Lighter Ground Chicken and Turkey Meatloaf
This ground chicken and turkey meatloaf is a moist, flavorful, and lightened up meatloaf made with ground turkey, ground chicken, minced carrots, rolled oats, and thyme.
We recently updated this recipe and changed the ingredients and our husband told us that this was our favorite meatloaf that he has ever had. We like serving it with these cottage cheese mashed potatoes or these greek yogurt mashed potatoes and some maple glazed turmeric carrots and the combination is just right!
This ground chicken and turkey meatloaf is moist, savory, and tastes great! The ketchup and black strap molasses glaze that tops the meatloaf takes it to the next level. This recipe is naturally gluten-free and dairy-free as well.
What makes this recipe work
- It is a lower in fat healthier meatloaf recipe.
- It is gluten-free because rolled oats are used instead of bread crumbs.
- It is naturally dairy-free.
- It has hidden carrots inside.
- The ketchup and blackstrap molasses topping is delish!
- It is cozy comfort food at its finest! Try our simple chicken pot pie for another cozy meal.
Recipe ingredients
- ground turkey– make sure to use a regular fat ground turkey and not a low fat one. This results in a tastier loaf.
- ground chicken– this sometimes is hard to find, but should be in the poultry section at your grocery store. If you like cooking with ground chicken, try our lighter chicken burger recipe.
- carrots– these add nice flavor to the loaf.
- eggs– these bind the meatloaf together.
- rolled oats– these are used as a gluten-free breadcrumb replacment.
- tomato paste– this adds nice flavor to the loaf as well.
- mustard– this is also an simple way to add flavor to meatloaf.
- shallot and garlic-these both get cooked before being put into the meatloaf.
- thyme– this helps to add a nice flavor to the meat.
- ketchup– this is used to make the sauce that tops the meatloaf.
- blackstrap molasses– this is also used to make the sauce that tops the meatloaf.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Additions/ Substitutions
- You could use just ground turkey instead of half ground turkey and half ground chicken.
- Try this ground turkey meatloaf from Killing Thyme for an only turkey option.
- Instead of shallot, you can use white onion.
- Instead of blackstrap molasses, you could use maple syrup or brown sugar.
Step by step instructions
Step 1
Step 1: Mince the carrots, onion and garlic together in a food processor. Then cook them in a pan with olive oil for a few minutes.
Step 2
Step 2: Add the ground turkey, ground chicken, cooked carrots, cooked onion, cooked garlic, mustard, tomato paste, rolled oats, eggs, and thyme to a bowl.
Step 3
Step 3: Mix everything together in the bowl.
Step 4
Step 4: Mix the ketchup and blackstrap molasses together in a bowl.
Step 5
Step 5: Put the meatloaf mixture into a tin pan and pat down.
Step 6
Step 6: Add the molasses/ketchup sauce on top.
Step 7
Step 7: Cook for 75 minutes in the oven.
Once the meatloaf is cooked make sure to let it sit for 15 minutes. This step is important because it lets all of the juices reabsorb into the meatloaf, which makes it moist.
Recipe FAQs
What if you do not have ground chicken?If you don’t have ground chicken, you can use all ground turkey here.
Is there a lighter ketchup one can use?You can use whatever ketchup you like. We like using a healthier one, like the one from Primal Kitchen. But any ketchup that works for your dietary needs will work.
How do you store this meatloaf?Cover the loaf tin in aluminum foil and store in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Prep 10 minutesCook 1 hour 15 minutesTotal 1 hour 25 minutesMakes 8 servings
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 2 medium carrots
- 1 shallot
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup rolled oats
- 3 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 Tablespoon mustard
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1 Tablespoon blackstrap molasses
Method
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9 in x 5 in loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides so you can easily lift the meatloaf out of the pan.
- Mince the shallot, garlic, and carrots in a food processor. Put into a pan with some olive oil and cook over medium heat for 3-4 minutes.
- In a large bowl, add the ground chicken, ground turkey, and the cooked minced carrots, onions and garlic. Add the eggs, rolled oats, tomato paste, mustard, salt, pepper, and thyme to the bowl and mix.
- In a small bow, mix the ketchup and blackstrap molasses together.
- Put the meatloaf mixture into the loaf tin and evenly pat it down. Cover in the ketchup molasses mixture. Cook for 75 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let the meatloaf sit for 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
- You could use just ground turkey instead of half ground turkey and half ground chicken.
- Instead of shallot, you can use white onion.
- Instead of blackstrap molasses, you could use maple syrup or brown sugar.
