Bacon Cheeseburger Turkey Meatloaf

So this recipe is kind of like when a person orders a Double Bacon Cheeseburger with Fries ... and a Diet Coke.

Health-wise, I would say its only redeeming quality is the ground turkey in place of beef.

Taste-wise is another story.

This is delicious.  I'm just saying.

And that actually means a lot coming from me, because I'm really not a meatloaf kinda gal.

But I promise if you like meatloaf, cheese, and bacon (either separately or all together) you will love this.

The hardest part, however, was to make it look appetizing.

Usually Mr. Vittles fixes his own plate (yeah... this isn't 1953), but this time I put one together for him just for photographic purposes.  (My favorite part of the meatloaf is the end piece, and lets face it - meatloaf butt is just not cute.)

So he came meandering into the kitchen as I was getting the camera and I yelled "Wait! Don't touch that yet!  I have to take a picture of it."

His response was "Relax. I know better than to touch the meatloaf without clearance."

He is learning.

So I snapped some shots- you know, really getting up in the meatloaf's grill?

But this was a tough model.  The pictures were so... blah.

Tyra Banks would not be pleased.

"Ugh," I whined, "it's hard to make meatloaf sexy."

Mr. Vittles suggested I put some lingerie on it, but I'm not sure that would have helped.

Just now, I put up the two best pictures I took and asked him which he thought looked better - 1 or 2?

"I don't know," he said.  "They both look gross.  I guess the first one because it has noodles in it."

Encouraging!

So you'll just have to take my word for it.

I swear this meatloaf is hot.

Bacon Cheeseburger Turkey Meatloaf

• 2 large eggs 
• 1/4 C. ricotta cheese
  
• 1/4 C. milk
• 1/2 C. seasoned bread crumbs
• 1 T. ketchup
• 1 T. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 T. mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/ 2 t. garlic powder
• 1/4 t. dried mustard
• 1/4 t. onion powder
• 1.3 lbs. ground turkey (prepackaged its usually this size, but anything around a pound is fine)
  
• 8-10 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 4 oz. cheddar or your favorite cheese, grated (naturally, I used pepperjack for Mr. V)

Preheat oven 350 degrees.  Prepare pan for loaf (**see note below). Combine the eggs through the onion powder in a bowl and mix together.  Add bacon and cheddar cheese and mix.  Then add ground turkey and mix with your hands until incorporated well.

**You can put the meatloaf in a loaf pan or shallow pan if you want, but I'll tel you how I like to cook meatloaf - line a baking sheet with foil.  Place a cooling rack on top of it (like the kind you'd use to cool cookies) and place a sheet of foil over that as well.  (I would recommend non-stick - if you don't have it, then lightly spray the foil with non-stick spray).  Using the tip of a knife, punch small holes all over the middle of the foil like so, but maybe a little closer together in the middle:

The idea is to give the meatloaf support, but allow the fat to drip through so its not just sitting in grease (and also not have a huge mess to clean up!)

Bake 45 minutes.  Meanwhile, prepare glaze in a small bowl or measuring cup & mix until smooth:

• 1/4 C. ketchup
• 1 T. spicy brown mustard
• 1 t. brown sugar
• 1 T. white vinegar
• 1 T. Frank's Sweet Chile sauce (optional)

Pour glaze over meatloaf and spread completely over the top.  Bake an additional 15 minutes, and remove from oven.  Let rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing & serving.


Recipe Heavily Adapted from Paula Deen on the Food Network