turkey meatloaf for skeptics

Meatloaf has a PR problem. It took me a while to come around to it; I didn’t grow up eating it, and certainly nothing about the name — a loaf, a loaf of meat — convinced me I was missing a thing. But, slowly, I have tiptoed into the light, and now I get it. It’s not cute, but it’s objectively delicious. Imagine if we only ate things that were camera-ready — it would be a world without gravy, mushroom soup, and lopsided made-with-love frosted cakes. We absolutely must not stand for that.


But I’d only made meatloaves with either ground beef or ground pork, never turkey. Turkey, which I suspected would be too dry or bland for any recipe to overcome, was the final frontier, and I tried it a whole bunch of ways before realizing that what I wanted most on top was not strips of bacon or a thick layer of ketchup, but a simple barbecue-type sauce. In the oven, it gets glossy and dark, and it goes really well with Crushed Ranch-y Potatoes (recipe follows). Unlike their mashed counterparts, crushed potatoes are full of contrasts: big and small chunks, some parts puddled with cream, some parts saltier-and that slight chaos of forkfuls plays well off the reliable, steady slices of meatloaf.

turkey meatloaf for skeptics-06

[This recipe is excerpted from my third cookbook, Smitten Kitchen Keepers. The top 5 photos were styled by Barrett Washburne, who can even make meatloaf look good.]

Podcast! The second episode of my new podcast with J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, The Recipe with Kenji and Deb, is out this week and it’s all about — yes! — meatloaf, including this one. You can listen to it anywhere you get your podcasts and I’ve set up a new podcast tab/page where you can keep up on it here, too. We will have new episodes every two Mondays. We’ve been working on this behind the scenes for the last year — I hope you enjoy listening along.

Previously

6 months ago: Corn Cacio e Pepe
1 year ago: Easy Freezer Waffles
2 year ago: Castle Breakfast
3 years ago: Rigatoni alla Vodka
4 years ago: Perfect Vegetable Lasagna
5 years ago: Bodega-Style Egg and Cheese Sandwich and Chocolate Puddle Cakes
6 years ago: Slow-Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Korean-Braised Short Ribs
7 years ago: Small-Batch Tiramisu
8 years ago: Miso Black Sesame Caramel Corn and Hot and Sour Soup
9 years ago: Oven-Braised Beef with Tomatoes and Garlic and Pecan Sticky Buns
10 years ago: Chocolate Hazelnut Linzer Hearts and Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake
11 years ago: Italian Stuffed Cabbage
12 years ago: Lasagna Bolognese
13 years ago: Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake
14 years ago: Best Cocoa Brownies and Chana Masala
15 years ago: Chocolate Whiskey and Beer Cupcakes and Crispy Black Bean Tacos with Feta and Slaw
16 years ago: Seven-Yolk Pasta Dough and Best Chocolate Pudding
17 years ago: For Beaming, Bewitching Breads

Turkey Meatloaf for Skeptics

Note: This is a small-sized meatloaf, and it works for my family of four. It doubles easily, either as two small loaves (baking time the same) or one larger, freeform loaf that will take between 60 and 70 minutes in the oven.
    Meatloaf
  • 1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, smashed
  • 1 slim carrot, roughly chopped
  • Olive oil
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 cup (30 grams) panko-style breadcrumbs
  • 1/4 cup (60 grams) chicken broth
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons tomato paste
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon (15 grams) Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 pound (455 grams) ground turkey, preferably a mix of dark and light meat, or just dark
  • Glaze
  • 1 heaped (20 grams) tablespoon ketchup
  • 1 tablespoon molasses
  • 1 tablespoon (15 grams) apple-cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon hot sauce of your choice (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Heat the oven: To 350°F (175°C).

Prepare the meatloaf: Lightly coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish or small sheet pan with nonstick spray. Very finely dice the onion, garlic, and carrot in a food processor, or by hand on a cutting board. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Once the skillet is hot, coat the bottom with olive oil, and heat it for a minute; then add the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring frequently, until they begin to brown, about 7 to 10 minutes; transfer them to a large bowl.

Add the breadcrumbs, broth, tomato paste, mustard, Worcestershire, parsley, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper, and stir to combine. Add the egg by beating it directly into the vegetable mixture (I like to use a fork). Add the turkey, and combine just until the vegetable-egg mixture is dispersed through the meat. Pat the turkey mixture into about a 4-by-8-inch shape in your prepared pan.

Make the glaze: In a small bowl, combine the glaze ingredients. Brush or spoon the glaze over the meatloaf.

Bake: Bake the meatloaf for 30 to 35 minutes, until the internal temperature is 160°F (70°C). If you don’t have a thermometer, you can insert a knife into the center and hold it there for 10 seconds. You should feel no resistance, and when you pull it out, the blade should feel hot.

Let the meatloaf rest for 5 minutes, then cut it into 1-inch slices to serve with crushed potatoes.

Crushed Ranch-y Potatoes

  • Kosher salt
  • 1 1/2 pounds (680 grams) small red or Yukon Gold potatoes
  • 1/4 cup (60 grams) heavy cream
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 3 tablespoons (45 grams) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 2 scallions, finely minced (white and green parts)
  • 1/3 cup (80 grams) sour cream
  • 2 teaspoons white vinegar
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley (or 1 tablespoon each parsley and dill)
In a large saucepan, cover the potatoes with cold salted water, and bring to a simmer. Cook, simmering, until the potatoes are fork-tender, about 20 minutes. Drain. You can keep the potatoes warm until they’re needed by letting them rest in the empty pot off the heat, covered with a lid, then transfer to a bowl when you’re ready to finish them.

In your emptied saucepan, heat the cream and garlic together until simmering. Keep a close eye on it to make sure it doesn’t boil over. Remove the pan from the heat, and whisk in the butter until it melts. Stir in the scallions, sour cream, and vinegar. Season well with salt (I use up to 1 teaspoon kosher salt here) and black pepper.

In a large bowl, use a fork or potato masher to smash each potato once or twice, but leave them mostly in craggy chunks. Pour the cream-garlic mixture over them, add the herbs, then season again with salt and several grinds of black pepper, and combine everything with two big folded stirs. I like these best with some pockets of the garlic cream not mixed in. Serve hot, with the meatloaf.

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