Slow Cooker Turkey Vegetable Meatloaf is a dinner phenomenon. So easy, juicy, flavorful and healthy to boot!
Dinner is easy tonight. It’s also healthy and low-fat! Perfect for pre-holiday eating. At least that’s what my scale told me last night–Oh boy!
I shredded carrots, onions and zucchini and mixed it in to the lean ground turkey. Those veggies add extra moisture and juiciness to the turkey, which can often be dry.
Some more delicious, pantry-staple seasonings like Worcestershire sauce, chicken broth and Italian herbs add balanced flavor. I love that you can cook it right in the slow cooker, feeling good about jetting out to pick up the kids or run errands without having the oven on.
Easy to make and easy to clean up. Slow Cooker Turkey Vegetable Meatloaf for the win!
Line your slow cooker with foil for this turkey meatloaf. You could also use a slow-cooker liner, but the foil is a bit sturdier and easy to lift out when the meatloaf is done. You’ll also want an oval shaped slow cooker. If you have a round one, don’t despair, you can just form the turkey meatloaf into a circle instead of a loaf! The oval shape allows you to make the loaf shape so your meatloaf looks like mom’s from the oven!
Here’s one of my favorite slow cookers.
Isn’t the best part of a meatloaf the sticky sweet topping? I loved that when I was a kid. I mixed a little tomato paste and apricot jam together for this one. The zing of ketchup was too much, but the richness of tomato paste and jam was just right.
Serve this with a salad, some mashed or roasted potatoes or even seasoned brown rice. It’s a healthy meal the entire family will love.
- 1¼ lbs ground turkey breast
- 1 medium onion grated
- 1 carrot grated
- 1 small zucchini grated
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 egg beaten
- ½ cup quick-cooking oats
- 4 tbsp low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 tbsp plus ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- ½ cup apricot jam
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Press a 24-inch-long piece of nonstick aluminum foil, dull side up, into a 6-qt slow cooker, leaving the ends hanging over the sides. In a large bowl combine turkey, onion, carrot, zucchini, garlic, egg, oats, 2 tbsp broth, 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Form mixture into a 9-by-5-inch loaf and place in slow cooker. Cover and cook 2½ hr on high or 4 hr on low.
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Using the foil, carefully lift meat loaf out and transfer to a platter. Whisk together tomato paste, jam, ½ tsp Worcestershire and 2 tbsp broth and brush mixture on top of meat loaf.
Recipe Tara Bench & Khalil Hymore
Photographer Peter Ardito
Food Stylist Susan Ottaviano for Halley Resources
Prop Stylist Michelle Wong
Originally published Ladies’ Home Journal Feb 2011
If you were to do this in the oven instead, what would you recommend the temperature and duration be?
Thanks!
Gabriela, I’d guess 375ºF would be great. Because slow cookers are covered and the food cooks with a bit of steam I’d suggest covering the meatloaf pan with foil quite tightly for the majority of the time. And maybe 45 min to 1 hour. You’ll need to check that it is 170ºF inside with a meat thermometer before eating!
I would love to make this as it looks so easy, but do you think I could omit the oats? Would I need to substitute something else?
Hi Yvonne! You could swap the oats for breadcrumbs. The recipe just needs something to help absorb the moisture from the veggies! I chose oats because they add a nice texture, but breadcrumbs would be fine.
Looks very delicious, I’ve just bought Instant Pot and going to try this recipe ) Thanks for sharing! Love easy meals
Oh that will be fun in an instant pot!!
Mmmm, love that your turkey loaf is full of veggies and that topping, delicious!
My favorite parts about it too Patty! The combo is delish!!
I made this in my Instant Pot. I added 2 cups of water to the pot. Put in the rack and shaped the meatloaf in a piece of foil that was about 18 inches long. I placed the meatloaf on the rack with foil slightly over the edge of the pot so I could pull out the meatloaf when it was done. I set the Instant Pot for manual high pressure for 35 minutes. Came out great.
Amazing Spencer! Thanks for sharing. Instant Pot magic!
Haven’t thought of cooking a loaf in the slow cooker. Great idea!