Turkey Meatloaf

by Sabrina Snyder

Published on Last updated

11 Comments

5 from 4 votes
4 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
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Italian Turkey Meatloaf that’s easy to make or meal prep with Italian herbs and spices, plenty of fresh garlic and Romano cheese.

An easy meatloaf will make a double meal for us, first for dinner and second for sandwiches. Other easy dinners we love include Slow Cooker Pot Roast and Garlic Pork Loin Roast.

Turkey MeatloafItalian Turkey Meatloaf

Meatloaf doesn’t always have to be full of delicious bacon and cheese or philly cheesesteak flavors to be delicious. You can make a simple and healthy meatloaf with turkey that screams Italian meatball flavors with just a few ingredients.

Meatloaf is an easy and delicious dinner that’s quick to put together and able to feed many people. I think of meatloafs of lazy meatballs because you get all the flavor without all the extra effort.

You can certainly use ground turkey breast or ground chicken breast for this recipe. Both the lean and regular varieties would work well, just know that using the leaner option will result in a slightly denser meatloaf as it has less fat content.

You can also swap out the breadcrumbs for instant oats if you’d like to make a gluten free option. You can also use panko breadcrumbs or fresh bread soaked in a bit more milk to help add a bit more moisture.

Meatloaf Sandwiches:

  • Use 1 ½ teaspoons of canola oil and use 1 teaspoon to sear the first side and the remaining half to sear the second side.
  • Once browned and crisp, spread a thin layer of mayo, roasted tomatoes and basil leaves onto sandwich bread before serving
  • Second Option: Sear the same way, add parmesan cheese to the skillet, put the meatloaf slice back on top and press down to cook the parmesan into the meat and brown it before adding to your sandwich.

Easy Turkey Meatloaf

Some more flavor options for this Turkey Meatloaf:

  • Personally I’m not a huge fan of rosemary, but ¼ teaspoon of dried rosemary would certainly work in the meatloaf.
  • Add some tomato/fresh marinara sauce to the top in the last fifteen minutes to brown.
  • Make a fresh basil pesto to top the meat loaf or sandwiches.

How to make Italian Turkey Meatloaf:

Make sure the turkey meat is cold and mix all the ingredients until just combined. The more you handle the turkey meat the more dense the meatloaf will be.

What to serve with Turkey Meatloaf:

Turkey meatloaf is great served with Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Rainbow Roasted Vegetables.

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Dinner, then Dessert

Turkey Meatloaf

Italian Turkey Meatloaf is diet-friendly, made with lean ground turkey breast meat, Italian herbs, garlic and Romano cheese.
Yield 4 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Course Entree
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
Turkey Meatloaf
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 1 pound ground turkey
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
  • 3 tablespoons grated Romano cheese
  • 2 cloves garlic , minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons dried basil , divided
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano , divided
  • 2 tablespoons parsley , chopped

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  • Add all the ingredients (reserve 1 teaspoon of the basil and ½ teaspoon of the oregano for the topping) to a bowl and mix until just combined.
  • Spray a loaf pan with oil spray.
  • Form the mixture into a loaf and sprinkle on the remaining herbs.
  • Cook for 45-50 minutes until the mixture is at 160 degrees when tested with a thermometer.
  • Let rest for 5 minutes before carving.

Nutrition

Calories: 190kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 30g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 112mg | Sodium: 462mg | Potassium: 389mg | Vitamin A: 280IU | Vitamin C: 3.1mg | Calcium: 79mg | Iron: 2mg
Keyword: meatloaf, Meatloaf Recipe, Turkey Meatloaf

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Turkey Meatloaf collage

Italian Turkey Meatloaf is Weight Watchers (1SP/serving) friendly, made with lean ground turkey breast meat, Italian herbs, garlic and Romano cheese.
Weight Watchers Italian Turkey Meatloaf is just 1 Freestyle Smart Point for ¼ the recipe! And so easy!

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. This has become my go-to meatloaf recipe. I make it often and we LOVE it. It has a nice Italian flavor. So glad I tried this recipe.

    Reply

  2. I made this for the family tonight and it turned out to be delicious. I used about 1/3 of the seasoning, because I didn’t want to overpower the dish, and it turned out to be pretty good. My son-in-law the chef came by as we were finishing up and had a plate of the dinner, rating the turkey meatloaf an 8 or 9 out of 10 points (a family thing). My husband loved it and that is what was important to me. I’m trying to lose weight and went with the turkey, rather than the beef meatloaf he had requested. A great recipe I will make again. Thank you.

    Reply

    1. I’m so glad you all enjoyed it and that it also got the approval of your son in law. Thanks for the 5 star rating.

      Reply