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
Browse all
HUNGRY FOR MORE? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all the newest recipes!
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.
I made this meatloaf this weekend. Some of my previous ones were okay but a bit dry. This one wasn’t. My wife said this is the best one I’ve made. I think so too! Thank you for this recipe. Oh and I’m celiac so I switched out regular Worcestershire sauce for a gluten free version.
Thanks for the review! So glad to hear it ranked so high on your meatloaf list :)!
I’ve never made a turkey meatloaf but I found this recipe and it had 5 stars. Let me just say that it is every bit of 5 stars and then some. I did fresh chopped onions and garlic and sautéed them as suggested. For the topping, I made homemade bbq sauce. The meatloaf was incredible and the whole family loved it!!!
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the review.
I love this recipe. I also mix in Parmesan cheese and don’t cook the onions I chop ahead of time to leave a little crunch. Not everyone likes that, but my family lovvvves onions. Great recipe! So glad I found it. Thank you!
So glad you can make this your own with a little crunch :)! Thanks for the review!
My go too recipe, I do a tweak here in there, but it always comes out great
So glad you enjoy the meatloaf Michael!
Unbelievably delicious! The meatloaf was so moist – probably the best turkey meatloaf I’ve made. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe. :)
Thanks for the review!
I love making meatloaf soup with the leftover Meatloaf I have. I put Tomatoes corn peas potatoes whatever you like into your soup and I add a can of tomato soup if I can’t get ketchup taste or put ketchup in it cuz I love ketchup on my meatloaf
Great idea!
My family loved it!!!
I make this every two weeks or so. Everyone loves it and no one misses the beef. I do omit the worcestershire sauce (we just prefer it without) but otherwise I follow the recipe to a tee. It is the perfect turkey meatlof!
Love this!!! Turkey meatloaf has become a weekly staple in my house!! It is so moist and has great flavor!! I caramelize my onion and garlic instead of using powder. Thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the meatloaf Miriam :)
My husband loved it
Wonderful flavor. Tender.
SO yummy! I’ve made this quite a few times. Always turns out great! Question..have you made these into muffin servings? Thought that might be good, but wasn’t sure if they would turn out as well.
Yes, you can follow this recipe but sub in ground turkey :) https://www.iheartnaptime.net/meatloaf-muffins/
Hi! Could I throw the turkey mixture into a loaf pan instead of on a baking sheet? Any particular reason to do baking sheet instead?
Hi Jordan! Yes, you can cook it in a loaf pan :)
This is very good, I add chopped onions and bell pepper, now a family favorite, prefer it over ground beef!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the turkey meatloaf recipe Pat!
Needs additional spices and more of the onion and the garlic powder since turkey has no flavor in comparison to ground beef. Leftovers the day after, had a slightly better flavor after my first try making this. Will make again.
Thanks for sharing your honest review! Everyone has different preferences, so you can definitely add in more seasonings. Sometimes I like to add a teaspoon or Italian seasonings as well.
This was a big hit with my whole family. I had no idea that turkey meatloaf could turn out so juicy! It was easy to make and the flavor was great — thanks!
I couldn’t get over how moist this meatloaf was–and I used 90% lean turkey. So good!
Absolutely delicious! We did all turkey meat 93% lean with the beef broth. Even my teenager who proclaimed she didn’t like meatloaf, ate this and said she loved it. I did a half bbq and ketchup mix for the glaze. Making again tonight for the week.
Thanks for the tips Kristen! That sounds delicious! I’m happy that you and your family enjoyed the meatloaf :)