Gluten Free Friday! (Turkey and Quinoa Meatloaf)

Hello again everyone and welcome to another edition of Gluten Free Friday. I hope everyone had a great week and is ready to get their weekend started. Today I bring you a delicious gluten free turkey meatloaf that’s loaded with flavor and is still low fat and low calories. Turkey always has a tendency to be a bit bland unless seasoned like crazy, in my opinion, but the quinoa and hot sauce as well as the sweet sauce on top of this meatloaf really adds a lot of flavor. I definitely recommend free-forming this into a loaf on a baking sheet rather than using a loaf pan, since it’s made with turkey, otherwise it’ll come out mushy. You can, however, fill a muffin tin with the mixture and make little muffin shaped individual meatloaves which are great for taking leftovers to work. Personally, I like to take leftover slices of meatloaf and make a meatloaf sandwich but you can do it however you like. If you do use the muffin tin I would recommend checking them after about 30 minutes because they shouldn’t take as long to finish. Give this healthy gluten free meatloaf recipe a try; I’m sure you’ll really love it. As always, feel free to leave comments below letting me know what you think.

Turkey and Quinoa Meatloaf

• 1/4 cup Quinoa
• 1/2 cup Water
• 1 tsp Olive Oil
• 1 small Onion, chopped
• 1 large Garlic Clove, chopped
• 1 1/4 lb Ground Turkey
• 1 Tbsp Tomato Paste
• 1 Tbsp Hot Pepper Sauce
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 Egg
• 1 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Ground Black Pepper
• 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
• 2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 tsp Water

1. Bring the quinoa and water to a boil in a saucepan over high heat; reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender, and the water has been absorbed, about 15 to 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat; stir in the onion and cook, stirring, until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes.
4. Add the garlic and cook for another minute; remove from heat to cool.
5. In a large bowl mix the turkey, cooked quinoa, onions, tomato paste, hot sauce, 2 tablespoons Worcestershire, egg, salt, and pepper until well combined; the mixture will be very moist.
6. Shape into a loaf on a foil lined baking sheet.
7. In a small bowl combine the brown sugar, 2 teaspoons Worcestershire, and 1 teaspoon water; rub the paste over the top of the meatloaf.
8. Bake in the preheated oven until no longer pink in the center and reads at least 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center, about 50 minutes.
9. Let the meatloaf cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.