Turkey Meatloaf

I have always shied away from ground turkey because I love beef so much.  However after a recent expedition to Sam's Club on an empty stomach and with money burning a hole in my pocket, all of a sudden I had 5 lbs of ground turkey on my hands that I needed to use.  What do you do with a lot of ground meat you need to get rid of?   Make meatloaf.  I found an Ina Garten recipe for turkey meatloaf that to my surprise ended up being just as tasty as the beef meatloaf that I'm accustomed to with the added bonus of having less saturated fat!  After a bit of tweaking things that didn't work for me I ended up with this.

Recipe below.

You will need:  ground turkey, onion, eggs, fresh breadcrumbs, hot sauce (optional), worcestershire sauce, ketchup, tomato paste (missing in this pic) olive oil, salt, thyme, and black pepper, water or chicken broth (also missing)

Chop onion.

Saute onion in olive oil until it starts to become translucent.

Add thyme, black pepper, salt, water or chicken broth, and worcestershire sauce

Cook mixture down until it looks like this.  Cool to room temperature (If you're in a hurry toss the pan outdoors for a few minutes if it's freezing outside like it is here right now)

Throw everything together in a mixing bowl.

Mix.  (I used an electric mixer because I'm lazy.  Feel free to use your hands...or whatever)

Form meat mixture into a ball and divide in half

Shape mixture into loaves.  (It helps to wet your hands first so that the meat doesn't stick to them).

Mix ketchup and 1 T worcestershire sauce (and hot sauce, if it suits you.  It suits me.)

Spread sauce evenly on meatloaves.  Bake at 325 degrees at normal altitude for 90 minutes or 325 degrees for 45 minutes then 350 degrees for the remaining 45 minutes if you live at high altitude like I do.

Internal temperature should hit 160 degrees.   I made a mistake and set the oven to 375 degrees, resulting in 180 degree, dry meatloaf after 90 minutes.  Oops!

Meatloaf:  the ultimate comfort food.  (It was still good, despite coming out drier than I would like.  In fact the higher heat added some nice caramelization to the sauce.  Still, next time I'll pay closer attention to the temperature and do it right).

Turkey Meatloaf

1 1/2 cups chopped onions (about 1 onion)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (1/4 teaspoon dried)
3 T Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup water or chicken stock
1 tablespoon tomato paste or ketchup
2 1/2 pounds ground turkey breast
3/4 cup plain dry bread crumbs (for the love of God, make your own...canned breadcrumbs are horrid)
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon hot sauce (optional)

3/4 cup ketchup mixed with 1 T Worcestershire sauce (and a generous squirt of hot sauce, if you like spicy)

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (raise temperature to 350 halfway through cooking if you are at high altitude).

In a medium saute pan, over medium-low heat, cook the onions, olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme until translucent, but not browned, approximately 15 minutes. Add the Worcestershire sauce and chicken stock or water, and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Combine the ground turkey, bread crumbs, eggs, and onion mixture in a large bowl. Mix well and shape into loaves on an ungreased pan. Spread the ketchup mixture evenly on top. Bake for 1 1/2 hours until the internal temperature is at least 160 degrees F. and the meatloaf is cooked through.

NOTE:  I live at 7,000 feet. Cooking times are approximate.  If you live at lower altitude, adjust accordingly.

Adapted from Ina Garten's Turkey Meatloaf recipe