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When it comes to creating a crowd-pleasing dinner dish, meatloaf is almost always a guaranteed winner. I recently made the healthy meatloaf recipe below (with LOTS of hidden vegetables) for a girls night in get-together and I must say the ooh’s and aah’s were oh-so-rewarding!
Whether the girls were oohing over the taste or aahing over the fact that the healthy meatloaf had oh-so-many non-detectable veggies, I’m not really sure? All I know is that meatloaf has now officially been added to my “go to” list of recipes to make when company is coming. As with most of my favorite company recipes, I especially love that my healthy meatloaf recipe can be prepared well in advance (see recipe notes below.)
Perfect (and EASY!) Meatloaf Side Dishes
I served my healthy meatloaf recipe tapas style on small plates with sides of peas and cauliflower- garlic mashed potatoes, which were made with a cashew cream rather than butter and dairy cream.
How To Make Healthy Meatloaf (with LOTS of Hidden Veggies!)
Prep Time:
Yield:
PrintIngredients
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cups chopped cremini mushrooms
- 1 Spanish onion (chopped)
- 6 carrots (chopped)
- 4 stalks or celery (chopped)
- 2 red bell peppers (chopped)
- 2 pounds pastured ground beef
- 1 cup gluten-free rolled oats
- 8 cloves garlic (crushed)
- 2 organic (pastured eggs (such as Vital Farms))
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons organic Worcestershire sauce (such as Annie’s Naturals)
- 1 teaspoon organic Italian Seasoning (such as Simply Organic)
- 1 1/4 teaspoon unrefined sea salt
- 1 cup prepared marinara (my favorite is Rao’s)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Heat the oil in a large heavy skillet over medium-heat. When the skillet is hot, add the mushrooms, onions, carrots, celery and red bell pepper. Sauté for 7 to 8 minutes, or until vegetables are soft. Transfer the softened vegetables to a large mixing bowl. Add in the ground beef, oats, garlic, eggs, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, Italian seasoning, and salt. Use your hands to mix ingredients together.
- Transfer the vegetable-meat mixture to a food processor and process until vegetables are finely chopped and ingredients are well blended.
- Place the vegetable-meat mixture on the center of the parchment paper and shape into a large loaf, about 1-inch thick. Spread the marinara sauce over the meatloaf. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until meat is cooked through and no longer pink. Remove meatloaf from oven and set aside to cool for at least 15 minutes before serving. Serve warm.
Notes
Please note, this meatloaf recipe serves a rather large group of 12 people. If you aren’t feeding 12 people, leftovers will keep nicely if stored in a covered container in the fridge for 4 to 5 days. You can also freeze leftovers for up to a month. The third option is to simply cut the recipe in half.
P.S. Do You Have a Favorite Healthy Meatloaf Recipe?
If so, I would love to hear about it! Please feel free to share the recipe or link in the comments below!
You recommended shaping into a one inch high loaf. Yet the picture looks thicker……
Also can you give cooking time for half of the recipe, baked in an 8 x 4 or 9×5 loaf pan?
Looks very yummy, and there are only two of us! Thanks!
Hi Cherryl! We ate the whole thing up, so I no longer have leftovers to measure =( However, I am pretty sure it was about an inch—but, to be honest, I don’t think it makes a huge difference in the cooking time if its a bit shorter or taller. However, I DO think that cooking the meatloaf in a loaf pan rather than on the parchment WOULD make a difference. So, if you are going to cut the recipe in half, I would just shape your loaf on the open parchment like I did and make it a smaller loaf overall (but not necessarily any shorter in height—only in length) I hope that makes sense? If you just make the whole thing smaller the cooking time might only be reduced by about 8 minutes. I would test it 37 minutes and see if it is cooked through. If not, cook it for about 5 more minutes (close to the full cooking time) and I am almost certain that will work! Please let me know if you have any other questions…
Hi, since I’m allergic to beef and mushrooms, can I substitute ground turkey? What could I replace the mushrooms with? Thanks for your help!
Sincerely,
Brenda
Hi Brenda! Oh yes, you can absolutely use ground turkey in place of the beef (just look for pastured turkey!) As for the mushrooms, hmmmmm….I think chopped cauliflower might actually work very well! You’ll want to chop it before you saute and then when you put everything in the food processor it will be “super chopped”! I am almost certain this will work. Please keep me posted and let me know =)
Your meatloaf looks yummy…..looking forward to making it……what a great looking dinner….now where was dessert ? 🙂 Something healthy of course…..
★★★★★
Thanks so much =) Oh and yes! I too love dessert!! Check out my latest dessert recipe for strawberry ice cream (has the same yummy taste and creamy texture as the real deal, minus the dairy and refined sugar) here is the recipe: https://cleancuisine.com/how-to-make-strawberry-ice-cream/
Can anything be substituted for the 1/4 cup tomatoe paste? My little guy can’t have tomatoes. Thank you
Hi Rachel, Hmmmm…although I have not tried it, I think maybe you could substitute pureed butternut squash. That should give you the right texture, it just won’t give you the “tang” you would get from the tomato paste. It should end up just being a more mild-flavored meatloaf, but I do think it will still be good! Please let me know how it works out if you give it a try….
Can you substitute the beef for tempeh?:)
Yes Nicole! I think that would actually work just fine.
For the tang from not using tomatoes, just add some vinegar. I like the idea of using stake sauce in it. I am going to do this. I do not have ketchup so I am using a ginger soy salad dressing instead and topping it with some dried seasoned salad toppigs. I am wanting to add some cabbage in mine and plan to blend it because of some picky visiters. Do you have to cook it before blending it?
Hi there, just wondering about the calorie content? I didn’t see it anywhere but could have overlooked it. Thank you!