Sweet and Sour Chicken Sloppy Joes

I do not blame you one bit for thinking you can't possibly imagine how sweet and sour chicken and sloppy joes meld together into one dish. But stay with me here--there are a lot of the same flavors and ingredients in both dishes!

I adore the great big chunks of pineapple, green pepper and onion in sweet and sour chicken, but I diced them small for this recipe so they were around the same size as the pieces of chicken.  I love that this recipe features all of my favorite sweet and sour chicken flavors with much less fat and additives. I will serve it on whole grain buns with homemade roasted potato wedges or sweet potato fries and a salad made with tomatoes and kale from my garden, and we'll have a complete dinner for right around $7!


Sweet and Sour Chicken Sloppy Joes

1 lb ground chicken
1/2 bell pepper, diced (apprx 1/2 cup)
1 small onion, diced (apprx 1/2 cup)
2 small carrots, diced (apprx 3/4 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup pineapple, crushed or diced small
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
3 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 Tbsp soy sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

Step 1: Place chicken in skillet over medium high heat, season with salt and pepper (go easy on the salt for now since we're adding soy sauce later). When 3/4 of chicken is no longer pink, add carrots, green pepper, garlic and onion. Drain if necessary once all chicken is cooked through.

Step 2: Add pineapple, honey, tomato sauce , soy sauce and vinegar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for approximately 10 minutes, until mixture has the consistency you desire.

Alternate Preparation:  After browning meat, place all ingredients in slow cooker and cook on low 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours.

Cost:

Ground chicken (Smart Chicken): On sale $3.99/lb, used $1 off coupon = $2.99

Bell pepper (farmers market): $.50/each, used 1/2 = $.25

Onion (farmers market): $.50, used 1/3 = $.17

Carrots (farmers market): $2.00/bunch, used 1/6 = $.33

Pineapple: $1.38/each after sale and coupon, used apprx 1/6 =$.23

Honey (farmers market): $4/16 oz jar, used 1.5 oz = $.38

Tomato sauce (organic): 8 oz can on sale = $.75

Total Cost: $5.10

Six Servings: $.85 per serving