This is not your mama’s meatloaf. That is, unless your mother formerly went by Frank and now wears a women’s size-12 stiletto and has a kaboodle full of foundation and eye liner.
This recipe began by taking our turkey burger recipe and in a bout of extreme laziness, I just made it a loaf instead of patties and threw it in the oven. Since then, it’s evolved and we’ve added, tweaked and forgotten ingredients until we landed on this particular concoction. And you’ll be damn glad we did.
Although it requires a tiny bit more prep and chop work on the front end, the back end is so effortless. So much I could say here.
And let’s talk about the sauce… We are not cooking cafeteria slop meatloaf here, so we aren’t going to defile it by squirting ketchup all over the top. However, this sauce isn’t much more difficult than that.
Unlike your neighbor Amy’s morning makeup ritual, sometimes simplicity delivers greater rewards.
serves 4-6
Meatloaf:
- 2 pounds ground turkey
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 cup fresh spinach, loosely packed and chopped
- 1 cup white mushrooms, chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
- 1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 large eggs, beaten
Sauce:
- 1 1/2 cups marinara sauce (maybe rio’s marinara sauce!)
- 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix evenly with a pastry cutter or your hands.
Form into a loaf on a large cookie sheet. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the internal temperature of the meatloaf reaches 165 degrees.
Whisk sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Spoon a generous amount of sauce, about 1/4 cup, to cover the meatloaf. Bake for an additional 3 minutes. Reserve the remaining sauce for serving.
Remove meatloaf from oven and let stand for 10 minutes before slicing.
Haha! Thank you so much for reminding me of the kaboodle. Hardest decision as a young girl… Trying to decide whether to adorn it with Lisa Frank or Hello Kitty stickers. Can’t wait to try this meatloaf- thanks!
I made this turkey meatloaf tonight for dinner. It was amazing! Didn’t have time or energy for Rio’s sauce, but it sounds wonderful and I’ll add it next time! I can’t say my finished product looked as pretty as yours, but I love all the step by step pictures! Love love love this blog, can’t wait to try something else soon!