For the past year or so I’ve been working on the side making step by step photo tutorials for Food.com. Ever since I made this basic meatloaf tutorial, I’ve wanted to make it again and again. I always feel bad for meatloaf because I don’t think its reputation lives up to just how comforting, filling, and delicious it is. Meatloaf may not be pretty, but it’s pretty damn good. And that’s just basic meatloaf. When you go and add all sorts of goodies, like in these Mini Garden Turkey Loaves, it gets even better.
Because even ground meat is super expensive these days, I decided to use my favorite “meat extending” trick for this meatloaf. I like to add equal parts shredded vegetables, beans, or lentils to double the volume of ground meat without doubling the price (see Sloppy Joes Plus). Vegetables, beans, and lentils are not only less expensive than meat, but they also add a considerable amount of flavor, fiber, and other nutrients to the mix. For these Mini Garden Turkey Loaves, I went the vegetable route, and added a medley of sautéed onion, garlic, carrots, zucchini, and mushrooms. SO much flavor!
I also opted to make this loaf into single serving sized muffins instead of a whole loaf. Why? A) Automatic portion control and B) they bake faster. One of the only things I dislike about normal meatloaf is that it takes so long to bake. Breaking it up into smaller pieces helps it bake in about half the time. The only down side is that unlike baking it open on a sheet pan, the little muffin tins hold in the juices and that can make them extra moist and delicate. Extra moisture is great for flavor, but bad for keeping them in one piece. So, we just have to be extra careful and cook out most of the vegetable moisture beforehand. As long as you make sure to do that, you’ll have tasty little garden turkey loaves that you can keep in the freezer for a quick re-heatable dinner later. Win!
See this recipe used in my weekly meal prep.
Mini Garden Turkey Loaves
Servings 6 (2 mini loaves each)Ingredients
LOAVES
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 1 small onion ($0.36)
- 1 clove garlic ($0.16)
- 2 medium carrots ($0.27)
- 1 small zucchini ($0.73)
- 8 oz button mushrooms ($1.79)
- 3/4 tsp salt ($0.05)
- Freshly cracked pepper ($0.05)
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce ($0.06)
- 1/4 cup ketchup ($0.20)
- 1 large egg ($0.18)
- 3/4 cup plain breadcrumbs ($0.36)
- 19 oz package ground turkey 93% lean* ($4.59)
GLAZE
- 1/2 cup ketchup ($0.41)
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar ($0.03)
- 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar ($0.12)
Instructions
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Sauté both in a large skillet with 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat until soft and transparent. Peel the carrots, then use a large holed cheese grater to shred them into the skillet. Cut the ends off the zucchini and shred it into the skillet as well. Continue to sauté over medium heat.
- While the onion, garlic, carrots, and zucchini are sautéing, roughly chop the mushrooms. Add the mushrooms to the skillet and season with 3/4 tsp salt and a generous dose of freshly cracked pepper. Continue to sauté the vegetables over medium heat until they release all of their moisture and it has evaporated from the bottom of the skillet (there should be no juices pooling on the bottom of the skillet).
- After the vegetables have sautéed and are mostly dry, transfer them to a bowl and let them cool for 5-10 minutes. Begin to preheat the oven to 375 degrees and coat the wells of a muffin tin with non-stick spray.
- Once the vegetables have cooled some, add the Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, egg, and breadcrumbs to the bowl. Mix these ingredients well until they are evenly combined. Add the ground turkey and use your hands to gently mix it into the vegetable mixture. Try to avoid over mixing.
- Evenly divide the meat mixture between the 12 cups of a muffin tin. Bake the mini loaves in the preheated 375 degree oven for 30 minutes.
- While the loaves are baking, mix the tomato glaze. Combine the ketchup, brown sugar, and apple cider vinegar in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Once the loaves have baked for 15 minutes, spoon the glaze over the muffins and let them bake with the glaze for the remaining 15 minutes.
- Allow the loaves to rest for 5 to 10 minutes before carefully running a knife around their outer edges and lifting out of the tin with a fork. The rest time will help solidify the loaves and keep them in one piece.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
Step by Step Photos
Start with this mix of vegetables: one small onion, one clove of garlic, two carrots, one small zucchini, and an 8 oz. package of mushrooms. I bought these baby portobellos because they were on sale for $1.79, but white button mushrooms, which are generally less expensive than portobellos, would do just as well.
Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Begin to sauté them in a large skillet with 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Sauté them until the onion are soft and transparent.
Peel the two carrots, then use a large holed cheese grater to grate them right into the skillet. Cut the ends from the zucchini, then grate it into the skillet as well. Continue to sauté the vegetables over medium heat.
Roughly chop the mushrooms into small-ish pieces. Smaller pieces will also help the meat loaves hold together.
Add the chopped mushrooms to the skillet, then season with 3/4 tsp salt and some freshly cracked pepper. The salt will help draw the moisture out of the vegetables and you’ll begin to see it pooling on the bottom of the skillet. Keep sautéing until that moisture evaporates away and the skillet becomes dry. This is very important to keep the meat loaves holding together in one piece.
Transfer the sautéed vegetables to a large bowl and let them cool off slightly. It’s okay for them to be warm, just not so hot that they cook the egg. Once they’ve cooled a bit and stopped steaming, add 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 1/4 cup ketchup, 1 large egg, and 3/4 cup plain breadcrumbs.
Also, begin to preheat the oven to 375 degrees and coat the wells of a muffin tin with non-stick spray.
Mix all the ingredients together very, very well. This is your opportunity to get the egg and seasoning evenly distributed before adding the meat (because you don’t want to over mix the ground meat).
Finally, add a 19oz. package of 93% lean ground turkey to the bowl. If you use a higher fat content ground meat it may affect how well the loaves hold together because that fat will be trapped in the muffin tins instead of draining away like meatloaves that are cooked on a baking sheet.
Use your hands to gently mix the ground meat into the vegetable mixture until everything is even and no large chunks of ground meat remain. Divide the mixture between the 12 cups of a muffin tin. Pop the filled muffin tin in the preheated 375 degree oven and bake for 30 minutes (glaze will be added at the 15 minute mark).
While the loaves are baking, mix together the tomato glaze. Combine 1/2 cup ketchup, 2 Tbsp brown sugar, and 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar in a small bowl until smooth.
When the loaves are 15 minutes into their 30 minute baking time, pull them out and spoon the glaze over each one.
Like this. Just a little on top of each one. Then pop them back in the oven for the remaining 15 minutes of the cook time.
And after about 30 minutes of total baking, the mini garden turkey loaves will be cooked through, juicy, and delicious! Let them rest for 5-10 minutes before trying to remove them from the tin. Run a knife around the outside of each one to loosen it, then use a fork to carefully lift it out of the tin.
And then enjoy your healthier and delicious “comfort” food! (recipe for the mashed potatoes coming SOON!)
I love this recipe! I’ve made it a few times and came back to it today with the idea of making a double batch to freeze some. How would you reheat after freezing? Thank you!
I’d probably just reheat in the microwave. :)
I love these and have made them several times. They are delicious just as written.
Hello Marion an the budget bytes team:
Has anyone tried to make this into a loaf? I don’t have a muffin pan at the moment.
Julie
Hi Julie, We haven’t made it in a loaf pan, though it should work just fine. You will need to change the cooking time. The bigger the loaf the longer it needs to cook. Unfortunately, since we haven’t tested it, we can’t tell you exactly how much longer.
Thank you I’ll let you know how it works.
Thanks Julie!
Hello – can you suggest what to use for a more spicy glaze? Maybe BBQ sauce with Franks? Can you substitute BBQ for ketchup in the recipe as a whole? Thanks, Michele
Hi, Michele! I would suggest fortifying your regular ketchup with some hot sauce (like Frank’s or Sriracha) and/or a pinch of cayenne pepper. You can also find store-bought versions of “hot and spicy” ketchup or siracha ketchup to simplify things. I’m not sure if BBQ sauce would give you equally-successful results since we haven’t tested it ourselves, but I bet it could work out with some tweaking! If you do try it out, let us know how it goes! ~ Marion :)
What’s the green stuff in mashed potatoes?
Hi! It’s spinach. Check out the recipe for our mashed potatoes with spinach and feta here: https://www.budgetbytes.com/spinach-and-feta-mashed-potatoes/
These were delicious! I didn’t have any zucchini on hand, so I subbed a couple celery sticks and half a red pepper instead. I paired it with your colcannon recipe and gravy. Would make again!
We love these! We skip the muffin tin and just scoop them on a foil lines pan because cleaning it is awful.
This was super tasty. I think I will follow one reader’s advice an flash freeze them individually first then put them in a zip lock bag the glaze can get very messy. But, overall it’s a terrific recipe.
Made these before and they are great. Can I freeze JUST the chopped vegetables if I prep ahead of time? Would it be better to freeze them cooked already or raw? Ideally would like to have a few bags of veggies in the freezer to cut down on time when making these. Thank you!
I’d probably freeze just the chopped vegetables, like you mentioned, because they will get watery after thawing so you don’t want that already mixed in with your meat. You could also freeze the finished (cooked) meatloaves. :)
We make these ALL the time, and have for years. I bake up a multi-batch, then freeze them already cooked. The only tricky part is covering the glaze with parchment paper if I use zipper bags to store them in the freezer.
These are a staple in our home and among my family. The first time we made them we realized our mushrooms were a bit older than we’d thought, and omitted them, and the recipe was still perfect, so as a general rule we omit them every time now to keep the “same” flavor each time. We absolutely LOVE these little loaves! Thank you for a wonderful recipe! This is my favorite meatloaf of all time.
These are so so delicious. I may have used turkey with a higher fat content, and they are so tender and moist. I use only half the glaze and it’s perfect. Thanks for a great recipe!
My family loves these, but it takes a lot longer to make than you’d think. The prep is easy but a little time consuming.
This is a wonderful recipe, but I don’t find the prep time to be accurate. Maybe I’m slow? But it took me about 45 minutes to prep. I did have a 4 year old “helping” me, but it still seems off. BUT, the recipe is delicious, my family raves about it ( even the aforementioned 4 year old).
My muffin in has 6 large cups. Should I use the same cooking time?
If you make your loaves larger, they’ll probably need a longer cook time, but without testing it I can’t say exactly how long it will take. You can use a meat thermometer to make sure the inside temperature reaches 165F.
Yum! These are SO good. Do not hesitate to make them. I didn’t find them to be much more work than regular meatloaf plus you get all those extra veggies in there. Also my husband, who HATES mushrooms, loved these just as much as I did. He didn’t even mention the mushrooms. I love budget bytes so much. :)