This recipe yields a truly moist and delicious turkey meatloaf and it’s made with 99% fat free ground turkey meat.
Ask my son about burgers and he’ll tell you his favorite burger is a turkey burger. Which is so funny to me because I hardly ever make turkey burgers! Though when I do they are delicious.
Want to save this recipe?
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
My daughter on the other hand is a big beef fan. Steak and burgers made with beef are her jam. I’d posted about a meatloaf made with beef before. A couple of recipes in fact. But I hadn’t posted a recipe for turkey meatloaf until now.
Taking two pounds of ground 99% fat free turkey meat and turning it into something edible is not quite as easy as you would think. Super lean turkey is not particularly flavorful and it tends to get very dry when cooked. But some grated onion and zucchini, plus some large curd cottage cheese did the trick. My whole family loved this meatloaf – including my daughter who is more a fan of beef than turkey.
Tips for Turkey Meatloaf:
- To brown the meatloaf on all sides (including the bottom), I layer an oven-safe cooling rack over a sheet pan.
- Use foil to line the sheet pan for easy cleanup.
- Large curd cottage cheese has a much creamier texture than small curd, making it perfect for cooking and baking.
- Be sure to use a digital thermometer like this one to check the internal temperature of the turkey meatloaf.
- Turkey is safely cooked once it reaches 165 degrees F.
Foodtastic Mom is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Any highlighted, clickable Amazon link you see is an affiliate link that I may earn advertising fees on.
Thank you so much for being a faithful reader and supporter of Foodtastic Mom. Be sure to PIN and print this recipe!
Turkey Meatloaf
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground turkey 99% fat free
- 1 sweet or yellow onion peeled and grated
- 1 small zucchini grated
- 1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs I used Kroger brand Italian seasoned Panko
- 3/4 cup large curd 4% cottage cheese
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic salt
- 1/2 tsp dried parsley
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 3/4 cup ketchup
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line a sheet pan with foil. Place an oven-safe cooling rack on top of the baking sheet. Lightly oil the cooling rack.
- In a large bowl, combine the grated onion and zucchini, bread crumbs, cottage cheese, egg, lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of salt, garlic salt, parsley and pepper. Stir with a fork to combine.
- Add the ground turkey to the bowl. Use a spatula or your hands to mix the turkey with all the other ingredients.
- Shape the meat into a loaf on a clean cutting board. Carefully transfer the meatloaf to the prepared pan.
- Bake the meatloaf for 90 minutes. Remove the meatloaf from the oven. Increase the oven temperature to 450 degrees.
- Stir together the ketchup, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar and remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
- Pour the sauce evenly over the meatloaf.
- Return the meatloaf to the oven and bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the meatloaf reaches 165 degrees F.
Colleen says
Ground turkey is a staple in my house, and we have just re-discovered meatloaf. So your recipe is perfect! It looks yummy, can’t wait to try!
foodtasticmom says
Awesome, thank you Colleen!
Adrianne says
Oh yes please, this looks do good! Haha, how funny with your son liking Turkey Burgers. I love how original and different this recipe is from what I usually make. Cheers and I am PINNING!! x
foodtasticmom says
It is so random. He’s eating me out of house and home right now with his growing. So it’s not like he’s super into health food. That’s why his specific mention of turkey burgers is so funny to me 🙂 Thank you SO much for the Pin!
Dannii says
Can you believe that I have never had meatloaf. I am loving the glaze on this.
foodtasticmom says
So you must try this meatloaf!
Emma says
I’m with your son – turkey burgers are the best!!! I’ve never tried turkey meatloaf though. Thanks for the recipe!
foodtasticmom says
You’re welcome 🙂