on a stove, use medium-high heat and a nonstick pan.)

Add the ground chicken and olive oil to a large cast iron skillet - or a dutch oven, and set over the fire or hot coals.

Cook - breaking up the meat as it cooks - just until it’s cooked though. Add the chopped peppers and onion, continue cooking until the vegetables are tender, another 2-3 minutes.

Allow to simmer for about 15 minutes, or until thickened to the texture you like. (I'll usually turn the stove down to medium low or medium heat, when cooking this at home.)

Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Divide sloppy joes mixture between your buns, serve hot with your choice of toppings.

Leftovers

Leftover Indian Sloppy Joes mix can be cooled to room temperature, then stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat before serving.

We’ve also frozen it, in individual portions. For this, we cool it to room temperature, portion it out into small freezer baggies, then press out all excess air. Label it with “Indian Sloppy Joes” and the date, then freeze.

More One-Pot Camping Recipes

Looking for more easy - but satisfying! - one pot meals to cook over your campfire? Here are some of my favourites!

Bacon Cheeseburger Soup
Beef & Root Vegetable Stew
Cajun Chicken Sloppy Joes
Campfire Chicken Curry
Campfire Chili
Dutch Oven Jambalaya
Easy Chicken Curry
Egg Roll in a Bowl
Hearty Campfire Beef Stew
Sloppy Giuseppes
Traditional Sloppy Joes

Also be sure to check out our other Camping Recipes, including Camping Desserts, Camping Snacks, Make-Ahead Camping Mix Recipes, and a ton of delicious Camping Main Dish Recipes!