Turkey and Quinoa Meatloaf

I had a pound and a half of ground turkey meat taking up space in my fridge, and decided to put it to use tonight for dinner.

After perusing through multiple recipes for “what to do with ground turkey meat“, I stumbled upon this turkey and quinoa recipe on allrecipes.com.

It looked promising with the unique texture of quinoa being added to this classic dish. It also had two of my favorite sauces, worcestershire and hot sauce.

I was right. This was a promising recipe indeed. The texture and unique flavors of quinoa, hot sauce and a brown sugar glaze on top were an outstanding combination.

I have made a few different meatloaf recipes in the past few months and this one was by far the most flavorful.

Turkey and Quinoa Meatloaf

Author: Mom on the Make, adapted slightly from Allrecipes

Recipe type: Dinner

Ingredients

¼ cup quinoa
½ cup water
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 large clove garlic, chopped
1½ pounds ground turkey
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 eggs
1½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon water

Instructions

Bring the quinoa and water to a boil in a saucepan over high heat.
Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender, and the water has been absorbed, about 15 to 20 minutes.
Set aside to cool.
Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.
Stir in the onion; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and cook for another minute; remove from heat to cool.
Stir the turkey, cooked quinoa, onions, tomato paste, hot sauce, 2 tablespoons Worcestershire, egg, salt, and pepper in a large bowl until well combined.
The mixture will be very moist. Shape into a loaf on a foil lined baking sheet. Combine the brown sugar, 2 teaspoons Worcestershire, and 1 teaspoon water in a small bowl.
Rub the paste over the top of the meatloaf.
Bake in the preheated oven until no longer pink in the center, about 55-60 minutes.