This family favorite turkey meatloaf is a lighter spin on a classic comfort food made with lean protein. This ground turkey meatloaf is flavorful, juicy and impresses any skeptics!
Best Turkey Meatloaf Recipe
Whenever I’m looking to lighten up ground beef meatloaf, I’ll make this turkey meatloaf recipe. It’s now become a staple in our house and is a favorite healthy dinner idea, sometimes I even make it crockpot turkey meatloaf in the slow cooker.
Substituting ground turkey for beef makes this turkey meatloaf leaner without sacrificing taste just like in this turkey sloppy joe recipe! It’s juicy and flavorful and you can lighten it up a bit more by using half the amount of the meatloaf sauce.
Key Ingredients
- Ground turkey: I love to use a lean ground turkey, which doesn’t produce a lot of grease. Do not use shredded turkey, it won’t work.
- Breadcrumbs: This will help bind the meat together. You can make your own homemade breadcrumbs if you’d like or use almond meal or rolled oats to keep it gluten free.
- Egg: This will also help to bind the mix together.
- Seasonings: Don’t skimp on the seasonings, these will bring all the flavors together.
- Sauce: For the sauce, I like to do a mix of ketchup and BBQ sauce. It adds the perfect flavor. If you like it sweeter add some brown sugar.
How To Make Turkey Meatloaf
- Mix. Combine the meatloaf ingredients in a large bowl and mix just until combined. Be careful not to over mix or the meat won’t be as tender.
- Combine. Mix together sauce ingredients.
- Form and coat. Place mixture on a rimmed baking sheet lined with aluminum foil or a 9×5″ loaf pan. Shape into a loaf on top of a baking sheet. Pour sauce on top of meat.
- Bake. Bake in the oven at 375°F for about 45 minutes, or until center reaches 160°F on a meat thermometer. Let rest on pan for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing.
Meatloaf Tips and Variations
- Do not over stir the meat, as overworked meat will not be as tender.
- If your family is not used to ground turkey, I would start with half ground turkey and half ground beef. This is how I converted my kids.
- If you’d like a little bit of a kick, add hot sauce, sriracha sauce or red pepper flakes to the meat or sauce.
- You may substitute fresh onion and garlic (1/2 cup onion, 4 garlic cloves minced), however make sure to sauté them with a little olive oil before adding to the meat.
- Turn this into mini meatloaf muffins by pressing the meat mixture into cupcake tins. You could also make smaller loaves and bake for 25-30 minutes.
- Double the recipe by doubling all the ingredients and then forming it into two loaves.
- The best way to tell when turkey meatloaf is done is to insert an instant read thermometer into the center. It should read 160°F and no longer be pink.
Favorite Sides To Serve Alongside
This really is the best turkey meatloaf recipe! We love to serve it with scalloped potatoes or try turning it into a one pan meal by making sheet pan meatloaf!
Freezer Instructions
Ground turkey meatloaf makes a great freezer meal. Mix the meat and form the mixture into a loaf shape (or in a loaf pan) and cover tightly with plastic wrap. You could even make smaller loaves and freeze half for later.
Store in freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw in fridge overnight when ready to enjoy, then coat with sauce and bake according to directions.
Looking for more meatloaf recipes? Try this BBQ meatloaf recipe, mozzarella stuffed meatloaf or sheet pan meatloaf!
More Ground Turkey Recipes
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Turkey Meatloaf
Video
Ingredients
Meatloaf:
- 2 pounds 90% lean ground turkey , or 1 pound ground beef and 1 pound ground turkey
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup whole milk , or beef broth, plus more as needed
- 2 large eggs , whisked
- 2-3 Tablespoons fresh parsley , or 2 teaspoons dried parsley
- 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 Tablespoons ketchup
- 1 ¼ teaspoons Kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
Sauce:
- ½ cup ketchup or BBQ sauce , I like to mix half and half
- 2 Tablespoons light brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet or 9×5-inch loaf pan with foil. Lightly spray with nonstick spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix the turkey, breadcrumbs, milk, eggs, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder until combined. Don't overmix or the meat won't be as tender.
- Form the mixture into a loaf shape on the baking sheet. In a small bowl, mix together the ketchup and/or BBQ sauce and brown sugar. Pour over the top of the meatloaf. Add pepper on top, if desired.
- Bake meatloaf 45 to 55 minutes, or until the center reaches 160°F. Allow to rest 5 to 10 minutes before slicing into 8 to 10 slices.
Notes
- You may substitute fresh onion and garlic (1/2 cup onion, 4 garlic cloves minced), however, make sure to sauté them with a little olive oil before adding to the meat.
- If you prefer a little heat, add in a pinch of red pepper flakes to the meat or a few dashes of chili sauce or sriracha to the meatloaf sauce.
- If you want to make this gluten free, use gluten free bread crumbs or old fashioned oats.
- If you prefer your meatloaf extra saucy, you can always mix up another batch and brush more on the last 10 minutes of cooking or use it for dipping.
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Categorized as: American, Dinner, Freezer-Friendly, Freezer-Friendly, Reader Favorites
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook and shares easy family-friendly recipes and desserts for every occasion.
This meatloaf was so delicious 😋! Had sweet potato and green beans. I subbed oatmeal for bread crumbs and for the sauce, maple syrup for brown sugar. Combined the ketchup with Sweet Baby Rays barbecue sauce. Will definitely be making this again!
Sounds delicious! Happy to hear your substitutions were successful :)
Yes, everyone loved it! I should have doubled the recipe though, my son and granddaughter gobbled it up and wanted more, more. Made it with mashed potatoes and green beans. Thank you!
So glad it was such a hit with your family, Judy!
Everyone loved it!!!
So happy that I tried this recipe. Very easy to make, and my family loved it! Thanks! Served it with Green Beans, Seasoned Mashed Potatoes, a Caesar Salad and Rosemary Sourdough.
Mmm sounds delicious! Glad to hear your family loved it, Kathleen :)
Thank you for this recipe! My boyfriend and I were in heaven last night eating this with mashed potatoes and veggies. I will definitely be making this a regular meal for us :)
So happy to hear it was such a hit with you guys! Thanks for your comment and review, Emily :)
My husband and I loved this recipe! We like our food a tiny bit more spicy so the only thing I changed was to add a few dashes of hot sauce, some red pepper flakes and a clove of minced garlic. I also made my own recipe for a more spicy than sweet BBQ sauce. I’m so grateful that you posted this recipe! It was simple to make and absolutely delicious! Thank you!
You are so welcome, Staci! Glad to hear you both loved the recipe :) A spicy BBQ sauce sounds so delicious!
This recipe is so good! The only tweaking I did was substituted A-1 for the ketchup & w sauce that I can’t pronounce & it came out bomb.
Thank you for sharing this recipe
Great substitution! Thanks for sharing!
Can this recipe be cut in half? If I only have 1 lb of turkey? There’s only 2 of us anyway lol
Yes it can be cut in half. It may take a little les time to watch, so check it about 5-10 minutes early.
This came out really good, thank you for sharing! Meat was flavorful and tender. Glaze was delicious. I used all turkey, sautéed onions and garlic and added red pepper flakes to the meat mixture. This is now my go-to meatloaf recipe!
Glad you loved it Dee! Thanks for the comment and review.
This was amazing. Can you tell me the portion size the nutrition information is based on? Thank you!
1/8th of the meatloaf. I typically cut it in half and then cut each half again. Then it’s easier to cut 8 even slices :)
My husband loved this recipe !!!
So gald you loved it, Amanda!
This was absolutely delicious!! I did full turkey, dried parsley, and fresh onions and garlic (sautéed first – that’s a game changer for me!). My husband, who doesn’t really like meatloaf but eats it anyway when I make it, says it’s the best meatloaf I’ve ever made. So glad I found this one! Thanks for sharing!
This makes me so happy to hear! Glad it was a success for you both! Thanks for your comment and review, Erika :)
Easy and delicious. Made it half beef and half turkey. Next time I’ll take the time to chop up onion and garlic.
We love doing half beef and half turkey as well!
Absolutely delicious!! Had no panko, used reg unseasoned bread crumbs! Did half BBQ half ketchup! Really good!!
Easy and delicous Thank you.
I made it tonight all turkey, first time. I substituted Italian bread crumbs instead of panko, other than that I followed the recipe and it was delicious!!!!
So glad to hear! Thanks for your review Elsa :)
This recipe was fabulous! I haven’t had meatloaf in years and this was exactly what I was looking for. The only thing we did differently was 2% milk instead of whole.
It’s so delicious you’ll go back for more!
So glad to hear! Thanks for your review Cate :)
We really liked your recipe and will be making this more often as we love meatloaf, but are trying to eat healthier.
So glad you enjoyed the meatloaf :)
Can I substitute with ground chicken?
Yes you can also use ground chicken. It may be a little harder to form and keep shape though, since ground chicken is a little more tender.
I made this tonight on a whim lol half turkey half beef w mashed potatoes. It came out perfectly! This is a keeper for my family
We love doing half turkey and half beed as well. Glad it came out perfectly! :D