Juicy Leftover Stuffed Turkey Meatloaf
What is meatloaf anyway but meat and bread mixed with delicious seasonings?
You’ve already got cooked turkey meat and stuffing left over from Thanksgiving right? This is great way to have one of my favorite Southern meals, and yet prolong the delicious tastes of Thanksgiving.
I make a cornbread dressing with my Thanksgiving meal, and although it really is incredible, eating it by itself for days on end gets a little old. So I came up with some great recipes to use it with some of my other Thanksgiving leftovers.
Not only do I use it in this amazing leftover “stuffed” turkey meatloaf, but also in my Leftover Stuffing and Cranberry Cookies. It doesn’t sound quite right, but I like my cornbread sweet.
With the veggies and sweet cornbread, each of these items gets just enough of both to be a delicious addition in both recipes. I’m sure I’ll come up with a few more as well.
As my shredded turkey isn’t as moist as say using raw ground hamburger or raw ground turkey meat, my Scrumptious Homemade Cornbread Dressing, and a little bit more bread crumbs, really help to sweeten it up and hold it all together to bake.
I know you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the unique dish. I even suggest tossing in some chopped cranberries or some of your leftover Homemade Cranberry Sauce.
To make this meal even better, I top it with a savory marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese.
You’ll feel like you’re having Thanksgiving dinner all over again, in a non-traditional way. I bet you that this dish will become just as much of a tradition for your family holiday as the Thanksgiving meal itself.
Enjoy the recipe!
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Ingredients
- 2 cups shredded turkey meat
- 2 cups cornbread dressing
- 1 cup bread crumbs, (or 2 bread slices)
- 1 medium yellow onion
- 3 large garlic cloves
- 2 stalks celery
- 1/4 cup parsley
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1 cup grated Parmesan
- 1/2 cup + 1/2 cup marinara sauce
- 1/2 cup cranberries, (optional)
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Prepare a loaf pan by spraying it generously with cooking spray.
- Pull out a large bowl and set it aside to add your ingredients to when they are ready.
- On a cutting board, pull out your leftover turkey meat and shred about 2 cups finely for your meatloaf. Add it to your large bowl.
- Spoon about 2 cups of prepared cornbread dressing (See my recipe.) into your bowl as well.
- You are welcome to use canned bread crumbs, but it’s easy, healthier and better for the texture of your meatloaf to use 2 slices of bread instead. I pop them into my food processor and blend until finely chopped. Add your bread crumbs to your bowl and mix everything together thoroughly.
- On the same cutting board you previously used, chop your yellow onion. (See the video below to find an easy, tear-free way to chop an onion quickly.) Add this to your large bowl.
- On your cutting board, smash three cloves of garlic, remove the inedible skins, and then dice finely before adding them to your mixture.
- If you would rather use pre-minced garlic, 1 clove of garlic equals 1 tablespoon of pre-minced garlic. It won’t be the same as the taste is just a little bit different, but if you’d like to substitute garlic powder for garlic cloves, 1 clove of garlic is equal to 1/8 teaspoon of garlic powder.
- Now on your cutting board, wash and thinly slice 2 stalks of celery and add them to your bowl.
- As you are adding ingredients, periodically mix all of your ingredients together to ensure that each is evenly distributed throughout your mixture.
- Either chop 1/4 cup of fresh parsley, or use dried parsley, and add it to your meatloaf mixture.
- Finally add your 1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese and mix thoroughly.
- At this point, your mixture will look a little dry and you might be wondering how this is going to become a successful meatloaf. Now we are onto the wet part of the mixture.
- In a separate medium bowl, beat your 2 large eggs.
- Add your 1/4 cup of ketchup and mix until well blended.
- Finally add 1/2 cup of marinara sauce. You can use the jarred or canned variety, or you could even make your own. See my recipe for Homemade Tomato Sauce. Mix your wet ingredients thoroughly.
- Combine your two mixtures by adding your wet mixture into your dry ingredients and mixing slowly until thoroughly combined.
- If you would like, chop about 1/2 cup of cranberries and fold these into your meatloaf mixture.
- Pour your mixture into your prepared loaf pan.
- Spread your remaining 1/2 cup of marinara sauce over the top of your meatloaf.
- Sprinkle your shredded mozzarella cheese over the top.
- Pop it into the oven and bake it for about 45 minutes.
- You will want to put a cookie sheet underneath your loaf pan in the oven to catch any drips while your meatloaf is cooking. Feel free to pour off any extra grease that may develop during the cooking process before continuing cooking.
- Yummy! Yummy!
Nutritional Information
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Serving size: 1 inch slice of meatloaf | |
| Calories | 277 |
| Calories from Fat | 108 |
| % Daily Value * | |
| Fat 12 g | 18% |
| Carbohydrates 16 g | 5% |
| Fiber 1 g | 4% |
| Protein 28 g | 56% |
| Cholesterol 123 mg | 41% |
| Sodium 490 mg | 20% |
| * The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA. | |
In my Vegetable Brown Sugar Meatloaf, I normally toss in whatever vegetables I have remaining in the fridge that I need to get rid of.
It may sound strange, but the meatloaf always turns out fabulous, and no one ever knows about the vegetables hidden deep within. Of course, I do put them all in the food processor first. Lol
Why not consider tossing in some of that leftover green bean casserole with dried onions and all? I’m sure you had sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and/or a few other yummy vegetables in your big meal.
Used correctly, any of those could make this meatloaf that much better. Let your imagination go and you may discover one of the best meals you’ve ever had in your life.
Not that adventurous? There’s nothing to say that green bean casserole and sweet potatoes couldn’t be fabulous side items for your magnificent Thanksgiving meatloaf.
Need a vegetarian option? Yes for meatloaf! There are plenty of bean based “ground beef” products that you could substitute for the meat in this dish.
Load it up with all of your favorite vegetables, and voila!
And for a delicious gluten-free version . . . use whatever gluten-free stuffing you prepared for your big Thanksgiving meal.
And for any extra bread crumbs, I’ve got a delightful Gluten-Free Almond Sandwich Bread recipe that you can use to completely substitute all bread in this recipe, or just use for the extra bread crumbs.
There’s no reason that this recipe shouldn’t be enjoyed by everyone!
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© 2013 Victoria Van Ness
