Turkey Quinoa Meatloaf

Ground turkey has become my new ground beef and ground pork. It comes in a 4 pack at Costco, it’s relatively inexpensive (less than $4/lb at the time of writing), and it is way less greasy than its beef or pork counterparts. Have you ever cleaned your pans and dishes with a new sponge after cooking with either of those meats? I just imagine that same gross thick fat getting stuck in my arteries, eek.

But the best part of all is how crazy versatile ground turkey is. I don’t miss the flavor of beef or pork at all and it makes such a nice light palette for other seasonings, whether they are Asian, Mexican, American, Italian… you name it. My favorite ground turkey dishes include Thai Basil Chicken (Turkey), Asian Lettuce Wraps, Good Old Jarred Marinara with Meat Sauce, and this recipe.

I have tweaked this recipe to accommodate my usual cooking atmosphere: scramble to put something on the table for my starving children. Today I think I whipped up a batch in 10 minutes prep time and 20 minutes cooking. You are impressed, are you not?? A few pro tips:

• Precook the quinoa and freeze them into batches in sandwich bags. That way you throw them in on top of your sautéed onions/garlic to cool them down and defrost the quinoa at the same time, before dumping into the raw turkey.
• Form the meatloafs into short mini loafs on a sheet pan. This recipe I can divide into 4 flat one inch tall rectangles.
• Cook at a high temp like 400 degrees to cook the meatloaf through and thicken/glaze up the ketchup topping at the same time.
• If you want to give a slight change to the meatloaf try mixing in some bbq sauce into your ketchup topping. I am a purist myself, preferring (lots of) ketchup only, but my kids did enjoy the smokiness of the bbq sauce mixed in.

Serve with baked potatoes, rice, air fried broccoli or cauliflower, spinach, cucumbers, on top a salad, or whatever you fancy. I bet you it would also make an awesome sandwich with sourdough or Hawaiian bread? Or garlic toast. Mmm.

Did your family notice the quinoa in place of bread crumbs? I used to eat beef meatloaf with green peppers and bread crumbs but now I can’t imagine anything but my quinoa turkey meatloaf. Comment below to let me know how it turned out!

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Turkey Quinoa Meatloaf

Recipe by: This ABC Mom. https://thisabcmom.com

Prep Time: 30 minutes mins

Cook Time: 45 minutes mins

Servings: 4

Course: Main Course

Ingredients

Cooked Quinoa:

• 1/4 cup quinoa
• 1/2 cup water

Meat:

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 large clove garlic, chopped
• 1 package ground turkey (20 oz)
• 2 tbsp ketchup
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Topping:

• 2 tbsp ketchup
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Instructions

• Bring the quinoa and water to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender, and the water has been absorbed, about 15 to 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.
• Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute; remove from heat to cool.
• Stir the turkey, cooked quinoa, onions, ketchup, Worcestershire, egg, salt, and pepper in a large bowl until well combined. The mixture will be very moist. Shape into a loaf on a foil lined baking sheet. Combine the ketchup and Worcestershire in a small bowl. Rub the paste over the top of the meatloaf.
• Bake in the preheated oven until no longer pink in the center, about 50 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 160 degrees F (70 degrees C). Let the meatloaf cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.