This is a traditional Southern pub with a light kick. By increasing the amount of cayenne and chili powder and adding some jalapeño seeds, you can increase the level of heat. Beef can also be used! You can serve these with chipotle mayo, pickled jalapeno slices, and shredded cheddar as toppings on burger buns, tortillas, or pitas. (American cheese, pickles, and ketchup still taste delicious if you have a more traditional palate.)
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 40 mins |
| Total Time: | 50 mins |
| Servings: | 5 |
| Yield: | 5 sandwiches |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ¼ pounds ground turkey
- 1 cup finely chopped white onion
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 ½ tablespoons prepared yellow mustard, divided
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon chili powder
- 1 cup water
- ¼ cup finely chopped jalapeno
- 5 hamburger buns
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil over medium-low heat; cook and stir the ground turkey, using the back of a wooden spoon to work the meat into small crumbles as it cooks. When the meat is about half browned, stir in the onion, garlic, and black pepper; cook and stir until the turkey is crumbly, evenly browned, and no longer pink.
- Stir in 1 tablespoon of the prepared mustard, the cayenne pepper, chili powder, and water. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, stirring, until the water has evaporated, about 20 minutes. Stir in the remaining mustard and the chopped jalapeno, and cook until heated through, about 5 more minutes. Spoon the mixture onto the hamburger buns.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 356 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 26 g |
| Cholesterol | 84 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 27 g |
| Saturated Fat | 4 g |
| Sodium | 361 mg |
| Sugars | 2 g |
| Fat | 16 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I played around with this a bit since my kids don’t care for jalapeno. I used 2 lbs turkey, same on the onion and garlic, , then filled the bottom of the pan with white cooking wine and added larger amounts of mustard, salt and pepper and then cooked it down until the liquid was mostly gone. I put it on a whole wheat hamburger bun with swiss cheese and it was great – my kids drowned it in ketchup but they still ate it! We actually fed 4 of us for 2 nights and had some left over.
Made this recipe as written, using powdered chipotle seasoning in place of chili powder. My picky 10 yr old ate it in a tortilla, and my husband liked it on a bun with barbecue sauce. Overall a hit, and I will be adding this to our rotation. Thanks!
I made this last night for the first time, it was very good. I’ve tried various tavern recipes trying to find one we all like, my daughter will not eat anything with “barbeque” flavor. This one was it. I did make one minor change, my husband does not like jalapenos so I substituted 1/4 cup of salsa and added it with the water. It took a little longer for the liquid to evaporate but it was delicious.
A little on the dry side for my taste. It feels like it should have a thicker sauce to it. The fresh jalapeno gives it a great kick. And we ate it with some baby swiss cheese and spicy mayo – which I recommend.
I made this exactly as written and just thought it was OK. To me it just tasted like spicy ground turkey, couldn’t find any flavor besides that. I like the versatility and ease of the dish though. Thank you for sharing, I’m glad I tried it. It’s something different which is always good!
this was awesome! the whole family loved it, even my 3 year old! I did replace the jalapeno for red bell pepper since, the kids couldnt handle that much heat. LOVED how easy it was! thanks for sharing!
This is an incredibly good “tavern,” especially when you take into account it’s made with turkey and not beef. It has a nice seasoning and gets bonus points because it does not use ketchup. The tavern (a.k.a. loose meat sandwich) originated in the 1920s. It’s nothing more than browned ground beef that contains very little or even no seasoning what-so-ever. It caught on quickly with businesses because it was cheap, easy, and “one-sandwich-fits-all.” It was served on a bun and via a condiments bar, the customer could create their own sandwich by adding whatever toppings or sauces they desired. It could be turned into a traditional topped hamburger/cheeseburger, sloppy joe, etc. The only thing that’s changed with the modern day tavern is the number of ways it’s served. I’ve seen many organizations use these for fundraisers, giving the customer the choice of having it served on a bun, tortilla, hard shell taco, or even fry bread. The combinations are endless.
I will add tomato sauce next time – but good flavor
We felt the mustard was too strong and the dish too hot overall. We will not make this again.
I sampled the mixture just before adding the remaining mustard and jalapenos. Didn’t seem at all “hot”. Next time I will use 1/4 teaspoon cayenne and 1/4 teaspoon chili powder. However, found the amount of jalapenos too hot–too overpowering, so will cut down to 1/8 cup. Tried the mixture as a burger, in pitas and tortillas. Thought the tortillas were by far the tastiest.
I’m the recipe’s creator. To cut down on the amount of fat, make sure that you’re using ground turkey breast or lean ground turkey meat. Regular ground turkey is about as fattening as regular ground beef! Thanks and hope that you enjoy! =)
This was really good! I used only 1lb. of turkey meat and just cut back a little on all the ingredients. I added a little salt in the end, served them on hamburger buns with American cheese. This recipe is a keeper.
Great twist on a sloppy joe recipe! Thanks!