This turkey meatloaf combines turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce to make a meatloaf that eats like Thanksgiving dinner. And the best part just might be turkey meatloaf sandwiches with the leftovers!
2lbsground turkeymix of dark and white meat, ~85% lean
½cupwhole berry cranberry sauce
¼cupBBQ saucethick, sweet style like Sweet Baby Rays
1tbspshallotminced
2tbspbutter
2tbspflour
½tspdried thyme
½tspdried sage
½tspblack pepper
½tspsaltuse less if your turkey stock/broth is salty
1cupturkey stock or broth
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
In a medium skillet, heat ½ tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, celery, and ¼ tsp of kosher salt to the pan. Cook until the vegetables are soft and the onion is translucent. This will take about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and let cool slightly.
Add the stuffing mix, poultry seasoning, kosher salt, and half & half to a large bowl. Mix together and let sit for a few minutes so that the stuffing mix soaks up the half & half. Then mix in the cooked vegetables. Add the egg and mix well. Then add the ground turkey and stir until well combined. This is a good place to use your hands which is the easiest tool for this job.
On a rimmed sheet pan lined with parchment paper, shape the meat mixture into an approximately 9x4 inch loaf. You can also use a loaf pan lined with plastic wrap as a mold to make this job easier. Press the meat mixture into the loaf pan and then use the plastic wrap to pull out of the mold.
In a small bowl, mix together cranberry sauce and BBQ sauce until well combined. Spread over the top of the meat loaf evenly.
Bake the meatloaf uncovered for about an hour. Start checking the temperature of your meatloaf starting at about 45 minutes with an instant read probe thermometer inserted into the very center of your loaf. Once the meatloaf has reached 165F degrees, it's done and pull it from the oven. Let rest for about 10 minutes before cutting into slices and serving.
When the meatloaf is resting, make a gravy. In a small sauce pan, melt 2 tbsp of butter over medium heat with the shallots, thyme, sage, salt, and pepper. When the butter has melted, stir in the flour. Cook for 2 minutes while stirring. Then whisk in the turkey stock. Bring to a simmer and cook until the gravy is thickened. Serve over meatloaf.
Notes
I like the Pepperidge Farm herb seasoned classic stuffing mix for this recipe because of the smaller, crumbly texture of the bread crumbs which mixes better into the meatloaf. If you are using another brand, opt for a similar texture vs. cubes.
You can buy canned whole cranberry sauce or make your own pretty easily. Here's my recipe.
Use a thick and sweet BBQ sauce for the glaze. I used Sweet Baby Rays, but a similar sauce should work fine.