Forget what you thought about turkey meatloaf. The hint of BBQ sauce, sauteed garlic and onions take this turkey meatloaf to a whole new level!
A few years ago if you would have told me that turkey meatloaf could be delicious, I’d never believed you. I’ve tried several recipes for turkey meatloaf and they were all bland, too dry, too mushy, or just weird tasting.
Well, I was doing my internship at a doctors office in 2005 and my coworkers were talking about the most delicious turkey meatloaf they’d ever tasted. It was brought in by an old lady who provides all kinda lunches and baked goods for the office because she liked the doctor so much.
Now any kind of talk about an outstanding recipe always gets my antennas going. After about a month I was finally able to taste this meatloaf and ask her about the recipe. She said she’d gotten the recipe from an old Taste of Home magazine. She was tight-lipped about any details though. I immediately went online and then started my digging through my own extensive collection of Taste of Home magazines.
I eventually found 10 turkey meatloaf recipes from Taste of Home. So what was a girl to do? Yep, I made all ten of those bad boys! Nothing gets in the way of my good recipe search addiction. Out of all 10, I knew when I had found the jewel! This turkey meatloaf is moist and bursting with flavor. Pair this up with some whipped potatoes and some green beans..magnifico!!
The Recipe
Yes, Delicious Turkey Meatloaf
By Divas Can Cook
Recipe type: meatloaf
Cook time
Total time
Serves
1 loaf
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons of butter
- ½ onion (chopped, about ½ cup)
- 1½ teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 lb ground turkey
- ½ cup dried breadcrumbs
- 1 egg, room temperature
- ¼ cup BBQ sauce plus more to spread on top if desired
- ¼ cup of Ketchup plus more to spread on top if desired
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire
- ¾ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. F.
- Melt butter in a saucepan.
- Add onions and saute until tender and then add garlic and cook until fragrant.
- Place onions and garlic into a large bowl and let cool.
- Add remaining ingredients and use your hand to mix everything up.
- Press into a loaf pan and brush the tops with more ketchup & BBQ sauce if desired.
- Bake for 50-55 minutes.
- Let sit for 15 to 20 minutes. (You can drain off the juices if needed but don't cut into it until it has cooled down. The meat needs time to relax and firm up.)
This is my first time making meatloaf period so I was nervous but it turned out delicious (I added some chopped green and yellow bell peppers)! My boys and I really enjoyed it with a side salad. I was a bit sweet so I may cut down on some of the sauce ingredients. Do you have any suggestions to firm it up a bit more? Thank you for the delicious recipe
This is delicious I make it atleast once a week. I add shredded carrots to sneak in veggies and oats to replace half the breadcrumbs.
I wanted to double the recipe for my family, but only have 1 lb. of turkey and 1 lb. of ground beef. Ate there any changes I should make to the recipe?
I made this a few weeks ago. It was definitely a hit. The flavor was great and the meatloaf was moist. I feel it was a little softer then I would have liked. I plan on making this again tonight so maybe I will let it cook a little longer to see if that helps.
Don’t cook it longer, add 1lb of beef, and dubbe the recipe
How many does this feed? And thanks for sharing. I’m looking forward to trying it this weekend.
Can I add milk
If I used 2lbs of ground turkey would I double everything else?
I made this for dinner tonight, and it was absolutely DELICIOUS! I didn’t have bread crumbs, so I used crushed saltine crackers. I even cut back on the salt, and it was still flavorful. This will be my go to meatloaf from now on. Thanks Monique! ????
I decided to give this recipe a shot today for my weekly meal preps, and holy cow, this is INCREDIBLE! This replaces ground beef meatloaf for me; I’m seriously never going back. I might change the ratio of ketchup to BBQ sauce the next time I make it (my bottle of Sweet Baby Ray’s is a bit TOO sweet for my taste), and I may tweak it to add more veggies and a dried herb or two to the recipe just to change it up every once in a while, but I can really see eating this recipe as is for the rest of my life.
Thanks so much for sharing it, and I love watching your videos. Keep ’em coming! 😀
OMG…… I am currently eating this meatloaf as I type and it is GOOOOOD!!! It is very moist and the flavor is excellent. I think this will be my go to recipe from now on for my turkey meatloaf. Thanks Diva!!
Made this yesterday and I must say this was absolutely delicious. I never knew I would enjoy eating a turkey meatloaf. Thank you, Monique for the awesome recipes.
Not a fan of Worcestershire sauce can I omit it in the recipe
Yes it has nothing to do with the chemical composition of this recipe. You don’t need it. You could even use something else like soy sauce or a little bit of red wine.
duh, retard
Girl yes!!! i just ate it omg so good yummy,juicy and rich in flavor! I luv all your recipes you’re truly talented
Trying this tonight 🙂
This has become a “go to recipe” for me. I’ve made this a few times now and we really like it!
This meatloaf is amazing – my family is always asking for it. It comes out juicy and flavorful – thank you for sharing the recipe. Your website is fantastic.
I have made this meatloaf a few times and each time it comes out juicy and flavorful. Thanks!
This meatloaf is delicious! It is super moist and flavorful! I usually just add ketchup to my meatloaf but I loved the idea of adding barbecue sauce. I also took Monique’s suggestion of adding barbecue sauce after taking the meatloaf out of the oven. I will definitely be making this again!
I made this meatloaf for the first time last night and it was the first time I’ve ever made any kind of meatloaf. My Husband LOVEDDDDDDD it and ate 2nds and 3rds. Great recipe!
My husband requested this as well… making it for the first time tonight.
This recipe was so good! My 6 year old loved it. Will be making it again for sure.
I made this tonight with your mashed potato recipe and both were delish!! My husband and son loved it!
Made this tonight and was shocked when my 5 year old asked for seconds!!! Me and hubby loved it but you know its a hit when my picky lil one wants more! Oh, and hubby just yelled out “im gonna go ahead and finish the rest of this meatloaf cuz its so good”! Lol Thanks for sharing your recipes…you rock!!!
Monique, this was the perfect turkey meatloaf recipe. My husband called me at work yesterday, saying he had a taste for meatloaf and mashed potatoes. I’m trying to get him to make for healthy choices so I told him I would try turkey instead of beef. It was delicious, he even took some to lunch. Thanks so much!
Just made this for dinner tonight! It was awesome! My husband took one bite and immediately said you might as well put a second slice on my plate! We had this with your fantastic Candied Yams! I did make 2 changes: added 1/2 of green bell pepper chopped, and substituted the plan breadcrumbs for panko breadcrumbs! Will be making this again!
OMG! I made this a couple weeks ago & it was The Bomb! It was so moist. My hubby said it was so good he wanted to slap MY mother & my older son said I got all the men in the house loving my turkey loaf. Lol. I think the only differences I made were adding fresh parsley to the meat, added liquid smoke to the ketchup/BBQ topping and topped it all off with bacon. Thanks for the recipe hun!!!
OMGosh!! I just made this and it is DELICIOUS!!! I added peas and carrots. YUMMMMMMMMY!
Made this meal last Sunday! Oh yes my man enjoyed that meal! Thank you so much for your recipes!!!
I made this last night and it was packed with flavor and it tasted great. I definitely will be making this again!!!
Super Delish!! 5 stars
I will be trying this next week!!! I already have regular ground beef so I will be using that today, along with your collard green recipe. But I have been trying to transition my family into healthier eating, so I definitely look forward to trying this!!
Girl, I made this tonight with the cabbage recipe and had nobody to slap, it was amazing!!!! With the whole world cutting back on beef, I love this recipe!!!! Very moist and full of flavor, keep doing what you do Diva!
I just made this recipe along with your cabbage recipe…all I can say is mmm mmm good.
Thank you.
I have a great recipe for meatloaf too : ) Everyone begs me to make it. I used to make it with ground beef but recently started using ground turkey.
2 lbs ground turkey
Seasoned to taste with seasoned meat tenderizer, lawrys salt, pepper, garlic powder
1 egg
About a cup of store bought plain bread crumbs
1 green pepper chopped very fine
1 onion chopped very fine
3 good squirts of ketchup
Mix together and put in loaf pan bake 350 for 1 hour
And for the topping I bring brown sugar and a little ketchup to a boil on the stove top. I never measure but you use more brown sugar than ketchup. Its a little runny….after the meatloaf has baked for an hour I pour the topping on and bake about 15 minutes more.
Let me know what you think : )
yummy!! Can’t wait to try it!! Thanks for sharing it with us!
Just made this and eating it with mashed potatoes (followed your mashed potato recipe). Everything is yummy! Thanks.. Its juicy and delicious…