Turkey Meat Loaf: Almost As Good As Mom’s Used To Be

  4.3 – 9 reviews  • Ground Turkey Recipes

a delicious and relatively simple meat loaf. complements a wide range of side dishes. This can be eaten as a supper in and of itself or with biscuits and mashed potatoes. Amazingly tasty when cold!

Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 1 hr
Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins
Servings: 12
Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients

  1. 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
  2. 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
  3. ½ cup ketchup
  4. 2 teaspoons white sugar
  5. 1 teaspoon onion powder
  6. 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  7. 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  8. 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  9. 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  10. 1 (14.5 ounce) can Italian-style stewed tomatoes, undrained
  11. 3 pounds ground turkey
  12. 1 sleeve roasted vegetable-flavored buttery round crackers (such as Ritz®), crushed
  13. 1 onion, diced
  14. 1 green bell pepper, diced
  15. 2 eggs, slightly beaten
  16. 1 tablespoon dried oregano
  17. 1 tablespoon dried thyme
  18. 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  19. 1 clove garlic, minced
  20. 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
  21. ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese (Optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish.
  2. Mix tomato sauce, tomato paste, ketchup, sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, 1 teaspoon oregano, 1 teaspoon black pepper, and 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce in a bowl.
  3. Place stewed tomatoes in a large bowl; crush tomatoes using a fork. Add turkey, crushed crackers, onion, green bell pepper, eggs, 1 tablespoon oregano, thyme, 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, garlic, and 2 teaspoons black pepper; mix until evenly combined. Spoon meatloaf mixture into the prepared baking dish. Form into a loaf, leaving about 1/2 inch between loaf and sides of dish.
  4. Spoon half the tomato topping over the loaf.
  5. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes. Spoon the remaining tomato topping over loaf and top with mozzarella cheese. Bake until no longer pink in the center, 15 to 20 more minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 160 degrees F (70 degrees C).
  6. Cook’s Notes:
  7. If you use ground beef instead of turkey, use extra lean (93/7) because it tends to get really greasy if you use beef with a higher fat content. It is also good to add a can of carrots or corn to make it a little heartier.
  8. This can also be baked in 2 loaf pans. Bake loaves for 30 minutes before adding remaining tomato topping and cheese; bake additional 10 to 15 minutes.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 294 kcal
Carbohydrate 19 g
Cholesterol 118 mg
Dietary Fiber 3 g
Protein 27 g
Saturated Fat 4 g
Sodium 704 mg
Sugars 9 g
Fat 13 g
Unsaturated Fat 0 g

Reviews

Kristin Rose
Seemed a little bland and the texture was mealy.
Robert Wilson
Omg this is amazing!
Alex Taylor
I made half the recipe. It was just delicious but I used ground turkey instead of ground beef. I am making this recipe from now on! Loved it!
William White
Well….what can I say. This had the potential to be good. Probably just my family’s tastes are different. But I found it to be VERY heavily seasoned. Not sure if it was due to the stewed tomatoes….or the thyme (I DID put in half the called for thyme…should have cut it even further or left it out)…but everyone found it inedible, except for me…but only because I refuse to waste food. It was highly unpleasant. The texture is good, it smells good. The sauce on top seems fine. Just the seasonings are off. I DID make two modifications…. 1/2 the thyme (as mentioned) and instead of 3lbs turkey, I used 2lbs turkey and 1lb 93% beef…neither modification would have made the seasonings this overwhelming.
Diana Abbott
This was different but very good. Makes enough to feed a houseful. Excellent for people who don’t eat red meat, plus lower calories. Absolutely recommend it.
Melissa Smith
This makes a huge loaf. The trouble with it is that it was very wet and relatively flavorless. I made it exactly as the recipe said, except that I drained it when I put the rest of the sauce on top. I will not be making this again.
April Lewis
Turkey meatloaf needs a lot of flavor and this has it!
Laurie Aguirre
Made this for my boyfriend and he loved it! Used 2/3 ground round and 1/3 ground turkey – not much grease in the pan. Mashed potatoes as a side dish made this the perfect comfort meal (no other veggie needed with all the veggies in it). Split the meat mixture in half before baking; I will freeze the other half for another time. The tomato sauce mixture made a lot.
Daniel Dodson
Only changes were red pepper instead of green ( red were on sale for 20 cents) and I used a gorgonzola flavored cracker. I liked the texture but some may find it too soft..I would say drain the tomatoes off if you like a firmer loaf

 

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