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Vegetable-stuffed Meatloaf

A meatloaf filled with sautéed carrots, mushrooms, zucchini, and tomato juice, baked with ground turkey, ground round, oats, and Parmesan.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Carrot and tomato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,606 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Vegetable-stuffed Meatloaf

Oven375°F
Time50 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the filling

  1. Combine carrots, mushrooms and zucchini in small saucepan. Stir in ½ cup tomato juice and ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning.

  2. Cover and cook over medium heat until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.

  3. Uncover and allow to cook, stirring occasionally, until most of juice has cooked away (watch carefully so it doesn't cook dry or scorch).

  4. Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan cheese.

Shape the loaf

  1. Spray a broiler pan with nonstick spray coating.

  2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine ground meats, ½ cup tomato juice, onion, oats, egg whites, Worcestershire sauce, remaining 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, salt and pepper; stir well.

  3. Spoon meat mixture onto a sheet of wax paper. Press mixture lightly into a 9-inch-by-10-inch rectangle.

  4. Spoon vegetable mixture over meat. Use wax paper to gently roll meat, jellyroll fashion, forming a loaf about 10 inches by 4 inches.

  5. Transfer to prepared pan and place loaf seam side down.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake at 375°F for 50 minutes.

  2. Cook remaining ½ cup tomato juice in small, uncovered saucepan 5 minutes or until slightly reduced. Stir in balsamic vinegar.

  3. Brush tomato-juice mixture over meatloaf.

  4. Continue baking meatloaf about 10 minutes or until meat thermometer registers 165°F and meat is no longer pink inside.

  5. Allow to stand 10 minutes before slicing.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

647Calories
60 gProtein
20 gFat
58 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 13 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Chicken100g cooked165
Oat1/2 cup dry (40g)154
Parmesan Cheese1 oz (28g)110
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Cucumber1/2 cup sliced (52g)16
Mushrooms1/2 cup sliced (35g)15
Soy Sauce1 tbsp (15ml)9
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Carrot + tomatotop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,606 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Mushroom + parmesan cheesetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,199 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).

  3. Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Mushroom + tomatotop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,719 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  5. Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Ground turkey breast and lean ground round
Provide the protein that forms the body of the loaf and sets firm when baked.
Egg whites
Bind the meat mixture so the loaf holds its shape when sliced.
Rolled quick-cooking oats
Absorb liquid and keep the meat moist and tender during baking.
Carrots, mushrooms and zucchini
Add moisture and bulk to the filling, keeping the loaf juicy inside.
Tomato juice
Adds moisture to the meat and, reduced into a glaze, gives the loaf a glossy, tangy top.

The step that matters

Cook the vegetable filling until the juice is mostly gone. Leftover liquid in the filling would turn the meat mixture wet and loose, making the rolled loaf hard to shape and likely to slump or steam rather than hold together while baking.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (carrot, mushroom, tomato, parmesan cheese, turkey, oats, egg):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Asparagusfits better
  3. Spinachfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against carrot, mushroom, tomato, parmesan cheese, turkey, oats, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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