I’m not a big meat eater. During my teenage years back in Hawaii, when my sister and I would go out to get a Korean BBQ plate lunch at the mall, we’d always order the fried man doo plate with two scoops of rice and four veggie side choices. She usually took a little of everything on the plate, while I focused on the rice and veggies. Every now and then, I’d take a man doo, but for the most part, I just ate the rice and veggies.

If you’re not familiar with Korean BBQ, you are totally missing out. I completely love Korean BBQ, partially because there’s as much focus on the veggie sides as there is on the meat. If you’re ever on Oahu, here’s a list of Korean BBQ joints to check out. You have to try it at least once.

Now that you can completely tell I’m homesick foodie-style, back to my meatloaf. I bring up the Korean food story because I’ve never been a big meat eater, much less a meatloaf eater. My idea of meatloaf was the Stouffer’s Meatloaf microwavable meal that my mom had stocked in the freezer for us to eat afterschool.

Well, as always, I was having another afternoon trying to figure out what to make for dinner. I had 2.5 pounds of ground turkey that was begging to be made into something, but I couldn’t figure out what. Since I follow so many awesome food bloggers, I know I’d find the answer in my Google reader.

I had every intention of making the Teriyaki Meatloaf that I found on Erin’s blog over at Wholly Delicious Dishes. It looked delicious, even to a part-time vegetarian like myself. Unfortunately, I didn’t have all the ingredients I needed, and it was too late to run to the store. The ironic thing is that I didn’t have Chinese five spice powder and thick teriyaki sauce! Asian staples in the kitchen and I didn’t have any. Doh!

Since I was already vested in making meatloaf, I had to improvise. I found another recipe that called for adding cheese. Works for me especially since we’re a bunch of cheese addicts enthusiasts. I threw in some sautéed onions, chopped carrots (I would suggest shredding the carrots because the Hubby and the kids tried to pick out the carrot pieces), and cubed cheese. The recipe was enough for two loaf pans so I topped one with ketchup and one with Kon-Tiki’s Mango Kiawe BBQ Sauce.

Can I get an Amen? I think I’m a carnivore convert. These loaves of meaty goodness were so good that we almost polished off BOTH loaves in one night! The teenager even said that this was the best thing I’ve made in a long time. Gee, thanks. Love you too…

The Hubby loved the BBQ sauce topped meatloaf because the sauce brought such a thick, smoky flavor to the meatloaf that it didn’t need any additional salt and pepper. By the end of dinner, we each had to be rolled onto the sofa to take a breather. No dessert necessary. Guess that’s a good indication that this meatloaf has made it into the permanent dinner rotation.

Cheesy Turkey Meatloaf

 

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

1 hour 20 mins

 

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Author: Lori @ OperationDinnertime.com

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 2½ lbs ground turkey
• 1 Tbsp canola oil
• ½ cup onion, diced
• 1¼ cup milk
• 1¼ cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup carrots, shredded or diced
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• ¾ lb Cheddar cheese, cut into ½-inch cubes
• ½ cup ketchup
• ½ cup thick BBQ sauce

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Grease 2 loaf pans with cooking spray and set aside.
3. In a saute pan, add oil and onions. Saute until transparent.
4. In a small bowl, mix the milk and bread crumbs together. Set aside.
5. In a large mixing bowl, combine turkey and eggs by hand.
6. Add sauteed onions, bread crumb mixture, carrots, and salt and pepper.
7. Continue to mix by hand.
8. Fold the cheese cubes into the mixture.
9. Transfer to a loaf pans.
10. Top one loaf with ketchup and the other with BBQ sauce.
11. Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, to an internal temperature of 175 degrees F.

3.2.1596

And in case you’re wondering, no one noticed that I used ground turkey (I hope!).

Enjoy!