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Thanksgiving is just a few days away as I write this and I am giddy!
I can’t understand how anyone could not like the holiday season. I get that it’s super busy, stressful, and hits the wallet hard. Plus, the weather can be miserable if you live somewhere like Boston, as I do.
Aside from those things, and the fact that I don’t feel as well in general in the winter (in regards to my Crohn’s not colds/flu), I love the holiday season. I even love the snow for Christmas and New Year’s but I could definitely do without it after that!
I’m crazy about everything on the Thanksgiving table. Turkey (well, it’s all right, but I recommend deep frying it! Yeah, it’s delicious). I love mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing, gravy, and a vegetable for good measure. Plus desserts like pies and cookies and leftovers for days. I can already picture the food coma.
There is something so special about that meal, but sometimes my family and I crave Thanksgiving foods nowhere near November. Say, in April.
My mom will cook a small turkey and we will have all the sides. It’s awesome.
I wanted to create a recipe that would encapsulate Thanksgiving for anytime of year, without hours and hours of preparation.
This recipe used ground turkey for obvious reasons, but ground chicken will work very similarly.
Turkey and chicken can dry out easily because they aren’t very fatty. I recommend checking your meatloaf at the 45 minute mark. Since all oven times vary, I provided a cooking time range because I would be so sad if your meatloaf came out dry as a board.
Do you make Thanksgiving-esque meals during the year? Let me know how this recipe works out for you!
Cranberry Sauce Turkey Meatloaf (Grain Free, Dairy Free, Paleo)
Ingredients
2 lbs ground turkey
3 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried sage
1 egg
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup of 4-Ingredient Cranberry Sauce or store-bought cranberry sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, add the egg and whisk. Then add the remaining ingredients except for the cranberry sauce.*
- Mix until everything has been combined well then place half on the baking sheet. Form into a meatloaf shape with your hands.
- Spoon the cranberry sauce in the middle of the meatloaf and spread. Then form the top half of the meatloaf over the cranberry sauce.
- Cook for 45-55 minutes, or just until the turkey is cooked through all the way to avoid drying it out.
Notes
* Although I have not tried it, mixing the cranberry sauce into whole mixture will probably yield another delicious meatloaf!
