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.
Excellent! Keeper recipe
Bursting with flavor! Tender and my new favorite turkey meatloaf recipe!
Best meatloaf recipe ever, and I’ve tried a lot. Better than beef meatloaf too. Love I don’t have to cut up any onions. Thanks for a great recipe!
What a great compliment! Happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe so much, Anita :)
Family favorite
I think the worcestershire sauce makes all the difference here! This meatloaf is delicious. Thanks for the recipe!
You are so welcome, Liane! Glad to hear you enjoyed it :)
Okay despite being on the verge of sounding like one of those buttheads who replace an entire recipe, this is now my favorite and I’ve even started to crave it.
I add in a little minced garlic from a jar, plus a squirt of honey mustard to the batch, and it’s amazing. (I’ve also added in dried chives before, also A+).
Bookmarked and someday i’ll find the time to add it to my recipe box!
So happy to hear you love the recipe so much, Ella! The honey mustard sounds like a delicious addition :)
I had to make this as soon as I saw it! It was so easy and turned out amazing for dinner. Thank you!
I’m so happy to hear you loved it, Jessica!
Wow, all three of my kids loved this!! That’s pretty rare so I am thankful!
What a success! Glad it was a hit with your family, Shari :)
Good. Now I need to know how to best reheat it, and if it can be freezed bc my family is small.
This dish makes a great freezer meal. Simply mix the meat and form the mixture into a loaf shape (or in a loaf pan) and cover tightly with plastic wrap. If you don’t have a big crowd to feed you could even make smaller loaves and freeze half for later. Then store in freezer for up to 3 months. Let thaw in fridge overnight when ready to enjoy. Then coat with sauce and bake according to directions.
U used half of a 16oz package of organic ground turkey 90%lean 1/2 of egg added salt pepper garlic powder onion powder and cinnamon for a fall taste added 1/4 cup of rice and a dash of Worcestershire sauce to the meat made it mashed sweet potatoes for side turned out so flavorful up l and moist. I’m only cooking for 2people so sometimes it get tricky with recipes.im not big on left overs so for me this was good. Thank u for sharing we enjoyed and thank u for all the tips they helped a lot to
First line of my post was suppose to be we not u sorry for the typo
So glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe, Lisa :)
This was so yum! I made the sauce with 1/2 ketchup and 1/2 Annie’s Sweet and Spicy BBQ sauce, so it gave it a little kick. So good! Super moist meatloaf. I hadn’t made meatloaf in years and now with this recipe I will be adding it to the rotation! I served it with roasted sweet potato and green beans :)
Sounds so delicious! Glad to hear you’ll be adding it to your dinner rotation, Brenda :)
Had defrost th Ground Turkey (1 lb) beforehand, planning to make my usual, Burgers… However, wanting to try a recipe outside that ‘norm’, my GOOGLE search began…
Voila! This recipe caught my eye… Having everything on hand, I whisked, stirred, mixed, and a Delicious & Light Turkey Meatloaf.
Thank you for sharing this easy and quick dish, which was served with Rice and Mixed Veggies..
Definitely saving for future dinners..
So glad you gave it a shot and loved it! Sounds delicious with rice and veggies. Thanks for your comment and review Kymmi :)
I so freaking good!!! I didn’t have beef broth so I used chicken broth and it was awesome! Will definitely make again
Yay! Glad to hear you loved it, Ann Marie :)
Thank you so much for this turkey meatloaf recipe. I have tried so many and they never come out good this was so moist, flavorful, and just delicious! The sauce on top gave it an extra kick 9 and 13 year old picky eater approved!
So happy to hear it was such a success! Thanks for your nice comment and review, Charlotte :)
I am making this for the first time but I might have over mixed it. I wasn’t sure all the ingredients was well mixed.
Hopefully it still tasted delicious! Overmixing will cause the meatloaf to not be as tender, but the flavor should still taste great.
Great recipe!! Is the nutrition facts for the whole thing or one serving?
One serving :) (there are 8 servings per loaf)
Can I freeze after cooking? I didn’t think about cutting it in half and freezing until after it was cooked.
Yes you can freeze after it is cooked. Just allow to cool and them wrap in foil. When ready to eat, defrost in the fridge before reheating.
This is an excellent recipe. I was a dietary cook for years. Thank you for the recipe.
So happy to hear you enjoyed it, Beverly :)
It turned out great I’ll make it again and again an again !
Yay! So glad it was such a success :)