So, this post has no kind of holiday sparkle attached to it. No creative holiday cookies, Christmas roast recipe or sugarplums here (what the heck is a sugarplum any way?)
Instead, I have a basic family friendly recipe that’s fairly easy to make. It’s also nutritious, tasty and hopefully gets one more thing checked off your holiday list this season – meaning taking care of the “What’s for dinner?” list of things to do on the non-celebratory nights.
I don’t know about you but as soon as the calendar turns to December, my kitchen becomes laser focused on homemade gifts, those before mentioned holiday cookies and prepping for a Christmas Eve 7 Fish Dinner and a crowd of 30+ on Christmas Day.
But there’s 31 days in December that dinner still needs to happen.
Weekday dinner rescue recipe: Mini Turkey Pizza Meatloaves via @tspbasil Click To TweetAnd this recipe can be that dinner rescue during the holiday prep season.
Here’s my tricks to upping the nutrition to these pizza meatloaves:
- Make mini for instant portion control
- Use extra lean ground turkey to reduce saturated fat
- Add shredded roasted sweet potatoes for flavor and extra nutrients (fiber, Vitamin A, potassium)
- Use whole wheat bread crumbs for a whole grain boost
- Use no salt added pizza sauce to keep sodium in check
Mini Turkey Pizza Meatloaves
- Yield: 6 servings. 1x
Description
Your new family favorite dinner: mini meatloaves made with ground turkey, sweet potato, pizza sauce and cheese.
Ingredients
- 1 sweet potato, shredded (about 1 1/4 cups)
- 1/2 cup minced onions
- 1 pound lean ground turkey
- 1/2 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup low sodium pizza sauce, divided
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray. In a large bowl, mix together sweet potato and onions. Spread out onto baking sheet and roast for 10 minutes, stirring halfway through.
- Remove from oven and place back into bowl. Set aside sheet to use to cook meatloaves.
- Into the same bowl, add ground turkey, breadcrumbs, 1/4 cup pizza sauce, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, egg, parsley, black pepper and salt. Gently mix together with your hands.
- Divide into 6 portions and shape each portion into a 3 1/2-inch long and 1-inch thick mini loaf.
- Place on tray re-coated with cooking spray.
- Bake for 25 minutes.
- Remove from oven and spread remaining pizza sauce and cheese over top each loaf. Put back in oven and bake for another 15 minutes or until internal temperature of one of the loaves reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Remove from oven and serve warm.
For day 2, I chopped the remaining meatloaves into bite sized pieces and served with pasta and more tomato sauce—> instant spaghetti and meatballs!
What are your go-to weeknight dinners during the holiday season?
masala girl
Tuesday 6th of December 2016
so cute! i also love that the mini size for portion sizes :)
VitaliyaN
Tuesday 6th of December 2016
Oh my, that is so appetizing! Gonna try it on my beloved carnivore
Deanna Segrave-Daly
Tuesday 6th of December 2016
LMK what your carnivore thinks :)
Kelli @ Hungry Hobby
Monday 30th of November 2015
Mini pizza meatloaf is my fav I make it all the time but I never thought about adding sweet potato, LOVE that Idea!
Emily @ Zen & Spice
Monday 30th of November 2015
I love making mini meatloaves! Such great portion control!
diane
Monday 30th of November 2015
As Katie so insightfully pointed out, these mini turkey pizza meatloaves are for those of us trying to live in the moment! Thanks for helping, Deanna!