My mom rarely made meatloaf when I was young. In fact, it was typically my dad who would get the meatloaf craving and whip up a loaf for dinner when I was growing up. I love meatloaf. No joke. I could eat it every day if it wasn’t so packed with …. well….fat and calories. Not to mention FODMAPs. And as you’ll see below, I can’t have my meatloaf without ketchup. I know, so non-dietitian-like, right? It’s organic. Does that make it better? haha, no.
Instagrammed version of the meatloaf, fresh out of the oven.
Follow Me! The Candid RD
Not too long ago I had a craving for meatloaf and figured I’d try making it a bit leaner. I had a pound of ground turkey I needed to use, and Nick had already voiced that he was “getting sick of turkey burgers”. I grabbed my “Substitute Yourself Skinny” cookbook (which I purchased at Half Price Books for about $5!) and found a great meatloaf recipe, which I modified just a bit to fit my own diet restrictions, and to prevent me from having to make a trip to the grocery store.
Turkey Meatloaf with Crimini Mushrooms
Ingredients
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- ⅔ cup crimini mushrooms
- ¼ cup shallots, minced
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 1 egg
- 1 Tbsp. nonfat milk (I used almond milk!)
- 1 Tbsp basil
- 1 Tbsp parsley
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- ½ cup panko bread crumbs
- 1 pound ground turkey breast
- ¼ cup ketchup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a regular-sized loaf pan by spraying with nonstick cooking spray. in a heavy skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, onion, and garlic. Saute until the garlic is fragrant and the onion is tender, and 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and milk. Add the salt, pepper, basil, and parsley. Whisk together. Add the bread crumbs and stir to combine. Add the turkey and mushroom mixture, and mix well. Gently press the mixture into the loaf pan, cover with foil and bake for 35-40 minutes.
- Uncover and cook for an additional 10 minutes, or until thermometer reads 165 degrees. OPTIONAL: Add ¼ cup ketchup to the top of the meatloaf to finish the baking.
Notes
If following a low FODMAPs diet, use garlic or Tuscan olive oil instead of regular olive oil, and omit the garlic. The mushroom and onion could cause issues too (although I just cut them both into big chunks so they were easier to spot and I could take them out if I wanted). I can typically handle a few mushrooms, but I avoid onions if I can. When I cut the onions into large chunks I can allow Nick to have onions, but I can take them out of my own portion (although if you are really sensitive you should omit them, as the offending part is water-soluble). Also, omit the ketchup if you are really sensitive. Notice I really didn’t use much.
Estimated Nutrition Facts for 1 serving, which is 2 slices
Nutrition Highlights: Excellent source of protein, and a good source of iron. Compared to most meatloaf recipes, this is also much fewer calories and fat (especially saturated fat)
This was hands down, one of Nick’s favorite recipes. I agreed. Even though it wasn’t so pretty, it tasted amazing. Neither of us missed the meat or pork, which are traditional ingredients in meatloaf. Turkey was a great substitute. Thanks to the milk and oil, it wasn’t dry at all!
Well, it’s off to work for me, after teaching THREE weight loss classes in the last two days. Crazy right?! I started my 10-week Weight Loss class at work and it was extremely popular this year, with over 60 people signed up. Let’s just say these next 10 weeks are going to be INSANE, but lots of fun. I hope I learn some new recipes from the people in the class, and new ideas that I can share on this blog. I have a feeling I will, the people seem amazing so far.
