Servings: 8 Prep: 20 min Cook: 1 hr Total: 1 hr 35 mins
I’ve already got another meatloaf on my website, but … a few things prompted this recipe.
- I wanted to play with a whole sheet of bacon.
- Turkey, as I understand it, is pound-for-pound, the least expensive meat which can be purchased.
- I like turkey and don’t feel it needs to be relegated to November.
- Who says I need to put a cap on meatloaf recipes?!
In all sincerity, this recipe really is here because I wanted to play with bacon. I’ve seen countless photos of this cool “lattice” bacon formation, all over the inter-web. I’ve seen it wrapped around whole turkeys (called “Turbacon!”), I’ve seen it formed into thin sheets, which were used to top brownies, I’ve even seen taco shells made from it. This all makes perfect sense, in some small way … it all looks delicious and tastes even better!
So, this is just me playing. I’m having fun, doing silly things with food. As a kid, my Mom always told me not to play with my food.
In your face, Mom! (just kidding!)
Bacon Wrapped Turkey Meatloaf
Print RateIngredients
- 1 lb cremini or button mushrooms finely chopped
- 2 tbsp butter or bacon fat
- 1 medium onion diced
- 4 each garlic clove minced
- 2 lbs ground turkey
- 2 small roasted bell peppers peeled, seeded and diced
- 2 tsp fresh rosemary chopped
- 1 1/2 cups pork rinds (fried skin) crushed
- 2 large whole eggs
- 1/2 cup chicken stock or broth
- 12 slices raw bacon
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Assuming all veggies are sliced, diced and chopped, you want to finely chop the mushrooms. You can do this with a knife or a food processor. A cheese grater works really nicely, too.
- Once the mushrooms have been chopped, sauté with half of the butter or bacon fat and a little salt and pepper. Sauté until the water cooks out is removed and you're left with a paste-like consistency.
- In a separate pan, soften on low heat the onions and garlic with a little salt, pepper and the remaining butter or bacon fat. Sweat until translucent.
- Set both veggies and mushrooms in the cooler to chill.
- In a large bowl, combine the turkey, peppers, rosemary, egg, chicken stock, pork rinds and eggs; adding the onions, garlic and mushrooms last.
- Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Mix well. Should be a doughy consistency and not watery.
- Make a lattice pattern with the 12 slices of bacon, alternating 6 strips with 6 other strips, facing the other directions. See the recipe notes for photos of this pattern.
- Form a log with the turkey; about the size and shape of a small football.
- Roll the turkey log into the bacon lattice sheet, making sure the sheet is tight and that the seam side is facing down.
- Place a lightly greased sheet of parchment paper on a cookie tray. Set the meatloaf on it.
- Bake for about 1 hour or until an internal temperature of 160°F.
- Make sure to let rest about 15 minutes prior to slicing.
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* Learn More: More about this recipe and nutrition …
Groupon posted it on their Facebook page. I know that much. 🙂
Hi DJ, this looks fantastic!! I am going to have to try this. The other day I made a turkey meatloaf but the turkey had quite a bit of water in it that cooked out. I am still looking for a good brand of turkey to use. Also, I have noticed that some turkey has more fat or about the same fat as ground beef does. I was a little surprised at that. But, alas with the price of beef, turkey is in the budget as long as it is not a lot of water.
Jana, I know there’s a wide spectrum of variations in different ground products. Some are just kinda icky, frankly. In any event, if you find there’s too much water in the meatloaf, what I’ve been doing lately is adding about 1/4 cup of ground chia seeds, in place of the pork rinds. Chia seeds can absorb about 10 times their weight in moisture, so … this does an AMAZING job of holding the moisture in the loaf, while also improving the overall texture. A wonderful addition to meatloaf. Give it a shot!
This is just a general question, please. So many recipes I’d like to try, but I’m having trouble viewing them. Is there a way to scroll through them without having to wait for each to load? Thanks!
—Reply posted by DJ on 1/9/2015
Hi Dee … Really, any page on the internet needs to load before you can view it. That said, I suspect you’re telling me that my recipes take too long to load. It’s complicated, but I have a service that is supposed to increase the speed of the pages (it caches different versions all over the world). Interestingly, when I clicked the link to respond to your comment … the page DID take way too long to load. It’s possible that the service is down, or that I need to update something … and it’s just temporarily broken. I’ll look into it on Monday. For now … there really isn’t a way. Sorry! I’ll try and get it moving faster, soon!
Made this last night. Omigoodness it was AMAZING!!!! I was hesitant, thinking the bacon weave wouldn’t crisp up, but it sure did. Had it with cauliflower puree and green beans and mushrooms. Was a most delicious dinner! Leftovers are even better! Thanks so much for this!
—Reply posted by DJ on 1/25/2015
WHOO HOO!!! Yep, this is one I personally make pretty regularly, but I make little mini-loaves, instead. Then, I chill them and vacuum pack them, specifically FOR the leftovers. FANTASTIC! Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂