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Perfect turkey meatloaf

90 min • 6 to 8 servings •
Melanie gretsch

90 min •     6 to 8 servings•

Melanie gretsch

Homemade meatloaf topped with ketchup and bacon on a plate, with chopped vegetables and olive oil in the background.

A friend of mine made me this meatloaf one night for dinner. I loved it, so, I asked her for the recipe. When I made this for my kids, I found a couple of kid flaws (jalapenos, etc.) so, I refined it. Now, it’s so kid and adult friendly-we have it almost every week.

Ready

  • ½ large onion
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 2-3 celery stalks
  • Olive oil, enough to sauté
  • 2 tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp cumin
  • Nutmeg, dash
  • 1 ½ lbs dark meat turkey
  • ½ cup ketchup
  • Milk
  • 1 egg
  • Bread crumbs
  • Bacon (optional)

    • Set

  • knife for fine chopping
  • pan for cooking meatloaf

    • Go!

  • First, finely chop ½ onion and 1 garlic clove and 2-3 stalks of celery.
  • Sauté these finely chopped items in a bit of olive oil. Sauté until soft NOT brown.
  • Remove sauté from stove top.
  • Add, 2 tsp of salt, ¼ tsp cumin, and a dash of nutmeg to the sauté.
  • Now add this mixture to 1 ½ pounds of dark turkey meat, mix together.
  • Add ½ c of ketchup, ¼ c of milk, and 1 egg.
  • Now, add in some bread crumbs-just enough to firm up the mixture (not too much to make it too heavy) and mix.
  • Make a loaf with your hands.
  • Put a generous layer of ketchup on top of the loaf and smooth it over (like frosting) just on top.
  • Put it in the pan and cover with foil.
  • Cook at 350°F for 1 hour and 10 minutes.

    • Recommendations

    The original recipe has bacon on the top instead of ketchup…we found this delicious but way too rich. We would get stomach aches from eating too much of it! The ketchup does the same in that it keeps it moist but doesn’t feel too rich. If you have the stomach for it…try it. Add, several pieces of bacon to the top.
    Enjoy!

    meatloaf turkey

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