Turkey meatloaf

Turkey meatloaf is a favorite around here. It's so easy to make, it's wonderful as leftovers, it's a treat of a dish :-)

I use Red Sox Daddy's sister's recipe (if I recall correctly I refer to her in this blog as Ruby Slippers :-), modifying it to make it GFCF. I also tweaked my method a few years ago to start baking it on a cookie sheet/roasting pan rather than in a loaf pan. (I line the sheet with parchment paper and this makes for a much easier clean up!)


One of the mods is that you need GF breadcrumbs. This is the kind of thing that used to send me into a tizzy which inevitably ended with my feeling sad because GF breadcrumbs just seemed impossible.

It isn't.

We usually have some bread ends kept in a bag in the back of the fridge (store bought GFCF bread keeps a remarkably long time in the fridge). I'm the only one in the family who will eat bread ends as a matter of course so there is always stale bread ends to be had.

Trader Joe's GFCF French bread rolls make excellent bread crumbs, too. (The rolls can be kept in the freezer, they will defrost in about an hour on the counter.)

I break apart whatever GFCF bread I am using and toss the pieces into my mini-food processor. I like to add dried basil and oregano for that "Italian" je ne sais quoi :-)

Process, and you have GFCF bread crumbs. (BTW, these are awesome tossed onto pasta and sauteed in olive oil and seasoned with the seasonings of your choice. Serious comfort food.)


Sorry to those grossed out by a shot of raw meat. But, I wanted to give you a visual of the loaf pan-less loaf before it goes into the oven.

Yum, yum, yum. This was a particularly photogenic and delicious meatloaf.

Ruby Slippers' Meatloaf

1 lb. ground meat (we use dark turkey meat)
small onion (I use dried minced onion)
pepper (as in green...we stopped putting this in when we started making it for the kids)
2 eggs
ketchup (1 cup or so and a bit on top...I never put it on top anymore)
bread crumbs (Italian seasoned)

Bake in ungreased loaf pan for 45 minutes at 375º (it's the same on the cookie sheet).

I wing the measurements when I make meatloaf. Tonight, I was using almost 2 lbs. of meat. I used about a rounded teaspoon of dried minced onion, 3 eggs, maybe 3/4 cup ketchup and nearly 2 cups of breadcrumbs.

Also, I season the meat liberally before adding any of the other ingredients. I use salt, pepper (as in black) and garlic powder.