This Easy Turkey Meatloaf Recipe with Vegetables makes a great weeknight dinner. You can also easily double the recipe and freeze half for another busy night.
Hi friends!
I’ve got an easy dinner recipe to share with you today. Meatloaf is one of those meals I remember not really liking while I was growing up. While I still wouldn’t call it my favorite meal as an adult, it is one that I now enjoy and keep in my rotation. One of my favorite things about it is that it freezes well. When i make it, I almost always double the recipe and freeze half. I even pre-slice before freezing so that I can easily pull out just 2-3 slices for a quick meal vs the whole loaf.
This recipe in particular is one I tested a few times. I often added riced vegetables to my meatballs but hadn’t yet tried it with meatloaf. I wanted to find a recipe that included some extra veggies but still held together well after baking.
For my recipe, I use carrots, zucchini and mushrooms but you can certainly use other veggies you have on hand. I choose to saute my vegetables before mixing them with the meat because I want them to cook down a bit and release some of the moisture they hold so that they don’t make the meatloaf soggy.
Easy Turkey Meatloaf with Vegetables
When I make this recipe, I use anywhere from 1 to 1.5 cups of vegetables with great success but when I tried 2 to 2.25 cups I found the loaf got too soggy and didn’t stick together well, so don’t try to cram too many vegetables in there!
Here’s the recipe:
PrintEasy Turkey Meatloaf with Vegetables
This Easy Turkey Meatloaf Recipe with Vegetables makes a great weeknight dinner. You can also easily double the recipe and freeze half for another busy night.
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 30 min
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: serves 4 1x
Ingredients
- 1 – 1.5 cups riced vegetables (Measure after riced/chopped – I use a mix of mushrooms, carrots and zucchini)*
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound 85% lean ground turkey (you could use 93% but I wouldn’t recommend 99% lean)
- 1 egg
- 2/3 cup breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- bbq sauce to glaze
- optional – I always put a few shakes of McCormicks grill seasoning in mine. You could use your favorite seasoning mix, or just some salt and pepper
Instructions
- Saute riced vegetables and garlic over medium heat for 8-10 minutes. You want the vegetables to cook and release their moisture. Let cool for a few minutes.
- In a large bowl, combine the veggies, meat, egg, breadcrumbs and ketchup. Use a large spoon or your hands to make sure everything is well mixed.
- Form into two loaves on a foil-lined pan.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until center reaches 165 degrees.
- Brush with bbq sauce and serve.
Notes
* To rice vegetables, place in the food processor and process until finely chopped. If you don’t have a food processor you can finely dice by hand as small as you can or even use a grater.
If you’re in a hurry, you could place the riced vegetables in a towel and squeeze to remove water instead of sauteeing.
To freeze, let cool completely, slice and then wrap in foil and freeze in a ziploc bag. Thaw in the fridge when ready to eat.
Simple right?
If you’re not a fan of bbq sauce you could always glaze or serve with ketchup for dipping.
Let me know if you try this recipe!
Enjoy!
–Lindsay–
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Thanks a lot for sharing this recipe! I really loved the meatloaf. Great post Lindsay!
★★★★★
Made this tonight. My 2 year old and I loved it!
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Another great recipe! Made 1 loaf pan and some mini muffins (figured toddler would like that shape better!). Since I only used one pan I did leave it in the oven longer than the 30 mins. Delicious, huge hit with hubby! Seasoning wise added some paprika, oregano salt and pepper.
★★★★★