Late night partying, men in cowboy hats, and the smell of manure is in the air. [I swear when you grow up surrounded by the stuff, it doesn't bother you at all].
Although we don’t join the Calgary Stampede festivities anymore, it’s hard not to miss out on the action from afar.
The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo, festival and expedition held every July in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The ten day event also referred to as “The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth”, attracts over one million visitors per year and features the world’s largest rodeo, parade, midway, stage shows, concerts, agricultural competitions, chuckwagon racing and First Nations exhibitions.
Basically, the alcohol flows freely, the entertainment is amazing, and there’s plenty of delicious food to feast on for days and days, and days.
The most popular of them all is barbecue sauce.
Oh, and pancakes. Can’t forget the endless supply of pancakes and maple syrup.
Since I suck at making pancakes, I decided to share another favorite stampede recipe with you.
A vegan version of pulled pork sandwiches with loads of barbecue sauce, of course!
I tried to make homemade gluten free buns to go along with the recipe, but as you can see they turned out rather hard and tasted more like pastry than anything.
Instead I settled for udi’s gluten free bread hoping my barbecue lentil recipe was enough to steal the show.
Stampede Barbecue Lentil Sandwich
Vegan, Gluten free, Dairy free, Refined sugar free, Yeast free, Corn free
A vegan approach to the classic pulled pork sandwich. Save time and money by cooking the lentils in your slow cooker!
Yield: 4 cups of barbecue lentils
Ingredients
Quick and Easy Smoky Barbecue Sauce
- 28-oz canned crushed tomatoes
- 6oz can tomato paste
- 1/2 cup blackstrap molasses
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 1 medium-sized sweet onion, quartered
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp palm sugar
- 1 tsp dry mustard
- 1/2 tsp Himalayan rock salt
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp liquid smoke
- 1/8 tsp cayenne
Lentils
- 4 cups cooked green lentils – check out Laurel’s method for cooking beans in a slow cooker
Directions
- Place all sauce ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Place in a medium-sized saucepan.
- Cover and bring to a boil on medium heat.
- Reduce heat to low and simmer covered for 30 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in cooked lentils. Serve over top bread or buns smothered in apple butter, or try as a burger topping.
Although I love me some pulled pork sandwiches, I can’t get over how sweet the barbecue sauce is! Also, did you know that your body can take up to 15 hours to digest pork?
So as a compromise during the 10 days of Stampede, I opt for the cleaner lentil version of pulled pork and indulge in gluten-free bison burgers, fresh lemonade, and chicken drumsticks the size of my face.
It’s all about give and take, right?
Yeeha to that!
Hello, welcome to my healthy gluten-free 
{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }
It looks delicious! How long did the lentils take to cook in the slow cooker?
I put them on high for about 3.5 hours
Yum! I could totally get my boyfriend to eat this. Or let him put it on pork while I enjoy it on lentils!
That’s what we did at our house!
Those look truly amazing. Thanks for this recipe. I love bbq pork, but I know it’s not healthy – even when I make it at home. This will be a wonderful substitute!
Thank god for Udi’s, right?
I used to hate BBQ but this summer I can’t get enough. I made a jackfruit BBQ that was great with the sweetness from the fruit. Will have to try this out – love that molasses!
I was just thinking this morning about how much I could really go for a BBQ pulled chicken sandwich…except for, ya know, the whole vegetarian thing! I have a feeling this would really satisfy the craving; I can’t wait to give it a go!
I love pulled pork and sloppy joes — any type of messy food on a bun seems to be ok with me
Oh hello! Those look amazing!! This is perfect for the whole family…. the husband will love this for sure!
I make a one-pot 30 minute bean & lentil ‘sloppy joes’ recipe. Vegan & GF
http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2011/02/vegan-sloppy-joes.html
Sorry to link drop,just delete this as necessary!
Yours looks great! And I also eat mine without a bun. I’d rather not go to town on bread/buns and save room for extra dessert. haha!
Skipping out on the bun to have dessert is brilliant. Thanks for sharing the recipe. Guh, I love your recipes
you know, traditional bbq DOES use bread just as much (or more?) than buns, anyway – this didn’t look out of place at all!
and it looks delicious!
Woot! See, I planned that
ha!! your “buns” cracked me up
I recently added twice as much butter to my bread recipe by accident and it was super runny.. whoopps.. tried adding in some more flour and it was still runny. So I just put it in to rise- it rose too much then proceeded to collapse… yay.. now I have bread crumbs in the freezer for meatloaf 
But over all I am having decent success with that recipe for bread i am creating (as long as the butter is kept in check) using the same add ins (milk or non dairy milk, eggs, butter or coconut oil, cider vinegar and the yeast packet) as Bob’s red mill wonderful bread mix- but it is definitely a work in progress.
My flour mix includes
1 cup almond meal (sifted)
1 cup garfava flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup rice flour
1/4 cup potato starch
1 tsp salt
2 tbs sugar (palm)
2 tsp xanthan gum ( tbs or so of ground flax might sub in)
The last time I also added a tsp of gelatin to the dry ingredients and it seemed to me firmer but not sure how you feel about gelatin.
jenetta
Thanks for sharing this recipe, Jenetta. I’ll have to give it a try! Have you checked out my new Google search bar? I hope it’s working better for you!
cool, no- I will let you know
You know I love lentils! This looks and sounds amazing! I love lentils with BBQ…so good!
YUM! I was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, so of course I grew up on BBQ. I don’t eat pork anymore, but I still love BBQ sauce on just about anything (chicken, salmon, salads, veggies, the list goes on). Super creative idea for subbing lentils!
And thanks for the link to my crock pot bean cooking
Of course! You opened my eyes to the wonder of crock pot bean cooking. I just wish I would have seen it before I bought a pressure cooker. It’s SO easy!
I’ve always wanted to go to a rodeo! Aren’t too many of them in Ireland
I love lentils – I’ve never had them in a sandwich before so I can’t wait to try this.
Well, if you ever come to Canada, make sure it’s during the Stampede. You’d LOVE it!
Wow that vegan sandwich really looks like pulled pork! Actually it looks better than pulled pork! I will have to try it!
I loved sloppy joes as a kid these look great!
Ohh this is mouthwatering! I love your recipe and photos are really really beautiful! Great post!
Ohh my this looks delicious!!! Great photos too, I’m starving now!
Looks great! Never would have tried to cook lentils this way. Thanks!
Your sandwich looks amazing. I would pick that over the original any day
oh. my. gosh.
I need this =) the ingredients are bomb! seriously have to make this!
what an outstanding sandwich! I love lentils this is such an interesting way to enjoy them!
Congrats on the top 9!
Love it! This is my kind of sandwich. I may complain all day after eating it but I could sure do some damage to that bad boy!
Made this tonight for dinner, both me and the man loved it! There is a wonderfully feeling knowing I prepared everything down to the BBQ sauce at home from scratch. Great recipe Leanne. Oh and the crock pot cooked lentils, makes it so easy!
What a tasty looking and healthier sandwich!
This is the BEST meatless sloppy joe recipe I’ve ever tried.
My apple cider vinegar was no longer good so I used balsamic, and it worked.
I was so glad I actually had palm sugar, and Himalayan rock salt.
The left overs kept well, and it was so easy to make.
I misread the recipe and added the lentils right away. So they were tender and incredibly flavorful.
Thank for sharing such a great recipe!
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