This recipe was supposed to be kid-friendly. But both my kids are weird and don’t like sloppy joes. The two adults in the house, however, hoovered these up in record time. There’s no accounting for taste, I guess.
This is a super easy recipe, so it’s perfect for a busy weeknight. It can be on the table in 30 minutes. It also makes 8 servings and freezes well, so you can make it, feed your family, and still have some saved in your freezer for the next time you’re not feeling like cooking. Or, if you’re like me, you’ll have something in your freezer that you’ll forget about for two years until you find it and try to figure it what it once was, under the layer of frost and freezer burn. Sigh.
Start by dicing a green pepper and a small onion. Heat up a nonstick skillet over medium high heat and add two pounds of ground beef, the pepper and onion, a rounded tablespoon of minced garlic, two teaspoons of salt, and black pepper. Break it up as it cooks, and once it’s fully browned, drain the excess fat. I don’t usually suggest draining, but all that extra fat affects the taste and mouthfeel of the sauce. I’d suggest draining if you use anything higher in fat content than 90/10.
The beef, while browning. Note the amount of liquid. You don’t want that.
After you drain the beef, return it to the skillet and add a 14.5-ounce can of tomato sauce, 1/4 cup of sugar-free ketchup, and a tablespoon each of brown sugar substitute, Worcestershire sauce, and apple cider vinegar. Stir it all together and once it begins bubbling turn the heat down to low, and let it simmer for about 10 minutes, until the onions and peppers are soft. Serve it on hamburger buns for the non-keto folks, or chaffle buns for the ketos.
Simmering away!
My particular chaffle bun is a modification of the Wonder Bread version. Beat together an egg, a tablespoon of mayonnaise, a tablespoon of almond flour, 1/4 teaspoon of a liquid honey substitute such as Sukrin Gold Fiber Syrup, and 1/8 teaspoon of baking powder. Once it’s a smooth texture, pour half of it into your preheated Dash mini-waffle iron. You may have to spread it around, because the mixture is thick. Close the iron, cook it for 3-5 minutes, remove it, and repeat with the remaining mixture. Easy-peasy bread for a quick weeknight dinner. I made my chaffle while the sloppy joes were simmering, and the timing was perfect.
Keto Sloppy Joes
With these keto sloppy joes, you can put a meal that your whole family will love on your table in 30 minutes!
Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat, then add the beef, peppers, onions, and garlic. Brown the beef, breaking it into small chunks, until it's cooked through. If there's any visible liquid in the pan, drain it in a colander and then return the beef to the pan.
Add the tomato sauce, ketchup, brown sugar substitute, Worcestershire sauce, and vinegar and stir until combined. Once the mixture begins bubbling, turn the heat down to low and simmer for 10 minutes, until the onions and peppers are soft. Serve on chaffle buns.
Macros per serving: 307 calories, 6 grams net carbs, 28 grams protein, 17 grams fat
For the Chaffle Buns
Whisk all ingredients together in a ramekin or small bowl until smooth. Pour half the mixture onto a preheated Dash mini-waffle iron, and spread it around until it covers the entire surface. Close the Dash and cook for 3-5 minutes, until golden brown. Remove and repeat with the remaining mixture.
Macros per serving (2 chaffles): 215 calories, 1 gram net carbs, 8 grams protein, 21 grams fat
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Again with the chaffles. It’s not going to get any better. This is the best bread substitute I’ve found in ages, and I’m gonna run this thing into the ground. There are slight adjustments to each recipe that can make them resemble various bread types. I didn’t think I could pull off biscuits, but here we are.
As always, you’ll need your Dash mini-waffle iron and a blender. I recommend the Magic Bullet blender, but feel free to use whichever blender you prefer. Goodness knows I don’t need any more kitchen gadgets to deal with, even though I can’t stop buying them.
This recipe will make 9 chaffle biscuits. You can go two ways with this one. It works perfectly well without any additional cheese on the waffle iron. Without cheese makes a prettier chaffle. I tried one of each for lunch when I cooked them yesterday to see which one I preferred. I liked the one with mozzarella better, taste-wise. It ends up adding a bit of additional crunch and saltiness that I preferred. It’s just not as picturesque. Feel free to use that first chaffle as a taste tester, to see if you like it or you’d rather do it the other way. Then keep the other 8 for your sausage gravy.
To make your chaffle biscuits, add 4 eggs, 1/4 cup of almond flour, a tablespoon of cold butter, 3 tablespoons of cream cheese, and a teaspoon of baking powder to your blender. You’ll want the cream cheese and butter the closest to the blades in the blender. Whiz it up until it’s smooth and airy. Heat up your Dash, and if you want, sprinkle a tablespoon of shredded mozzarella on it. Then pour your batter on, sprinkle another tablespoon of mozzarella on top if you choose, and close it. Cook it for about 3-5 minutes, until it’s a nice biscuit color, then remove. Repeat for the remaining chaffles. If you’re serving them immediately, you may want to keep them in a warm oven while you make the rest.
For the sausage gravy, brown a pound of breakfast sausage in a non-stick skillet. I used the zesty hot variety, but if you’re not a fan of spice, the sage also works really well. I didn’t drain my sausage, which was a bit of a tactical error as the end result was a tiny bit greasy. So I’ll recommend draining it once it’s cooked through, then returning the sausage to the skillet. Cube an entire block (8 ounces) of cream cheese, then add it to the pan with 1/3 to 1/2 cup of heavy cream. I like my sausage gravy really chunky, but if you want it thinner you can add more cream. Just make sure to adjust your macros accordingly! Whisk it constantly until there are no more cream cheese chunks, add black pepper to taste, and serve about 1/3 cup over each chaffle.
Chaffle Biscuits and Sausage Gravy
A southern delicacy made to suit the keto diet with biscuit-style chaffles.
18tbspshredded whole milk mozzarellaoptional, see notes above
For the Sausage Gravy
1poundbreakfast sausage
8ouncescream cheesecubed
1/3 to 1/2cupheavy whipping cream
black pepperto taste
Instructions
For the Chaffles
Note: This will make 9 chaffles. Feel free to use the first chaffle as an experiment to see if you want to add the optional mozzarella cheese or not.
Place all ingredients except the mozzarella in a blender, making sure that the cream cheese and butter are closest to the blades. Blend until the batter is smooth and a little frothy.
Preheat the Dash. If you are using mozzarella, sprinkle a tablespoon onto the iron, then pour in enough batter to almost cover all the holes, then add another tablespoon of mozzarella if using. Otherwise, just pour the batter directly onto the iron. Close and cook for 3-5 minutes, until golden brown. Repeat for the remaining chaffles. Keep the cooked ones in a warm oven if you plan on serving them immediately.
For the Sausage Gravy
Brown the sausage in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, then drain it and return it to the pan.
Turn the heat down to medium low and add the cream cheese and heavy cream. Stir until the cream cheese has melted and there are no more visible chunks. Dilute with more heavy cream if you want a thinner gravy. Serve 1/3 cup of gravy over each chaffle.
Macros per serving (1 chaffle and 1/3 cup gravy): 385 calories, 3 grams net carbs, 23 grams protein, 32 grams fat.
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A classic deli staple, the reuben sandwich is given a keto twist by using a simple modification to the basic chaffle recipe to create a rye sandwich bread!
Chickens don’t have fingers, but chicken fingers are a thing. Fish have even fewer fingers than chickens do, but I’m still making fish fingers nonetheless. This is basically my version of fish sticks. Sadly, the one kid who used to love fish sticks didn’t like this at all, but he loved the coleslaw. And my kid who can go either way on fish ate hers in record time, but she didn’t have anything more than a bite of the coleslaw. I can never really predict them. Either way, this meal made one thing that either kid would eat, which I consider a small victory.
There are three parts to this recipe. Besides the fish fingers and the coleslaw, there’s also a great version of tartar sauce that doesn’t have that nasty (and high in carbs) sweet pickle relish. It instead uses capers and dill, giving it a nice salty and creamy contrast to the fish. Between that and the coleslaw, it’s almost like being at a fish fry. This would be a great recipe for Lent, if you observe it.
Start with the coleslaw, because some time to chill in the fridge is good for the flavor. You’ll want a one-pound bag of shredded coleslaw mix, ideally just cabbage with a little bit of carrots. If you’re concerned about the carbs from carrots, a lot of places do an angel hair slaw that’s just cabbage. Put that in a large bowl. In a small bowl, mix together 3/4 cup of avocado oil mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons of Sukrin Gold Fiber Syrup or a similar liquid honey substitute, a teaspoon of salt, a half teaspoon of celery seed, and as much black pepper as you want. Pour that over the coleslaw mix and toss it around to coat, then stick it in the fridge until it’s time to serve.
The fish fingers start with my standard breading base for fried foods. A half cup of grated parmesan cheese (I love the Cello organic shelf-stable version that they sell at Costco), and a half cup of pork rind crumbs. Put it on a large plate, then just add a teaspoon of dried parsley and a teaspoon of Old Bay seasoning, and stir it around until it’s all mixed up. Easy peasy. Beat an egg in a small bowl and set that and the plate of crumbs right next to your cooktop, so when you’re ready to bread the fish, you can put it right in the oil.
After that, get your fish ready. If you want, you can skip this step and fry the fish whole, but I like when it’s finger food. I use tilapia for this, because it easily cuts down the middle for fingers. You can use any plain, flat, mild-tasting white fish. Flounder or catfish would work just fine. Start with a pound of fish and cut it into strips the size of chicken fingers. If you’re using tilapia, there will normally be a thicker half of the fish. Put the thicker parts together and the thinner parts together. You’re going to want to do these in two batches, and they’ll cook more evenly that way.
Heat up 6 tablespoons of avocado oil to medium-high in an enameled cast iron skillet. I use that type of skillet for frying because it never sticks, but it gets a deeper browning and crispier breading than a non-stick skillet will. Once the oil is hot, dip a piece of fish in the egg, coat it evenly with the crumb mixture, then place it gently into the hot oil. Repeat with half the fish fingers, making sure to keep them a similar size and thickness throughout. Fry for about 3-4 minutes, until it’s golden brown. Turn it gently with tongs and fry the other side for 3-4 minutes as well. Remove them from the pan and place them on a plate lined with paper towels to drain the excess oil.
While the fish is cooking, whip together the tartar sauce. All you need is 1/4 cup of mayonnaise, a tablespoon of capers with a little brine, 1/4 teaspoon of dried dill or 1 teaspoon of fresh, and a couple of grinds of white pepper. Serve a little over a tablespoon of it on the side for dipping, and enjoy your kid-friendly fish fry!
Fish Fingers with Coleslaw and Caper-Dill Tartar Sauce
With these fish fingers, low-carb coleslaw, and caper-dill tartar sauce, you'll have everything you need for a keto fish fry!
In a small bowl, stir together the remaining ingredients until the mayonnaise is no longer lumpy. Pour the dressing over the coleslaw mix, toss to coat, and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Macros per serving (6 servings total): 229 calories, 3 grams net carbs, 1 gram protein, 24 grams fat.
For the Fish Fingers
Cut the fish into strips and sort into two groups according to thickness.
On a large plate, mix together the pork rind crumbs, parmesan, parsley, Old Bay, and pepper and toss with a fork. Beat the egg in a small bowl. Place both of those next to your stovetop.
Heat the avocado oil in an enameled cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, dip a fish finger into the egg, then roll it in the crumbs until it's well-coated. Place carefully into the oil and repeat with the remaining fish fingers in that size group.
Cook for about 3-4 minutes, until you can see the golden brown on the bottom of the fish pieces. Turn them carefully with tongs and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Remove from the pan and place them on a plate lined with paper towels. Repeat these steps with the remaining fish.
Macros per serving (4 servings total): 362 calories, 0 grams net carbs, 30 grams protein, 27 grams fat.
For the Tartar Sauce
Combine all ingredients in a small ramekin. Split evenly between the finished plates to serve as a dipping sauce, or serve directly on the fish.
Macros per serving (4 servings total): 101 calories, 0 grams net carbs, 0 grams protein, 12 grams fat.
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