Hidden Veggie Meatloaf. A light and flavorful meatloaf made with ground turkey, lean ground beef, and plenty of bell pepper, onion, and celery is a great way to sneak veggies into your unsuspecting kids. Make several at once and freeze the extras for later. Click here to see what that means!
Added bonuses of the hidden veggies also include a deliciously moist meatloaf bursting with flavor. I'm currently working on a healthy meal plan for a company behind-the-scenes, and this hidden veggie meatloaf is a part of the plan. I wanted to take out some of the fat from the ground beef using ground turkey and amp up the filling by basically stuffing every veggie I had on hand into it. You can cook Hidden Veggie Meatloaf using 13 ingredients and 4 steps. Here is how you achieve it.
Ingredients of Hidden Veggie Meatloaf
- Prepare 2 lbs of lean ground beef.
- Prepare 1 lb of ground pork.
- You need 1 of rib of celery, roughly chopped.
- You need 1/2 of bell pepper, roughly chopped.
- It's 12-15 of baby carrots (or 1/2 cup carrots, roughly chopped).
- It's 1 can of unsalted tomato sauce.
- It's 1/4 cup of water.
- It's 1 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs.
- Prepare 2 of eggs.
- You need 1 tsp of onion powder.
- It's 1 tsp of garlic powder.
- You need 1 tsp of salt.
- It's 1/4 tsp of black pepper.
In large bowl, mix together vegetables and remaining meatloaf ingredients until well combined. This hidden veggie meatloaf is a classic example where your food processor is your best friend. I use mine for almost every meal, in fact it's my top choice kitchen electrical that I'd take to my desert island. If the island had an electrical socket that is.
Hidden Veggie Meatloaf step by step
- Place celery, bell pepper, carrots, tomato sauce and water in a blender. Blend into a chunky puree. You want to still have some texture to the veggies, but you don't want them detectable in your meatloaf..
- Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl combine the meats, veggie puree, breadcrumbs, eggs, and all seasonings. Mix with clean hands until all ingredients are thoroughly combined..
- Transfer mixture to a large casserole dish or foil lined baking sheet then mold into short, wide rectangular loaf (I go for about 4"wide by 8" long)..
- Bake uncovered for 1 hour. Remove from oven. Top with a thin layer of ketchup. Return to oven and bake an additional.30-35 minutes, or until cooked through..
In a large mixing bowl, place the ground beef. Whisk eggs and add to the meat. After allowing the pasty vegetable mixture to cool down a bit, begin incorporating it into the meat. Keep mixing until it is well blended. Kid-Approved Hidden Veggie Meatloaf or Meatballs Recipe One of the biggest issues for feeding children is usually getting them to eat their vegetables.