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Meatless Sloppy Joes

A vegetarian version of Sloppy Joes made with chili beans, rice, and barbecue sauce.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Beans and rice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,017 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

Meatless Sloppy Joes

4–6
Time10–15 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Add olive oil to pan over medium-high heat.

  2. Add onions, bell pepper, and carrots and cook for 3–4 minutes.

  3. Add rice, chili beans, and barbecue sauce and cook for approximately 10–15 minutes, stirring frequently to heat thoroughly.

  4. Serve on hamburger buns.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

683Calories
33 gProtein
30 gFat
68 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 9 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Beannot in our table0
Saucenot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Beans + ricetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,017 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  2. Carrot + beanstop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,443 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  3. Olive + beanstop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,470 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  4. Pepper + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,555 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Chili beans
Provide the bulk and body of the filling, with starch and protein that thicken as they simmer.
Cooked brown rice
Adds chewy bulk and absorbs sauce, giving the filling a hearty, meat-like texture.
Hickory-smoked barbecue sauce
Supplies sweetness, acidity and smoky aroma that define the sloppy joe flavor.
Onion
Releases sweetness and savory aroma as it softens in the hot oil.
Green bell pepper
Adds fresh, slightly bitter flavor and crisp-tender texture when cooked briefly.

The step that matters

Stirring while the filling heats. Stirring frequently keeps the mixture from scorching on the pan bottom and helps the beans and rice heat evenly through, while the sauce reduces and thickens.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, pepper, carrot, beans, rice, sauce):

  1. Tomatofits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Spinachfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, pepper, carrot, beans, rice, sauce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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