I’m continuing my quest to fill my freezer with meals to Save Time In The Kitchen. This time around, I made turkey meatloaf.
Turkey meatloaf is made with ground turkey instead of ground beef. Since it’s lower in fat and calories, it’s a healthy option to have in the freezer on nights when you don’t feel like cooking.
As with the waffles I made last week, I made a double batch of the recipe, served half for dinner and put half away in the freezer.
Since I didn’t want to tie up my loaf pans by putting them in the freezer, I bought foil loaf pans from the Dollar Store. That is the place to get foil cooking containers, by the way. A single foil loaf pan costs $2.99 in my grocery store, but the Dollar Store sold three for $1.
To freeze, I covered the turkey meatloaf with plastic wrap and tinfoil, then I wrote the date, what it is, and brief cooking instructions on the outside. Come serving day, I’ll remove it from the freezer, defrost it, and cook like normal.
Freezer Turkey Meatloaf
Note: This recipe makes 2 turkey meatloafs.
Ingredients:
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2 1/2 pounds ground turkey
3 cups minced onion
2 Tablespoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon paprika
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 carrots, minced
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2/3 cups chopped parsley
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons ketchup
2 cups bread crumbs
2/3 cup milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Pour milk and bread crumbs in a bowl and let soak. Stir in eggs.
Heat oil and garlic in a frying pan. Add onions and cook until soft. Add carrots and cook until soft. Add half the salt and half the pepper and cook, stirring. Stir in parsley and cook until soft.
Add the vegetables to the bread/milk/egg mixture.
Put the ground turkey in a big bowl. Add the bread and vegetables. Add all the other ingredients: Worcestershire sauce, salt, ½ cup ketchup, paprika, salt, and pepper.
Optional: Cook a small amount of the turkey mixture and taste it to make sure it is seasoned to your liking. Adjust accordingly.
Oil two 9X5 loaf pans. Divide turkey meat in half and put into loaf pans. Brush the top with remaining Tablespoons of ketchup.
If cooking right away, put pan in oven and cook 50-55 minutes, until a thermometer inserted into the middle of the turkey meatloaf comes out to 170 degrees.
If freezing: cover raw turkey meatloaf with plastic wrap and tin foil, label, and freeze until ready.
Freezers are WONDERFUL things, aren’t they? I try to cook extra whenever I can, freezing the rest with the date on the package. I have a side-by-side refrigerator-freezer combo, so there’s lots of shelves, and I’ve taken to keeping a “map” of what’s where (and when it was put there) on the door so I can find it quickly. But I never thought of the marvelous idea of putting the cooking instructions right on the wrapper!
Once the meatloaf is frozen you could take it out of the pan and wrap it as is, then just slip it back into the pan (or on a baking sheet) for the final cooking. Then you wouldn’t need to use foil pans; I tend to try to avoid disposable pans where possible.
Sandra, yes, freezers are awesome. Thanks for the tip of wrapping the meatloaf without a pan. I didn’t think of that. I will try to reuse the foil containers a few times, but you’re right, it’s better to avoid disposables if possible.