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
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!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!)
Great recipe! I’ve shared it with many friends who all rave about the recipe. I’m a vegan so I substitute the ground turkey with lentils (smashed), vegan worcestershire, and a flax seed “egg”. These are delicious!
Thanks Megan! My husband and daughter are vegetarian and I was looking for a way to make the loaf :)
One of my favourites! I make up a batch from time to time, freeze the majority and then grab a couple to reheat in the office microwave. Just the other day I found a mini-stash I’d forgotten about. Winning! Almost as satisfying is the fact I’ve had a few envious glances from colleagues peering over at my lunch choice. Love this recipe – keep em coming!
made these last night and my chef boyfriend went back for thirds. SO good! they took a little while to prepare, but that’s only because I’m a slow veggie chopper/peeler :)
Thank you for the fantastic recipes! I substituted eggplant for the mushrooms as I’m not a fan of them and the mini loaves were still delicious. :)
I have made these about a dozen times now, I have taken to potlucks and to friends in times of hardship with heaps of happy feedback asking for more. I would not change a thing, one of the best recipes that I have made from you, thank you so much!
I LOVE this recipe! I’ve made it several times with just the ingredients I’ve had on hand and it always turns out great!
Thank you for this delicious recipe. I didn’t have a zucchini so I substituted celery. I also added some poultry seasoning and substituted quick oats for the bread crumbs. I did add the extra egg to be sure the muffins would stick together.. The muffins heated up beautifully. This recipe is definitely a winner for me!
I LOVED this and so did my husband! It’s your third meal (out of 3) to go on our “Make again” list. very very delicious. I can’t wait for the leftovers. A lot easier than I thought, too!! Thanks for all your recipes!
I love this recipe! I’m not into the sweetness in most meatloaf glazes so I swapped out half the ketchup in both parts of the recipe for spicy brown mustard and nixed the brown sugar in the glaze. I also substituted tamari for Worcestershire because that’s what I had. Still great!
Man oh man, these are so delicious! I can barely tell there are cooked vegetables mixed into the meat, and the vinegar-ketchup-brown sugar glaze sends the turkey loaf over the top, it’s the perfect amount of sweet and sour. These are very tasty and so filling, and lighter in calories than an all-meat or all-beef meatloaf (I put the recipe into my fitness pal, and 2 turkey muffins as written have 289 calories). Taste amazing on top of some mashed potatoes. I might have to make a double batch next time and freeze half of it.
Delicious!!! :)
Not a fan of zucchini… can I leave it out or substitute something in its place? Please advise…
I think I’d just leave it out. :)
I did red bell pepper. Amazing flavor! Just put it in a chopper
The only thing this recipe is missing is more five star reviews.
These are the perfect size for us. One each for each meal, and it can stretch to a week’s worth of leftovers. They each work out to be really low calorie (if I remember right, around 200 calories each, if even), so having these and some veggies on the side make for a great light meal. But mashed potatoes and meatloaf is just so delicious.
I used rolled oats instead of breadcrumbs, and let them sit after mixing together for a good 10-15 minutes to soak up the egg to make it all stick together better.
Great idea about the oats! Did you use regular oats or quick cook? And did you use the same amount as you would if you used breadcrumbs?
Made this for my picky about veg kiddo, using half the zucchini, a quarter of the carrots, and it turned out great. As she gets older, she is becoming more and more accepting of veg (especially when they hide so well in this recipe).
I needed a larger pan to sauté everything down, so it took a while longer than it did have. Served these with baked potatoes and corn, and going to freeze leftovers for another night. Will definitely make them again. Thanks, Beth!
These little loaves of meat are the best thing that have ever hit my muffin pan. We thoroughly enjoyed them! I have recently returned to work after 14 years as a stay at home mom. I was ready to socialize with adults….Any who, so glad I doubled this recipe our family of four will all enjoy leftovers for lunch today. This is going to be in our meal rotation. Thank you for your hard work in helping make our lives simpler…..