For the juiciest turkey meatloaf, add grated zucchini to it. This meatloaf is easy to whip up – mix all the ingredients, shape it into a loaf, and bake!
Turkey Meatloaf with Zucchini
Here’s an idea: Instead of trying to get your family to eat healthier all the time, add healthy ingredients to the foods they already love. I had a ton of zucchini from my garden I needed to use up, so I mixed some grated zucchini into my turkey meatloaf recipe. The meatloaf came out so moist and flavorful. I’ve been adding zucchini to ground meat for years – try my Petite BBQ Bacon Turkey Loaves and Greek Feta-Zucchini Turkey Burgers for more recipes. And if you need more ideas for ground turkey, you can see all my ground turkey recipes here.
Turkey Meatloaf Ingredients
- Sauce: Mix a quarter cup of ketchup with the other ingredients and combine two tablespoons with Worcestershire to coat the top before baking.
- Meat: Select 93% lean ground turkey or sub lean ground beef or chicken.
- Onion: For my original turkey meatloaf recipe, you sauté fresh onion, but I skipped that step and used dried onion flakes instead. No need to dirty another pan!
- Zucchini: Zucchini is the key ingredient for juicy meatloaf. Grate enough to get three-quarters of a cup, and then wrap it in a towel and squeeze out the liquid.
- Binders: Egg and oats or breadcrumbs bind the meat together to keep turkey meatloaf from falling apart. If you don’t have oats you can use seasoned or regular breadcrumbs or panko. And if you want to make a gluten-free meatloaf, use gluten- free oats or breadcrumbs.
- Seasonings: Season the meatloaf with marjoram and kosher salt. If you need to substitute the marjoram, swap it with dried thyme.
How Long to Cook Turkey Meatloaf with Zucchini
Shape the turkey zucchini meatloaf into a loaf on a baking sheet and bake it uncovered for 55 to 60 minutes. You can also bake it in a loaf pan. Once it’s done, let it rest for five minutes before slicing. Resting it will keep it from falling apart.
How to Freeze Turkey Meatloaf
I always love to double meatloaf recipes so I have one to eat and one to freeze. Turkey meatloaf with zucchini lasts in the fridge for three or four days, and you can freeze it whole or sliced. Slicing it is nice in case you only need a serving or two at a time. Wrap the slices individually in foil and freeze in a zip-locked bag. To reheat, thaw it overnight and reheat it in the microwave.
What to Serve with Turkey Meatloaf
Serve this healthy turkey zucchini meatloaf with buttermilk mashed potatoes, rice pilaf, or smashed sweet potatoes. For some green veggies, try roasted parmesan green beans, garlic broccolini, or a side salad.
More Meatloaf Recipes You’ll Love:
- Enchilada Meatloaf
- Meatloaf and Brown Gravy
- Sheet Pan Turkey Meatloaf and Broccoli
- Campfire Dinner Meatloaf Foil Packets
- Cheese-Stuffed Turkey Meatloaf
Turkey Meatloaf with Zucchini
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup grated zucchini, squeezed dry after
- 6 tablespoons ketchup, divided
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 lb ground turkey, 93% lean
- 2 tablespoons dried onion flakes
- 1/3 cup quick oats, or seasoned breadcrumbs
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon marjoram
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- In a small bowl combine 2 tablespoons of the ketchup with Worcestershire sauce.
- In a medium bowl combine the turkey, zucchini, dried onion, oats or breadcrumbs, egg, 1/4 cup ketchup, salt and marjoram.
- Shape into a loaf and place on a baking sheet. Spoon sauce on top.
- Bake uncovered for 55-60 minutes, remove from oven and let it sit for 5 minutes before slicing.
EXcellent
Excellent! Have made this several times and always make 2 at a time.
Soooooo delicious! The best meatloaf recipe! It is so flavorfull, moist and keeps you going back for more.
Thanks Gina, this was delicious. I added in 1 carrot that I chopped in food processor for extra veggies and replaced the oats with almond flour.
This was delicious! Prepared as listed above.
Question- (that has been asked but not answered): Can you make a loaf ahead and freeze uncooked? If so- for how long? Text above talks about freezing cooked but nothing about uncooked. Thanks for any info!
Used ground chicken, no added sugar BBQ instead of catch and made meatballs. YUM!
Love the recipe! I used dried shallots instead of onions and added some granulated onion and garlic to the mix. I like a little more seasoning. Will go into my monthly rotation.
This meatloaf is DELICIOUS and in our regular rotation. So moist with the zucchini. Definitely a keeper.
This was very good. I sautéed 1/2 an onion and some garlic and added to the turkey mixture; I used bbq sauce in place of ketchup, as one reviewer posted; used 1/2 tsp each oregano, basil, thyme, and parsley since I didn’t have marjoram. I’ve made the turkey burgers from this site so when I saw this I wanted to try it. I’d definitely make it again! It was a pretty soft mixture though. I may add more bread crumbs next time.
Meatloaf was too dense for me and not enough flavor. The only flavor was sauce on top. I probably will make again and add more spices (or even Worcestershire in the mixture).
Easy to make. Tasty, tender and juicy. This was a hit with my family!
Amazingly moist and tasty. Wish I could add photo.
Excellent recipe – wonderful flavor and easy to make!
Made as directed with no substitutions. Very good. Flavor is mild but that was fine.
This is a go to staple for me. I use sweet baby rays sweet and spicy barbecue sauce instead of ketchup. These are great for meal prep and freezing for lunches. I get about 8 from a Sams club 2.5 package of Jennie O turkey
Delicious! Easy to make, very flavorful and very moist. Will definitely make again.
Very good recipe. Super moist and flavorful.
This is a great recipe! It baked very moist and delicious. I love zucchini and turkey together.
I used a 20 oz. package of ground turkey and adjusted the rest of the ingredients. I made 5 mini meatloaves. I baked them for 40 minutes at 350 until the internal temperature reached 160 degrees.
Delicious! Everyone in the family loved this from ages 2 to 65!!
Will definitely make this again.
a great way to get some extra veg into meals. I make this one at least 1 or 2 times a month.
This is delicious! I made a few subs based on what I already had at home – 93% beef, plain panko bread crumbs, onion powder instead of flakes, etc. I love the flavor from the seasoning, and it came together so quickly, too! I enjoyed it, and that’s what counts!!
One of my faves! The Worcestershire sauce adds some delicious tanginess.
can you freeze?
Sure
Love this easy week-night recipe! PS. It’s the only way I can get my picky toddler to eat zucchini.
We loved this! We make some of your other turkey meatloafs on a regular basis, but wanted to give this a try and love that it adds zucchini. Very easy, very tasty! Made it according to the recipe with just the substitution of Italian Seasoning for Marjoram because that’s what we had. Will definitely make again!
Would it be acceptable to prep it all and then freeze to be cooked later or would you freeze after baking?
The meatloaf was delicious. I love when I can sneak some veggies into my meat eaters. I made it with the Parmesan green beans, which were also delicious. I feel good about what I fed my family tonight.
So Good!!! We had this recipe for dinner tonight and it was a hit. The end result was moist and the flavor was outstanding. My day got away from me and I ran out of time to bake a meatloaf. So I used all the ingredients as directed, but made 4 patties instead of a loaf. I cooked them on a stove top grill and covered them with the sauce. I served them with mashed potatoes and broccoli. My husband said it was like having meatloaf at the diner. Next time I will make brown gravy, like salisbury steak. Thank you for a delicious, easy and in my case fast recipe.
This was the best meatloaf I’ve ever had! Great recipe – thank you!!
Made this for dinner last night and it’s one of the best weeknight dinners I have ever had! The store was out of ground turkey so we used a pork/beef blend instead and added in chopped caramelized onions. Yum! This will absolutely be going into my regular rotation of easy weeknight dinners.
Awesome
I’ve made this several times. It’s delicious and never disappoints!! We actually crave it!
Gina, don’t much care for ketchup – what would be a good alternative/replacement?
BBQ Sauce would be great
Could this be adapted for the air fryer?
How long can you leave this in the freezer?
wrapped tight, 3 months.
I stumbled across this recipe and I’m so glad I did! Very easy, flavourful and moist. I sautéed some garlic and onion, and I added dried basil and oregano in lieu of marjoram. I cooked it in my loaf pan and it was fully cooked at 55 minutes. I served with roasted Brussel sprouts and fingerling potatoes from the garden.
DELISH!
We have added this to our food prep, excellent for lunch with a salad !
GREAT!!
can we sub onion powder for onion flakes? How much?
Hubby was skeptical at first, but loved this. I added a couple tablespoons of sautéed mushrooms, diced onion, ham and spinach that I had actually prepped for something else. This is a keeper!
Do you think it would hold together ok without the egg? My girls are allergic to eggs but I think they would love a meatloaf (especially if I can hide some zucchini in it!)
I would try a flax egg.
This looks great! I’m really watching my points, so I’m planning on using 99% ground turkey as it drops it to 2 points instead of 7 with the 93%. Looking forward to trying this!
If k was to meal prep this, would you freeze before or after cooking?
I’ve made this three times and it’s fantastic.. It is a little hard to turn the mashed raw meat into a “loaf” before cooking.. It takes a while in the oven, last time I turned the oven off at ten minutes left, then quick turn on the broiler once I’m about to serve to heat up and further caramelize the top and it comes out perfect. My fav pet is the ketchup-Worcestershire sauce topping
This is the best meatloaf I ever made and I’ve made many. I think the zucchini makes it moist and tahe combination of ketchup and worchestershire sauce give it the zing. I made little meatballs with part of it. It is a fantastic meatloaf. Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Very good, will become a new staple. Zucchini keeps it moist and flavorful. I used Italian seasoning in place of Marjoram and it came out great.
Quite good–the zucchini keeps it from drying out. I used regular old-fashioned outs since I didn’t have quick oats and it turned out great. This one’ll be on our menu all through zucchini season!
I made this and had it every night last week! I normally can’t do that because I lose interest after two nights. I just started to look forward to this every night! I highly recommend and I’ll make it again for sure!
This is a winner! My husband loved it and so did I. I am gluten free so we used oats. I happen to also be onion-sensitive so I subbed freeze dried chopped scallions and it was PERFECTION. I already have it scheduled for our rotation next week, and plan to make an extra freezer meatloaf for when my school year begins. Thank you!
I made this last night for dinnerl and, it was so good! I cooked in a loaf pan and served with smashed baby potatoes. I will make this again!
We are very sodium conscious, so as written, this recipe was too high in sodium for us. I switched out the ketchup for a no sodium version, used reduced sodium Worcestershire and cut the salt to 1/2 tsp. If I calculated correctly, this took the sodium content to just over 300 mg per serving. I also added sauteed onions to the meatloaf in place of dried onion. It was moist and delicious even with the sodium adjustments. Next tome, I’ll make two and freeze one for later.
This was delicious. It was so moist and very easy to make. I will definitely be making it again.
I knew this would be good, and with lots of zucchini from the garden, I made two! One for now and one to freeze. It may get eaten before it sees the freezer. I used glass loaf pans. Great meatloaf! Really moist. Hubby loved it too.
So glad you liked it!
I have lamb mince out would this recipe work
Best meatloaf I’ve ever had. Seriously so delicious and moist!!
Thanks Erin!
I loved this Turkey Meatloaf as it came together so quickly with ingredients I already had on hand! The meatloaf was moist and light. I’ll definitely be making this again.