Meatloaf has a PR problem. It took me a while to come around to it; I didn’t grow up eating it, and certainly nothing about the name — aloaf, a loaf ofmeat— convinced me I was missing a thing. But, slowly, I have tiptoed into the light, and now I get it. It’s not cute, but it’s objectively delicious. Imagine if we only ate things that were camera-ready — it would be a world without gravy, mushroom soup, and lopsided made-with-love frosted cakes. We absolutely must not stand for that.
But I’d only made meatloaves with eitherground beefor ground pork, never turkey. Turkey, which I suspected would be too dry or bland for any recipe to overcome, was the final frontier, and I tried it a whole bunch of ways before realizing that what I wanted most on top was not strips of bacon or a thick layer of ketchup, but a simple barbecue-type sauce. In the oven, it gets glossy and dark, and it goes really well with Crushed Ranch-y Potatoes (recipe follows). Unlike their mashed counterparts, crushed potatoes are full of contrasts: big and small chunks, some parts puddled with cream, some parts saltier-and that slight chaos of forkfuls plays well off the reliable, steady slices of meatloaf.
[This recipe is excerpted from my third cookbook,Smitten Kitchen Keepers. The top 5 photos were styled by Barrett Washburne, who can even make meatloaf look good.]
Podcast!The second episode of my new podcast with J. Kenji Lopez-Alt,The Recipe with Kenji and Deb, is out this week and it’s all about — yes! — meatloaf, including this one. You can listen to it anywhere you get your podcasts and I’ve set up a newpodcast tab/page where you can keep up on it here, too. We will have new episodes every two Mondays. We’ve been working on this behind the scenes for the last year — I hope you enjoy listening along.
6 months ago:Corn Cacio e Pepe1 year ago:Easy Freezer Waffles2 year ago:Castle Breakfast3 years ago:Rigatoni alla Vodka4 years ago:Perfect Vegetable Lasagna5 years ago:Bodega-Style Egg and Cheese SandwichandChocolate Puddle Cakes6 years ago:Slow-Roasted Sweet PotatoesandKorean-Braised Short Ribs7 years ago:Small-Batch Tiramisu8 years ago:Miso Black Sesame Caramel CornandHot and Sour Soup9 years ago:Oven-Braised Beef with Tomatoes and GarlicandPecan Sticky Buns10 years ago:Chocolate Hazelnut Linzer HeartsandChocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake11 years ago:Italian Stuffed Cabbage12 years ago:Lasagna Bolognese13 years ago:Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake14 years ago:Best Cocoa BrowniesandChana Masala15 years ago:Chocolate Whiskey and Beer CupcakesandCrispy Black Bean Tacos with Feta and Slaw16 years ago:Seven-Yolk Pasta DoughandBest Chocolate Pudding17 years ago:For Beaming, Bewitching Breads
Meatloaf1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped1 garlic clove, smashed1 slim carrot, roughly choppedOlive oilKosher salt and freshly ground black pepper1/2 cup (30 grams) panko-style breadcrumbs1/4 cup (60 grams) chicken broth1 1/2 teaspoons tomato paste1 teaspoon Dijon mustard1 tablespoon (15 grams) Worcestershire sauce2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley1 large egg1 pound (455 grams) ground turkey, preferably a mix of dark and light meat, or just darkGlaze1 heaped (20 grams) tablespoon ketchup1 tablespoon molasses1 tablespoon (15 grams) apple-cider vinegar1 teaspoon hot sauce of your choice (optional)1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauceKosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Note: This is a small-sized meatloaf, and it works for my family of four. It doubles easily, either as two small loaves (baking time the same) or one larger, freeform loaf that will take between 60 and 70 minutes in the oven.
