Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: Because the meatloaves are small, they cook quickly. This mini meatloaf sheet pan dinner is a complete meal, all on one sheet pan, perfect for an easy weeknight meal!
How long it takes:20 minutes prep, 35 minutes bake time
Equipment you’ll need: large rimmed sheet pan, mixing bowl
Servings: 4
Every time I mention to someone that I have this little recipe website of mine, people always ask for easy recipes. Luckily for them (for all of us), Rachel Cooks is packed with easy recipes!
I like to cook, but I also don’t really like to cook. Do you know what I’m saying? I enjoy creating and developing recipes, and I really enjoy eating, but on a Thursday evening when I’ve been flying around all day and I’m exhausted? I’m just not feeling up to doing much cooking.
That’s why you’ll find lots of quick and easy recipes here. I know you probably don’t like to do dishes either (who does?). Many of my recipes are one pan meals, one pot pasta dinners, and sheet pan dinners.
This meatloaf recipe may become one of your favorite go-to recipes for busy weeknights. You can put it together in about 20 minutes and then into the oven it goes for 35 minutes. That’s just enough time to help the kids with homework, throw a quick load into the wash machine, or to put your feet up for a minutes.
What To Serve with A Sheet Pan Dinner
The beauty of most sheet pan dinners is that they are a meat and potato meal, including a vegetable. Protein, starch, vegetable! You really wouldn’t have to serve anything else.
That’s not to say that you can’t serve a side dish with this dinner. A salad is always welcome and a good way to get more veggies on the plate. Try cabbage salad with honey lime dressing or simple healthy coleslaw. Simple marinated tomatoes or pickled vegetables go nicely with this meal. A citrus fruit salad is perfect, too.
Looking for an easy dessert to whip up? Try pumpkin pudding (with only 4 ingredients) or cream cheese fruit dip with assorted in-season fruit.
Cooking Tip
Choose ground turkey with a 93/7 fat percentage for the best results with this recipe. Too little fat makes a dry meatloaf.
The prep time for the vegetables is minimal! I use colorful “petite” rainbow carrots (got mine from Trader Joe’s and they come already peeled!). You could also substitute a bag of baby carrots.
Small potatoes cook quickly and have tender skins so you won’t need to peel them. Usually they are pre-washed so just give them a quick rinse. I like to halve the potatoes because they brown better.
You can, of course, use large potatoes and regular carrots. Scrub them well and cut them into approximately equal sizes, not too large. If the pieces are more than an inch or so, they won’t become tender before the mini turkey meatloaves finish cooking.
If you choose to use a faster cooking vegetable, like broccoli, asparagus, or summer squash, add it halfway through the baking time so it doesn’t get overdone.
Make this sheet pan dinner your own
- Make it Whole30 compliant: Use almond meal/flour instead of breadcrumbs, or skip the breadcrumbs completely. Use a Whole30 compliant ketchup (I used Tessamae’s, it’s sweetened with dates!).
- Substitute different vegetables: No one says you have to do carrots and potatoes. Try sweet potatoes, radishes (roasted radishes are delish!), green beans, asparagus, or any of your favorites. Keep in mind that green beans and asparagus only take about 10 minutes to roast, so add them at the end.
- Use different bread crumbs: You can use Italian seasoned bread crumbs and omit the Italian seasoning. Panko would also work in this recipe, and whole wheat bread crumbs are always a great idea!You can easily make your own breadcrumbs using bread that’s slightly stale. Substitute oats for a gluten-free alternative.
- Try a different kind of ground meat: We love turkey but if you prefer chicken, beef, pork, veal, or a combo, feel free to do it that way! Make sure to keep the fat content relatively low, though, or your vegetables will be cooking in a pool of fat and won’t get nice and golden brown and crisp.
- Cheese is always a good idea! Try mixing a half cup of shredded cheese into your meat mixture for extra flavor and moisture. Cheddar, Parmesan, and mozzarella are all solid choices.
More Meatloaf Recipes
- Classic Meatloaf Recipe – the best!
- Southwestern Mini Meatloaf Recipe with south of the border seasoning.
- Italian Turkey Quinoa Meatloaf
Head start: Prep the meatloaves, or just the meatloaf mixture, a day ahead. Store in a tightly covered container.
Meal prep: The meatloaves can be made ahead and frozen. If you have spare time, make a double or triple batch of the meatloaf mixture, form into meatloaves, and freeze on a tray until firm, a couple of hours. Place in a freezer-safe container or resealable bag. Uncooked meatloaves will keep in the freezer for up to 6 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before proceeding with the recipe.
Refrigerate/Freeze: Cooked meatloaf and vegetables can be refrigerated for three to four days in a covered container or frozen for up to 6 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
Reheat: Individual servings can be reheated in the microwave. For best results, reheat in the oven or toaster oven at 400°F until heated through. An air fryer does a nice job of reheating, too. I like to cut the meatloaves in half lengthwise before reheating so that they heat more evenly.
More Sheet Pan Dinners
Mini Meatloaf Sheet Pan Dinner
Ingredients
Meatloaf:
- 1 pound ground turkey (I recommend 93/7)
- 1 small onion, grated or finely minced
- 1 large egg, beaten
- ½ cup ketchup, additional for topping if desired
- ½ cup bread crumbs
- ½ cup minced fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Vegetables:
- 1 pound small potatoes, cut in half
- 1 pound carrots, cut into ½ -inch rounds (or whole baby carrots)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper, or to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, onion, egg, ketchup, Italian seasoning, pepper, salt, and bread crumbs. Mix until just combined (I use my hands). Do not overmix.
- Divide meat mixture into 4 evenly sized mini meatloaves and place on a rimmed sheet pan, 13 x 18 inches.
- Toss the potatoes and carrots with olive oil, salt, and pepper in a clean bowl. Arrange potatoes and carrots around meatloaves in an even, single layer.
- Bake for 20 minutes, stir potatoes and vegetables carefully, and return to oven. Continue to cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until internal temperature of meatloaves registers as 165°F on an instant read thermometer and potatoes and carrots are tender. If desired, top meatloaves with additional ketchup in the last 2 to 3 minutes of cooking time.
- Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Feel free to substitute vegetables you prefer or have in the fridge. Shorter-cooking vegetables can be added halfway through the total cooking time.
- Any type of ground meat or a combination can be used. Choose meat with a lower fat percentage so the sheet pan meal doesn’t get too greasy.
- To make Whole30 compliant: Use almond meal/flour instead of breadcrumbs, or skip the breadcrumbs completely. Use a Whole30 compliant ketchup.
- To make gluten-free: Use oats or oat flour instead of breadcrumbs.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
It was easy and delicious! I did substitute Chicago Steak Seasoning from Penzey’s for the Italian Seasoning and added ground turmeric.
So glad you liked it! I appreciate you taking the time to leave a review!
These are so good and easy! The only issue I have is that they look uncooked because of the ketchup. Kind of freaks me out! Lol but I know they’re cooked and they’re delicious. Thanks for sharing!
Hahaha that’s definitely true! Glad you like the recipe, though! Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!
I first made this on 8/7. I have made it once a week since then. 19 year old, 82 year old and me, 54, we all love it. I have made it with egg plant, potatoes, summer squash, zucchini, beets. My child, 19, who wouldn’t eat eggplant or beets ate it all up. I didn’t have any fresh parsley, so I threw in some dried. I also usually use 20 oz of turkey instead of 16. So delicious.
Oh wow! That makes me so happy! Thank you for taking the time to come back and leave a comment, it means a lot to me!
Any suggestion for an alternative to ketchup? I recently discovered I allergic to tomatoes in different forms…but ketchup does bring the necessary zing to things especially meatloafs. Thanks if you do.
Hi Shenise! So sorry to hear about your allergy, that’s so hard! I would suggest a brown gravy – turkey, chicken or beef would be good. It would add some moisture and flavor that the ketchup adds. If you wanted the “zing” of ketchup, you could try adding a couple teaspoons of vinegar to the meat.
If it’s just ketchup and you can handle other forms of tomatoes (I’m guessing that’s not the case, but maybe this will help others), BBQ sauce or marinara sauce would be good.
This looks so tempting. Surely gonna try the recipe this weekend.
sounds good.