Two meals in one – Make Ahead Sloppy Joes and Lasagna

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When I have multiple nights of late night meetings, I like to make meals ahead so it is just a simple reheating process. But then spending all day Sunday cooking is time-consuming. So why not make two meals at the same time? These two simple recipes take some short-cuts, like store-bought sloppy joe mix, but you can mix your seasonings from scratch if you would like. (Picture is from before heating because my hungry troop devoured before I got the camera out – that just shows you how tasty it is!)

Two meals in one - Make Ahead Sloppy Joes and Lasagna
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Two meals in one – Make Ahead Sloppy Joes and Lasagna

Recipe by The Cooking LawyerCourse: DinnerCuisine: American, Italian, Italian-AmericanDifficulty: Easy
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

30

minutes
Cooking time

40

minutes

Ingredients

  • 24 oz. ground chicken or turkey (I used 98% fat-free or as lean as I can find it)

  • 1 onion, finely diced

  • 2 cans tomato paste (6 oz. each)

  • 2 packets of sloppy joe mix (if you do not have a mix, see note below)

  • Hamburger buns

  • 8 sheets oven-ready lasagna noodles

  • 8 oz. fat-free ricotta cheese

  • 1 cup fat-free mozzarella cheese

  • 2 cups of tomato sauce

  • 1 egg

  • Salt and pepper

  • 2 TBS Parmesan cheese

  • Non-stick cooking spray

  • Optional, dill pickles

Directions

  • In advance directions
  • Dice onion. Add to large pot with non-stick cooking spray. Sweat down for 2-3 minutes.
  • Add ground chicken or turkey to pot. Brown meat with the onion.
  • Once the meat is browned, add the two packets of sloppy joe mix, two cans of tomato paste, and 2 cups of water. Stir to fully combine. Bring to a boil.
  • Once the mixture is boiling, turn the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.
  • Divide the sloppy joe mixture in half, reserving half for the lasagna and the remainder for sloppy joe night.
  • Prep for lasagna
  • Mix ricotta cheese, half of the mozzarella cheese, egg, salt, and pepper in a bowl.
  • In a lasagna pan, take a scoop of tomato sauce and layer on the bottom of the pan.
  • Add a layer of oven-ready noodles.
  • Then add three layers of: tomato sauce, meat sauce, cheese mixture, noodles.
  • For the final layer, add tomato sauce and the remainder of the mozzarella cheese and the Parmesan cheese.
  • Cover with foil. Keep in refrigerator up to 3 days before baking.
  • Day of sloppy joe night
  • Reheat meat for 10 minutes over medium heat.
  • Serve over hamburger buns with lots of napkins! Add some tasty garnishes, like dill pickles.
  • Day of lasagna
  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  • Place lasagna with foil in oven. Bake for 25 minutes.
  • At 25 minutes, remove foil. Bake for another 10-15 minutes until cheese is bubbly and golden brown.
  • Wait 10 minutes before cutting to help prevent the cheese from oozing. Enjoy!

Notes

  • One of my goals is to save time, so using a pre-packaged sloppy joe mix is the way to go for me. If you want to make your own, simply combine: 1 cup ketchup, 4 TBS brown sugar, 4 cloves of garlic, minced, 4 TBS Worcestershire sauce, 2 tsp mustard, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp onion powder, and 1/4 tsp black pepper.

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