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dxs's avatar

How can I vamp up this dry, tasteless, crumbling meatloaf that I made?

Asked by dxs (15160points) August 3rd, 2020

I messed it up entirely, and I do know what mistakes I made. But I’m still stuck with this turkey meatloaf and don’t want it to go to waste. What can I do/add to this meatloaf to save it?

Here’s what I mixed with the ground turkey: breadcrumbs, bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, chicken broth, and eggs.

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19 Answers

chyna's avatar

Add ketchup to kind of clump it together.
Full disclosure: I’m not a cook.

KNOWITALL's avatar

Tomato sauce or gravy, reheat. You may need to slice to moisten thoroughly.

Jeruba's avatar

That must be disappointing. Sounds like it should be good.

Here’s what I might try, if it looked feasible: turn it into turkey-stuffed peppers.

You could halve, clean, and parboil (5 min.) 3 or more bell peppers, cook some rice or quinoa, and combine it with the turkey stuff along with some chicken or turkey broth and maybe a little vegetable oil, and some (but not much) tomato sauce or tomato juice. Pile it into the pepper halves. Spread some shredded cheese on top. Give it half an hour in the oven at 350.

Instead of parboiling the peppers, you could just arrange them in the oven dish and pour the extra chicken broth into the dish around them.

One advantage of the halved peppers is that they hold their shape. If your turkey mixture is falling apart, you probably don’t have the right glue-to-crumbles ratio, and giving it containers can help. Next time, go a little easier on the additions—breadcrumbs, chopped vegetables—and see if it holds together better. You probably also need some vegetable oil.

I’m not one of those fearless, inventive cooks either, so trust your own instincts. @Kardamom could probably help, but she doesn’t do meat.

seawulf575's avatar

Wrap it in bacon and reheat. The problem you ran into is ground turkey doesn’t have enough fat in it to make a moist meatloaf. And when you add breadcrumbs, you soak up what little juice there is.
Another option is to use it as a crumble in something else. Mac n Cheese for instance.

stanleybmanly's avatar

Soak it in booze!

gorillapaws's avatar

You used 93/7 Turkey, right?

99% Turkey is like a brick of flavorless, dry, solid protein mass. Not much rescuing to be done in that situation unless you add more fat. @seawulf575 probably has the right idea with bacon. When in doubt, wrap it in bacon!

filmfann's avatar

I was first struck by your not using tomato sauce.
Also, try adding a bit of herbs de province. A little really does go a long way.

jca2's avatar

I’d do a jar of sauce and maybe crumble it up over some pasta.

Tropical_Willie's avatar

Get a couple cans of pinto beans, chili power and large can of tomatoes – - -turkey chili.

Jeruba's avatar

Turkey chili sounds like an excellent solution.

cookieman's avatar

Barbecue sauce never disappoints.

Tropical_Willie's avatar

@Jeruba that is the only thing I make with ground turkey.

YARNLADY's avatar

@Tropical_Willie You beat me to it. For people who don’t like chili powder, use taco seasoning instead and add a can of corn.

kritiper's avatar

Ketchup can hide many a cooking sin. You might try crumbling it up with some likewise fried, crumbled sausage.

RedDeerGuy1's avatar

I would ground it up add shredded bread, eggs and margarine then make burgers out of it.Edit I just read your details. Turkey burgers sound yummy.

dxs's avatar

I did the ketchup thing, and it masked the meatloaf a good amount. I also had a distracting video to watch. I think I’ll try the chili tomorrow. I have a good turkey chili recipe that I use often, so it’s at least something I’m more comfortable making.

kruger_d's avatar

BBQ sauce.

JLeslie's avatar

Add it to pasta sauce and put it over pasta.

Add it to Velveta mac and cheese from a box (that’s what my husband would do) along with some peas.

Make some quesadillas or tacos with it. Add some beans or roasted veggies and cheese.

Add it to rice. Either Spanish rice or white rice with lentils and fried onions on top.

Serve with mashed potatoes and gravy.

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