Moist healthy turkey meatloaf with flax meal and walnut flour makes an easy weeknight supper!! I have a confession.This is my first home- made turkey meatloaf! Adventurous as I am, experimenting with recipes, meatloaf has always intimidated me. I first saw this recipe on my fellow blogger’s blog “Daddy Knows Less”. It’s not a foodie blog but Justin aka Daddy Knows Less cooks up some simple, easy healthy meals and this healthy version grabbed my eye. You should totally check out his blog ! He has some interesting stories about daddy hood and some quick and easy recipes that are easy to make 🙂 ! I made a couple of changes to it and it turned out to be surprisingly easy. I substituted the bread crumbs for flax meal and walnut flour. I love adding flax meal to foods and baking it into a meatloaf is easy. It adds texture and flavor to the turkey meatloaf. I also used a fresh ground mix of tomatoes in place of the ketchup and added some cilantro to it. My family loved it and I was quite proud that my first turkey meatloaf came out firm and moist. Not to mention it’s super healthy! I have made turkey meatloaf since but I wanted to show you the pictures of my first meatloaf. See how firm and yummy it looks! Easy too! I am glad I attempted it because now I will be making it often and plan to try some different variations of it! Thinking of baking it with some quinoa next.
Nutrition Wise !
Turkey is a good source of lean protein and iron. Low in fat, it is also a great source Tryptophan, an amino acid needed for normal growth in infants and for nitrogen balance in adults. The body uses tryptophan to help make niacin and serotonin. Serotonin is thought to produce healthy sleep and a stable mood. So a turkey meatloaf would be perfect for that night meal. Flax meal and walnuts are both high in heart healthy omega -3 fatty acids. Put these together and you have super healthy turkey meatloaf that is quite nutrient dense.
Turkey Meatloaf
Print recipe
| Serves | 8-10 |
| Dietary | Diabetic, Gluten Free |
| Meal type | Main Dish, Side Dish, Snack |
| Misc | Child Friendly, Freezable, Gourmet, Pre-preparable, Serve Hot |
Ingredients
- 1lb Ground turkey
- 1 Onion chopped
- 2 Tsps minced garlic
- 1/2 Tsp salt
- 1 Tsp pepper
- 1 Tsp crushed red pepper
- 1 Large egg (beaten )
- 1 Tsp mustard
- 4 Tbsp tomato paste (divided)
- 2 Tbsp flaxmeal (flaxseed ground)
- 1 Tbsp walnut (ground or coarsely chopped)
- 2 Tbsp fresh cilantro
Directions
| Combine ground turkey with flaxmeal, walnut flour, egg, spices, onion, garlic, mustard and 2 tbsp of tomato paste. | |
| Shape meat mixture in a loaf pan that has been sprayed with a non stick spray. | |
| Bake at 300 degrees for 30 minutes. | |
| Brush top of meat loaf with remaining 2 tablespoons ketchup and chopped cilantro . Bake 10-15 additional minutes. | |
| Let stand for some time before removing from loaf pan and slice it. | |
Hi there! I’m Sunithi, AKA Sue, a registered dietitian with a sweet tooth and a passion for eating healthy (quite a combo) currently working as an independent consultant in the DC Metro area. I’m also a blogger, health nut, nutrition geek who jogs to keep sane :)! I love to revamp recipes and add some ‘Nutrition Bytes’ to them. All my recipes are gluten free! I also blog on natural health and fitness! Visit often and drop me a note if you have any nutrition queries!
Hey Sunithi,
The pictures are just fabulous!! This is indeed a great food for my taste buds. You always provide your readers with a new and innovative dish. Thanks for sharing the recipe. I will try it. I always try the recipes, posted by you, in case I become a good cook, the credit for it will be yours. Thanks.
Thanks ! So glad you like my posts 🙂 ! Stop bu often !!!
Hi Suni! This meatloaf looks so yummy! I’ve been trying to add flax to dishes and this will be perfect.! I wanted to know how much flax meal or seed you should have in a weekly diet. I’m trying to get rid of the dreaded “belly fat”!
Hey Patti, so good to see you here. You can use flax in your diet everyday. It’s good for flushing fat. You can also use the flax oil version which is also good for blasting fat ! I use flax oil in my smoothies almost everyday and use flax seed to bake with. Here’s a link to my flax post!
http://www.suesnutritionbuzz.com/2011/07/27/fabulous-flax-feed-into-it/
feel free to ping me anymore flax questions. I love flax and it did help with my belly fat when I used it regularly before.
This looks delicious! I also am a big fan of flax meal for the nutrients, taste and low level of carbs. I think I will try this and make sure to use a mix of light and dark meat for the extra fat to keep it moist. Do you have any suggestions for a lower-carb inclusion besides onion? Maybe celery and/or bell peppers with a little onion powder for flavor?
I bet adding some celery, bell pepper and onion will make it yummier !! Glad you liked it ! Onion powder or flaked would lower the carb, but not significantly since the recipe uses very little onion ! Thanks for stopping by !
They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Well let me just say I am certainly flattered to have such an amazing food blogger such as yourself try one of my recipes, and share it! Not only that, you made it better and healthier! I’m going to try YOUR version now! Maybe I’ll even blog about it. This could be an endless cycle…
Thanks! I like all your recipes. Simple healthy easy 🙂 ! so I may make a couple more. I really like that melon prosciutto. I submitted to chow stalker, but they chose to share it. They only share very few on their FB page, so this is a good one ! Yeah, we can keep the cycle going :)! Thanks Justin!
Hi there just want you to know that you did a great job. thank you so much for posting this great pos. keeo it up!
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Hello I really aprreciate this great and interesting post. Thank you for sharing!
Your meatloaf really does look moist, which I love! The addition of the flax and walnuts sounds delicious, I imagine it is a lovely nutty flavor:-) Take care, Terra
Before reading this, the only Turkey that I have ever had was Roasted Turkey. Meat Loaf looks good & I will definitely try making it. I assume, it would taste good too. And more so, be very healthy too! 🙂
My mom always emphasizes a lot on the nutritious value of flax. I’m glad I found a recipe containing it. Thanks for the share.
Hi sue
I really like meatloaf, you say you were intimidated about cooking it. That has got me a bit worried the last 6 months or so I have got in to cooking and experimenting with different ingredients. Wouldn’t say I am a good cook just enjoy it probably more than the eating it if truth be known. Anyway will give meatloaf a go and hopefully it at least resembles the pictures of yours.
Thanks for recipe lee