My husband and I have very different family recipes for meatloaf; his happens to have oatmeal and barbecue sauce while mine has fresh grated carrots and onions and breadcrumbs. Honestly, the only part they really have in common is that they both have a brown sugar glaze. Part of my kitchen journey has been to make healthier family style meals incorporating ingredients we’ve either grown or processed ourselves. After much trial and error I’ve put together this amazing meatloaf recipe using two “secret” ingredients: apple butter and balsamic vinegar.
Balsamic vinegar is suggested to have many benefits for your overall health. It’s tangy and sweet flavor profile means it also pairs extremely well with both sweet and savory foods; particularly in this recipe it helps enhance the flavor of the apples and onions.
If you’re looking for an amazing balsamic vinegar I used this 18 Year Traditional Balsamic Vinegar from Fustini’s Oil & Vinegars: https://www.fustinis.com/order/18-year-traditional-balsamic-dark_5/
This meatloaf fits perfectly in a 10” cast iron skillet. You could easily cook this in a bread pan but I think you would lose many of the benefits of cooking with cast. Cast iron bakeware helps create an even heating temperature and will stay hot once it gets up to temperature. It is also incredibly easy to clean and will fortify the food you cook in it with iron. Plus, food tastes amazing when it is cooked in these incredibly versatile pans.
Ingredients:
- 2 pounds ground turkey
- 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup apple butter
- 2 eggs
- 1 small onion – grated
- 1 medium carrot – grated
- 2 T balsamic vinegar
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Glaze: 1/4 cup mustard, 2 T brown sugar, 1 T balsamic vinegar
Method:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Lightly oil a 10” cast iron skillet (I use olive oil but you can use canola or cooking spray if desired).
- In a separate bowl whisk together eggs, balsamic vinegar, apple butter, onions, carrots, salt and pepper.
- Mix in oats until well covered.
- Using your hands, knead the ground turkey into the oatmeal mixture until well incorporated.
- Transfer meatloaf mixture to skillet and bake for 45 minutes or until the meatloaf has reached 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Pull meatloaf out of the oven and spread the glaze over top.
- Bake for an additional 15 minutes.
- Serve immediately and enjoy!
The Petite Homestead 