
Healthy Sloppy Joe Cornbread Casserole (Gluten-Free, Refined Sugar-Free)
This Meal is a Kid Pleaser!
In the early months of Brendon and my marriage, I had a mission to find new dishes that Brynn would eat. At the time, she really just ate mac and cheese, egg sandwiches, alfredo, and peanut butter. I am sure that in reality there were a few other things, but it felt really limited. I was frustrated with how picky she was.
So, I went to Pinterest and set out to try new recipes with her to eventually find at least a handful that she would eat. One night we tried a recipe for sloppy joe cornbread casserole, and she gobbled it down quick! Since then, it has been one of her favorite foods. Here is the original recipe.
However, once I moved to more of a real food diet, especially aiming for low gluten and refined sugar free, this recipe wasn’t making the cut in my meal planning. I felt bad because Brynn loved it so much. So, I set out to make a paleo friendly version that I could feel good about.
Now, since this is a more labor intensive recipe than the original that involves a box mix and a can of sauce, I decided it was essential to batch cook it and freeze a few to make it worth the effort. That way I can cook once and have 4+ dinners. Otherwise, I was not going to be serving this for dinner on a regular basis. Even a food lover like me doesn’t have a ton of time to be stuck in the kitchen!
Thankfully, I made this revised, healthier version, and she ate it with the same excitement as usual without the processed ingredients. YAY!
Ingredients
1. Paleo Sloppy Joe Sauce
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 large onion
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ¾ cup Paleo Whole30 Ketchup, or ketchup of choice (ideally refined sugar-free)
- 1 TBSP coconut aminos
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- Optional: Kids may want it sweeter so I would add some honey once you give it a taste test
Note: I removed some of the veggies from the original paleo sloppy joe sauce recipe I found to make it more friendly for picky eaters
2. 1-1.5 lb pasture-raised ground chicken, turkey, or beef
3. Gluten-free, refined sugar free corn bread mix
- 2 cups cornmeal
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 TBSP coconut sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups sour cream (grass-fed)
- 1/4 whole milk (or milk of choice)
- 2 TBSP honey
- 4 TBSP melted grass-fed butter
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 400 F.
- Mix the sauce ingredients together in a blender.
- Brown the ground meat in a pan on medium heat with butter or coconut oil to coat the pan.
- Pour the sauce into the pan with the meat, and stir to heat through. This should take 1-2 minutes.
- Place the meat mixture in a 9 by 11 pan.
- Mix the cornbread ingredients together.
- Pour the cornbread batter over the meat mixture. Spread it with a spatula to evenly coat the top.
- Bake in the oven at 400 F for 15-20 minutes.
- Check the middle of the cornbread to make sure it is fully cooked by sticking a toothpick into it. If the toothpick comes out clean, then it is done.
- You can either serve immediately, or you can make several at one time, let them cool, and freeze covered to reheat for quick weeknight meals.