Moist Turkey Meatloaf with Rosemary (2024)

This is NOTthe crumbly gross 1950’s turkey meatloaf. This is moist, succulent and savory meatloaf that melts in your mouth and leaves with feeling of nostalgia and comfort. This is my Turkey Meatloaf and it will be your new favorite after I show you how a few easy techniques and flavors can make this the superstar of your dinner.

Meatloaf. A quintessential American comfort food. Unfortunately, it is typically a dry, rock like loaf, served up for dinner as a last minute and almost a need for nostalgia. Sadly it is typically chewed up quickly and washed down with a glass of milk.

This is NOT that meatloaf.

This meatloaf…is awesome. Really…

Technique

My turkey meatloaf was born during my personal American nostalgia period. I attempted to recreate all of the American favorite food classics. Turkey meatloaf, chicken noodle soup, chicken pot pie etc. And I succeeded with all of them! However, for some reason… meatloaf took me the longest. It either crumbled too much. Or it was too dry or too moist (yes that’s possible).

I finally learned a few techniques from a catering chef who made meatloaf the way his mama taught him to perfect both the flavor and the texture.

1. Texture:I got the texture down by using a unique combination of ketchup, sour cream and bread crumbs. The sour cream acts similarly to milk in most other turkey meatloaf recipes…BUT it gives it a savory and tangy flavor component that milk just will not give you.
2. Eggs: He always left out the eggs because the sour cream and vegetable mixture bound the meat and veggies so good that no eggs were necessary.
3. Combining: I used a KitchenAid stand mixer with a paddle attachment to JUST combine the meat mixture. Just like dough or meatballs you do not want to overwork the meat. This will only tighten up the proteins in the meat. Keep it quick. Which is why the KitchenAid is so perfect for this. It combines everything very quickly and efficiently. Of course you can use your hands, but just make sure you do not over mix.
4. Flavor: I kept it simple with the classic French holy trinity of mirepoix (onions, carrots and celery). I snuck in some rosemary in there for good measure…which happened to pretty much MAKE the dish. That earthy taste of rosemary paired up with the mild tanginess of sour cream makes for a meatloaf that is truly unforgettable.
5. Glaze:I kept the glaze pretty traditional with the ketchup. But I added in a BBQ sauce in there as well. It was the perfect combo of sweet, tangy and savory.

The best part is how pretty this turkey meatloaf is when it come out of the oven. Myhubs always stands by the loaf and tears off the crusty little pieces of meat. Those are his faves. Crispy, crusty, savory goodness.

It’s a modern twist to a classic that should not be forgotten. And what better pairing to go with this thancreamy mashed potatoesand my super simple 5 minute garlic green beans.

Preheat oven to 375-degrees.

We start with throwing our carrots, onions and celery into a vitamix or a food processor. If you are using a vitamix, you are going to want to throw all your veggies in there (slice your onions and carrots in half lengthwise) and fill the container up with water until all the veggies are covered. Then pulse a few times until everything is finely chopped. You want this mixture to be fine because you do not want large chunks of vegetables in your meat loaf.

Strain the liquid out of the veggies and place to sweat in a large sautee pan, with 1 tbsp olive oil, over medium heat. You do not want caramalization, you want them to be nice and translucent. Don’t forget to season them with some salt and pepper.

In the meantime. take your rosemary and remove the leaves from the stems and chop up finely. Add to veggies.

While the veggies are getting fragrant lets get the meat going. Add in the bread crumbs to the ground turkey. By the way, add this to your stand mixer mixing bowl, because later we will be combining all the ingredients in there.

Oh and don’t forget to oil your loaf pan!

After about 15 minutes of the veggies total cooking time, go ahead and measure out your sour cream, Worcestershire sauce and ketchup.

Add it to the pan with the veggies.

Mix thoroughly to combine.

Taste and season accordingly. Remember you are also using this as the main source of seasoning and flavoring for your meat.

Add the meat and bread crumb mixture to a stand mixer along with the veggies. Mix with paddle attachment until well combined. You can also do this by hand but I find this is way easier.

Mix only enough to combine. Do NOT over mix. Take a small piece and fry it up to taste for seasoning. Season the meat as necessary.

In another bowl, combine, 1/2 a cup of ketchup and 1/3 a cup of BBQ sauce. Mix to combine.

Place your meat mixture into the loaf pan and slather the top with the BBQ and ketchup mixture. You can do so with a pastry brush. I actually had some meat leftover so I made little mini meatloafs as well 🙂

Place loaf pan onto a sheet pan covered with foil in case the meatloaf decides to bubble out a bit. Fill ANOTHER pan with high sides (a foil pan is perfectly fine) with warm water and place on the oven rack directly BELOW the rack that you will be placing the meatloaf pan onto. This ensures that your top of the meatloaf will not crack.

I always place a probe thermometer into my meatloaf so that I know when it is done. When it reaches 165-degrees your meatloaf is done…and glorious.

Here’s another tip. Let. It. Rest. Covered with foil. And if you can, cool it in the fridge and THEN slice it. You will get perfect even slices that will not fall apart when cutting. Either way, use a serrated knife to get better slices. Want to know how restaurants get such beautiful, perfect slices of everything? Sharp knives and cutting while cool. Trust me on this one…it’s kind of fool proof.

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