It is funny, when I think of making a meatloaf it makes me think of my dad. Especially when I want to make the Tomato Sauce to go with it. He has been making meatloaf with tomato sauce for as long as I can remember. He doesn’t cook too much but this is definitely one of his specialties! He still gets so in to cooking this dish too. I had to ask him one day just how he makes it. His sauce is very simple. It is just chopped green pepper, white onion and a can of condensed tomato soup and some water. He will cook it on the stove for hours! I have to admit, his sauce is actually very tasty. But, as I always do, I like to come up with my own version of recipes. So I started thinking of how I could turn this into my own version.
I have offered to make him meatloaf and sauce a few times now. I will pack up a bunch of dinners for him to simply reheat during the week. I decided that I wanted to tweak the sauce a bit using some ingredients that I love. My version of this, I use ground Turkey instead of Beef for a lighter version of the meatloaf. My meatloaf is loaded with flavor too. My dad doesn’t really add anything to his ground beef. For the sauce, I use my favorite “Hunts” “Fire Roasted Tomatoes” which I absolutely love and have incorporated into so many of my recipes. You will always find several cans of these tomatoes in my pantry at all times. I kept the green peppers and onions in the sauce. I made just enough changes to this to kick it up a notch from his original version.
My son asked if he could help me out in the kitchen to make this recipe/dinner. I said “of course”!! I love it when my kids want to help, especially when it comes to cooking. He is really having fun with cooking these days. I must admit, he is pretty good at it too. I believe they eat better when they help to plan and make the meal. They sure loved eating this dinner; they were raving about how good it was. Bonus for me, I get help in the kitchen and they eat their meal with no begging from me!! I will take that any day!
Check it out and give it a try. It is so delicious.
Turkey Meatloaf w/Tomato Sauce
Makes approx. 5-6 servings
Ingredients
1.33 lbs., Ground Turkey
2 Eggs
1/3 Cup, Panko Breadcrumbs
1/3 Cup, Italian Breadcrumbs
1 Teaspoon, Garlic Powder
1/4 Cup, Mushrooms, sauteed and pureed
S&P
2 Tablespoons, Fresh Parsley, chopped
1/2 Cup, Ketchup
Tomato Sauce:
1 Tablespoon, Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon, Butter, unsalted
1 Green Pepper, chopped
1/2 Large, White Onion, chopped
1 (14.5 oz.) Can, Fire Roasted Tomatoes, chopped or pureed
1/2 (10.75 oz) Can, Condensed Mushroom Soup
S&P
1/4 Cup, Chicken Broth
Instructions
Turkey Meatloaf with Tomato Sauce
Preheat oven to 375 Degrees. Spray a baking sheet and set aside.
Make the sauce: in a small saucepan, place on stove over Medium-high heat. Add Olive oil and butter. Add the pepper and onion and saute until they become soft and onions are translucent. In a food processor, add the fire roasted tomatoes and chop/puree. Transfer tomatoes to the sauce pan along with the condensed mushroom soup and stir well. Add the chicken broth and stir. Season with S&P and let simmer until meatloaf is ready to serve.
In a bowl, add the turkey, eggs, breadcrumbs, mushrooms, S&P, garlic powder, fresh parsley and mix until all ingredients are combined. Transfer the meat to a baking sheet. Using your hands form it into a meatloaf. Try to make it uniform in size to ensure even cooking.
Tomato Sauce for Meatloaf
Place the ketchup on the top of the meatloaf. Using the back of a larger spoon, spread the ketchup to cover the entire top of the meatloaf. You can also have some ketchup going down the sides of the meatloaf if you like.
Bake in the oven for approx. 20-30 minutes or until the meatloaf reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Remove from the oven and cover with foil for a few minutes.
Slice and place meatloaf on a platter. Add a small cup of the Tomato Sauce to serve with the meatloaf.
Mangia! Enjoy!
My Turkey Meatloaf is great paired with a side dish of Potatoes.
Check out my recipe here: Scalloped Potatoes
For the mushrooms, I happened to have leftover mushrooms from my Chicken Marsala that I made. I put that mushroom mixture into my food processor and pureed them for the meatloaf. Great thing, I didn’t even have to heat them up. They had amazing flavor from the Marsala Wine they were cooked in. You can easily slice & saute the mushrooms first in some oil/butter and add a splash of Marsala Wine if you have it on hand. Season w/S&P once they are a nice golden brown color. Then transfer them to your food processor. If you like the mushrooms to be bigger you can simply chop & saute them and then put them in meatloaf. I like to puree them so my kids don’t give me a hard time! do whatever is easiest for you and whatever you like best. Plus, this is a great way to use up leftovers!