This easy, gluten-free, dairy-free Sweet Potato Turkey Meatloaf puts a fun healthy spin on my classic turkey meatloaf.
Sweet Potato Turkey Meatloaf
My classic turkey meatloaf recipe is on repeat in my house, but I love playing around with it. I tested this Sweet Potato Turkey Meatloaf without breadcrumbs a few ways and love how this turned out. It uses a baked sweet potato, which is rich in fiber, vitamins, and minerals, as a binder and is topped with a ketchup glaze. Get more ground turkey recipes here!
Can you add potatoes to meatloaf?
The answer is yes, and it works well as a binder in place of breadcrumbs or oats. I used sweet potatoes which adds dietary fiber, vitamins and nutrients.
What is the secret to moist meatloaf?
Here are a few tips for moist turkey meatloaf:
- Choose Your Ingredients Wisely: The sweet potato, egg, and ketchup all add moisture to the turkey.
- Don’t Overmix: Combine the ingredients just enough without overdoing it, which will result in tougher meatloaf.
- Don’t Overbake: The meatloaf should be done in about 55 minutes, but feel free to check it with a meat thermometer before that. Ovens all bake differently, so yours may be ready sooner.
Turkey Meatloaf Ingredients
- Large Sweet Potato: This easy turkey meatloaf recipe is a great way to use leftover baked sweet potatoes or air fryer sweet potatoes. If you don’t have leftovers, the quickest way to cook it is in the microwave. To microwave, pierce the potato several times with a fork, and wrap in a paper towel. Microwave 4 – 6 minutes, or until it is soft to the touch, adding more time if needed.
- Ketchup: Most of the ketchup goes into the meatloaf and the rest on top. It’s also delicious with BBQ sauce if you don’t want to use ketchup. To cut back on sugar and lower the calories, I often use sugar free ketchup.
- Worcestershire: Stir the sauce and ketchup to make the glaze.
- Ground Turkey: Use 93% lean turkey for moist meatloaf, 99% will be dry.
- Egg: If you can’t eat egg, leave it out. I tested this both ways. It will be slightly denser but totally fine!
- Onion Flakes: Saute 1/4 cup chopped onion if you don’t have dried onion flakes.
- Marjoram: Swap marjoram for your favorite spices.
- Salt: 1 teaspoon salt is used here, I use Diamond Crystal Kosher salt which has less sodium than Morton’s or table salt. If you use other salt, adjust.
How to Make:
- Sweet Potatoes: Cook your potatoes in the microwave if you don’t have any leftovers. Remove the skin and mash the flesh in a large bowl.
- Combine all the meatloaf ingredients except for two tablespoons of ketchup and Worcestershire with a fork. Shape the mixture into a loaf on a prepared baking sheet.
- Glaze: Mix the remaining ketchup and Worcestershire sauce and brush it on top of the meatloaf.
- Bake uncovered for 55 minutes at 350F. Let it sit for five minutes before slicing.
Variations:
- Use ground chicken or beef in place of ground turkey.
- For a kid-friendly twist, add some cheddar cheese in the mix, if you like it cheesy.
- If you want to add more flavor, saute 1 small onion, with 1 clove garlic and 1 tablespoon tomato paste, then adding it to the mix.
How to Freeze Meatloaf
Leftover turkey meatloaf will keep in the fridge for three to four days and in the freezer for three months. Store in a freezer safe container or wrap in foil. You can thaw a serving overnight in the refrigerator and microwave it when ready to eat.
Side Dishes That Go Well With This
For some dinner ideas, serve it with cauliflower mash and broccoli. A brussels sprout salad, rice, or spinach would also be good.
More Meatloaf Recipes You’ll Love:
- Sheet Pan Turkey Meatloaf and Broccoli
- Meatloaf and Brown Gravy
- Enchilada Turkey Meatloaf
- Skillet Harissa Turkey Meatloaf
- Cheese-Stuffed Turkey Meatloaf
Your comments are helpful! If you’ve tried this healthy Sweet Potato Turkey Meatloaf Recipe or any other on Skinnytaste, don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below. And if you took a photo of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can reshare on my Stories!
Sweet Potato Turkey Meatloaf
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 medium baked sweet potato, about 7 ounces* (1 heaping cup)
- 6 tablespoons ketchup, divided (for whole30, use sugar free such as Primal Kitchen)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 pound ground turkey, 93% lean
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons dried onion flakes
- 1 teaspoon marjoram
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Remove flesh from sweet potato, discard skin and mash in a large bowl.
- Add turkey, egg, dried onion, 1/4 cup ketchup, marjoram and 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and mix with the ground turkey using a fork until mixed well.
- In a small bowl combine 2 tablespoons of the ketchup with Worcestershire sauce.
- Shape into a loaf and place on a baking sheet. Spoon sauce on top.
- Bake uncovered for 55 minutes, remove from oven and let it sit for 5 minutes before slicing.
Absolutely delicious!!! Curious since my picky son hates sweet potatoes anything else I could substitute?
I am always looking for new healthier options. I almost changed my mind about making it. I am glad I made it because it was surprisingly delicious!
Tried this for the first time last night. Followed the recipe as written except add diced raw onion in place of the onion flakes and add some fresh parsley I had on hand. Made individual mini-meatloafs for meal prepping. They were delicious! This is a keeper. Thank you!
Made this for dinner turned out amazing
I wonder how this would be as meatballs. My granddaughters love meatball and I thought this might be another way to get in a veggie??
I think they would be good, let me know if you try them!
Just made this meatloaf. It is excellent! I will definitely make it again and again.
Just finished eating this for dinner and it’s a tasty, healthy spin on a classic. I really enjoyed it. I riffed on it a some by adding sautéd celery, carrots, onions, jalapeno, and garlic. I had some fresh parsley so I used that along with rosemary and thyme. I served it with a little smoky BBQ sauce and it was gooood. Incredibly moist but held together well.
For other people’s reference, I baked this in the 1-cup Souper Cube tray! It made 4, 3/4c portions. Keep in mind that the fat has nowhere to drain in those, so try to get very lean turkey. They temped at 200° at 50 minutes, so I’ll check them much sooner next time. No harm though, they really are juicy little loaves!
Delicious. I substituted Hawaiian bbq sauce (store bought) for the ketchup. I will be adding this to my rotation. My new favorite meatloaf recipe.
Taste very good and healthy.
Great recipe. I love the texture & the taste. I make it at least once a month
Could you substitute the sweet potato for canned pumpkin?
Delicious! Easy to do. The second time that I’ve made this I made it the first time with ground beef. It was delicious. The ground turkey is even better.
I have no cooking experience. I’m just a retired maintenance mechanic. I love sweet potato pie. Your recipe is very delicious. The meatloaf is moist and tender. Your recipe was extremely easy to follow. Thank you.
How can this be made lower sodium ?
This was delicious! What a great way to use a sweet potato. Thank you!
Absolutely delicious 😋 So glad I came across this Turkey meatloaf recipe. I love making this recipe and serving to those who say”Oh this is Turkey?? Well it’s yummy ” I like using the herb Tarragon in this recipe. It pairs well with the Turkey. Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe!😁
I make this on rotation with either turkey or chicken: we use egg whites and homemade ketchup to keep sugars and calories lower. We add some garlic powder and black pepper. This is our go to for “meat loaf”. Thank you for sharing this recipe!!
Made a few minor modifications: used 3lbs of ground turkey to yield two loaves (adjusted ingredients accordingly, so 2 eggs instead of one, for example), and used Liptons onion soup packets for the dried onion called for. I peeled and grated my sweet potatoes, which baked in perfectly w/o needing to mash them ahead. As a personal preference of our household, I did add a third egg with some Italian seasoned breadcrumbs, but this is not necessary at all for this recipe as is. I used ketchup on one loaf, and BBQ sauce for the other (was running out of ketchup so that was my next best option). Baked for one hour, they came out perfectly, and were served with cheddar bay biscuits on the side! I’ll definitely be using this one again!
Sorry but my husband said it was the driest turkey meatloaf he has ever had
I thought the flavor was good but i t was very dry..
I. Would not make it again
It sounds like you used turkey breast rather than 93% lean.
a favorite recipe for meatloaf, I always wonder about amount of sweet potato as a raw 7 ounce doesn’t yield anywhere close to one cup…so is it 7 ounce of cooked rather then the raw weight? I have gone by one cup mashed but it requires a very large potato for that more like 12-14 ounces Thanks
One of my go too recipes now. Healthy, easy to make, and very tasty.
We love this meatloaf. I followed the recipe as written except I used chopped, sauted onions because I didn’t have flakes. It turned out perfectly. Next time, I’m going to add a tiny amount of chipolate in adobo to the mashed sweet potato…just to give it a hint of a smoky kick.
One of our favorites! Now only two points after the new WW zero points list
I was very pleasantly surprised by this recipe. My husband and I are doing a Whole30 and looking for something different than our usual recipes. This was delicious and we paired with blistered green beens from one of the Whole30 cookbooks for a nice healthy meal. To keep it Whole30 compliant we subbed coconut aminos for the Worcestershire sauce. Will definitely make this again!
This is such a delicious meatloaf. I keep going back to it over and over because we love it so much! I also double it so that we can enjoy it longer!
This was such an easy, delicious recipe. I’m going to double it next time, baking it in muffin pans so I can pop some of them in the freezer for quick reheating. Thank you!
Kevin – how long did you bake in the muffin pans? I’m thinking of trying in the 1 or 2 cup souper cubes.
This is one of my favorite meals to prepare. It is absolutely perfect. Thank you so much for posting this Gina. I have your book and everything is excellent!
Thanks John!
I am not a fan of sweet potatoes, but i was given a few. Came straight to SkinnyTaste to find a recipe and wanted to try this since it’s not a main ingredient. This was a HUGE HIT and no one knew sweet potatoes was in the dish.
The texture was off for me. Very soft and too moist. Maybe too much sweet potato?
Otherwise good flavor
Is there a way to reduce the salt content? I assume it is mostly from Worcestershire sauce and ketchup ? I need to be mindful of sodium intake.
Just don’t add the salt that is in the recipe list.
Made the meatloaf exactly as recipe shows and it was so yummy and moist! I’ll definitely make this one again. Thanks for all your ideas and recipes!
I bake one of these meatloafs on a regular basis. As others have stated, the meatloaf is moist and flavorful. I do use poultry seasoning and very lean ground turkey breast. I also bake it in a glass loaf pan. After I take it out of the oven, I let it sit for 5-10 minutes so the liquid can soak back into the meatloaf. It’s never been dry! I love how easy it is to make and how few ingredients it takes! While I make it as instructed, my hubby does like bbq sauce on the side. I like it as stated. Reheats well, too!! Thanks for a super recipe!!
We loved it! It is a keeper
Delicious! I didn’t have the dried onions so I subbed the sautéed onions and garlic and added Italian seasoning. My husband loved it. It will be on rotation for sure!
I made this meatloaf following the recipe exactly as written. Everyone agreed that the flavor of this loaf was good. But, this loaf was not meatloaf consistency at all. Inside, it was wet and a bit mushy. If it hadn’t had the ketchup/Worcestershire coating, I wouldn’t have eaten much.
Made this last night and it was flavourful, so moist and very quick to put together. I had a sweet potato (yam) in the fridge that I wanted to use. It wasn’t a large one so I didn’t have the heaping cup the recipe called for but it was still delicious. Will definitely make again.
Loved this! It is delicious and so easy to make! We also love the zucchini turkey loaf recipe.
Love this recipe!!! I used sriracha ketchup and it was a fantastic addition to give it a little kick!!
This was really good! I used bbq sauce instead of ketchup and seasonings that I had on hand. I doubled the recipe and put one meatloaf on the freezer. It was a big hit with my 3 year old, she asked for 3 helpings! Definitely going to make this again, and it was an easy weeknight meal since I usually bake sweet potatoes on weekends and have them on hand .
It has a great flavor and very moist. My husband also really liked not realizing how different from a usual meat loaf LOL
Lol!
This is a fantastic meatloaf recipe. It is simple, comes together quickly, and remains moist and luscious. I double it and freeze the second meatloaf for a future date. I have even varied the herbs to make it more “Thanksgiving-y” by adding dried sage and poultry seasoning, and using thinned jellied cranberry sauce on top. This changes the nutrition values of the original recipe.
This meatloaf is excellent! I will definitely be making it again! Easy and healthy – great weeknight dinner!
Really enjoyed this meatloaf! Different texture than usual but we loved the sweet potato flavor! I didn’t have onion flakes, so sautéed onions as suggested.
We loved this meatloaf. Made is last night. It was tasty, moist and so easy! You did it again, Gina!
So good! Used ground beef instead of turkey. The whole family liked it!
I made this recipe and it was a winner! First time using a sweet potato. It was so moist and full of flavor. I will definitely be making this again. Thanks Gina for another great recipe.
My boyfriend loved it! He couldn’t get enough of it! This is a keeper!
Perfect!
This was a delicious meatloaf! My only changes were adding chopped mushrooms, a oregano basil tomato spice blend and my favorite bbq sauce on top instead of ketchup mixture. I will make again for sure
Oh how I LOVE this recipe as does
my husband. I did not add the dried onion as I didn’t have any on hand. Easy, delicious, and the leftovers get gobbled
up!
Made the sweet potato turkey meatloaf tonight, it was amazing, the only problem I have was the salt. I used regular salt, NOT a good choice. Although my husband has been up several times for seconds. I will strongly recommend using less salt or use the Diamond Crystal as recommended. I used the ALL ingredients recommended.
The meatloaf was pretty good. Not my favorite Skinnytaste recipe but I did like it. My husband liked it and if he didn’t he definitely would not have eaten it .
This is a keeper. The sweet potato was a great addition! Very moist, savory & sweet. I did make some changes to reduce WW points: I used ground turkey breast, and subbed homemade marinara for ketchup (0 points), used Italian seasoning, garlic, & cracked black pepper. My husband loved it so much he almost ate all of it!
Kid friendly! Even my picky eaters loved it
This is a delicious recipe. I have already made it multiple times. It’s easy and I love the hints and freezing directions. I would recommend trying this one.
Didn’t expect this to go over well but everyone loved it, including my extremely picky 4 year old!
Perfect!
sooooo delicious and easy to make…note to self: make 2 at a time 🙂
We love this meatloaf recipe in our house! I used the ground beef option this time, flavors together are great, texture is perfect! Thanks for this gluten free alternative that turned out to be our best meatloaf! I chopped up a couple of slices and heated it up in skillet with a fried egg over easy, made a yummy hash :-))
Best meatloaf recipe hands down! This meatloaf is tasty and a super easy meal for a busy week.
This was excellent, so moist and flavorful and super easy. I used truffle ketchup from Trader Joe’s and loved the subtle truffle flavor.
This was soooooo amazing!! I added about 3/4 cup of oatmeal and a teaspoon of McCormick steak seasoning instead of just the salt. Roasted the sweet potato too.
Great!!!
Moist and delicious – can’t get any better than that 🙂
Thanks for sharing
This was delicious and so moist. Everyone in my family loved it – can’t get much better than that. Thank you for sharing this recipe 🙂
I absolutely love this recipe, it’s a favorite!
Delicious! I made this recipe swapping out the turkey for ground beef (after seeing that I could in your Variations section). The sweet potato gives such a yummy lift to our #1 comfort supper choice (meat loaf). Thank you! We love it.
This meatloaf is particularly good because the sweet potato keeps the meat moist. My husband whipped this up for us the other evening and we both agreed it was a winner.
This was so delicious! I made a few changes – I omitted the onion flakes to make it low FODMAP, used low FODMAP ketchup, used coconut aminos instead of Worcestershire sauce, and I baked it in a small (approx 8.4” x 4.4” metal pan) for about 65 minutes. It came out so moist and delicious, and yes, it kind of fell apart on my plate, but no biggie. I served with with baked potatoes and peas and it was a terrific combo!
OK, I’ll be honest here. This did not seem like something I’d like. Tried it anyway. SOOOOO good!!!! It was moist and meaty and satisfying, and so easy to make. I didn’t have any dried onion flakes so I just used diced onions, and I cooked the sweet potato in the microwave. This recipe will be going in my “favorites” file!
I liked this recipe. I followed it perfectly. It was just a little mushy but I didn’t mind
I really like this recipe but I always add some oatmeal and breadcrumbs. I find the recipe too wet to form a loaf. I found it also freezes really well!!
I had a 1/2 can of pumpkin in my fridge so I used that instead of the sweet potato. I also grated a whole onion to sun for the onion flakes. Worked out just fine 🙂
I liked this recipe a lot & it smelled delicious while it was baking!
Next time, I may use more spices for a little extra flavor.
This was quite tasty, but I did add a bit more seasoning and I had to add at least 1/4 c. breadcrumbs to get it to hold together at all. I will definitely make it again. Adding some finely chopped fresh spinach would be good.
Can I make this in advance? Meaning prepare night before and cook following day?
just made this again for 4th or 5th time, is our favorite turkey meatloaf of late. Only thing I do that varies is add one teaspoon penzy bavarian seasoning and use 1/4 cup finely chopped onion instead of dried and cut ketchup back to three in the meat loaf instead of 4. and one teaspoon mustard in the glaze. We love this meatloaf. Thank you
I would like to make these into muffins. Have you ever tried that and would the temperature and cooking time be different?
Amazing recipe. I love your zucchini meatloaf so I thought I try this one. I think I may like this one more?? If that’s even possible.
In addition to the marjoram, I added herbs de Provence and the sautéed onion/garlic/tomato paste mixture that you suggested. I served with roasted broccoli! If I could give this 10 stars I would.
This was so delicious! I coupled this with some broccoli. Super easy to make. Ended up adding sautéed onion and garlic. My husband and I loved it. Will definitely add this to our rotation.
Incredibly moist and flavorful. I didn’t have marjoram but I had Herbes de Provence so I used that. Otherwise, followed recipe exactly and found a keeper. Thank you!
Tasted great and easy to make
Suggest a loaf pan for consistent baking and consistency
Some Worcestershire sauces uses malt vinegar so keep an eye on the ingredients if you want Gluten free. I used fish sauce with molasses and onion and garlic powder. Wheat, Barley and rye malt vinigers contain gluten.
Can we leave out the Worcestershire or sub with coconut aminos for Whole30? I don’t think the Worcestershire is Whole30.
I made this Monday night to have some healthy food for lunches this week. I especially appreciated the instructions for how to microwave a sweet potato since I didn’t have any leftover – thanks also for the mention of Primal Kitchen as a sugar-free ketchup option. It was fabulous (even with the sugar-free ketchup)! I’m going to make a few for the freezer next!
DELISH, and is easy and quick. I didn’t have dried onion so I used and onion soup mix packet that I sieved out the seasoning and kept the dried onion. Ta Da
I loved this ! So so easy and really delicious!
I loved this so much! The sweet potato addition is genius. It was moist, flavorful, and perfect for my lunch meal prep. Thanks, Gina!
another FANTASTIC recipe! Husband loved it. This recipe works well using other proteins too. I didn’t have ground turkey on hand this time around so substituted with ground veal and it was extraordinary.
We loved this turkey meatloaf. I used the sauteed onion and garlic, and tomato paste, as suggested, instead of the dried onion, and also added 1/2 cup cheddar. Served with broccoli and some mashed potatoes.
Wow, this is an instant favorite, It is so moist and flavorful. Only thing different I did was add some Penzey Bavarian seasoning –just me and likeing extra herbs. We love this and it will be a regular.
This meatloaf was BEYOND my expectations, I would goce it a 10 if I could!!! Thank you for the recipe
So glad!!
We really loved this recipe. I substituted canned pumpkin puree for the sweet potato. Mine was a little wet/thin, so I added about 3 tablespoons of quick oats to take up some of the moisture and so it would hold its shape on the pan. I baked it at 400 so I could roast some cauliflower at the same time. This was a huge hit with the whole family!
I am so glad!
I made this today for the first time. We really enjoyed it and will make again. I make meatloaf quite a bit and having another variety to chose from is welcomed. Love the resource of the recipes on this site. I make lots of skinny taste recipes.
This meatloaf was delicious! We love sweet potatoes, but if you don’t, you honestly can’t even taste them! Perfect for my gluten free daughter! Will definitely make this again!
Glad you all enjoyed it!
I made this tonight. Really good! Thanks
Made this last night…delicious!!
My favourite meatloaf. I used a Japanese sweet potato instead. I also threw some carrots onto the sheet pan while it baked for a 2 in 1. Really delicious and simple
Great recipe and so easy to make. I came out delicious on my first try! I used 85/15 ground turkey and subbed basil in for marjoram. I also sauted a small chopped sweet onion in butter instead of dried onion. Really really good and now I have a lunch/dinner for a few days.
This was delicious! I liked the sweet potato instead of bread crumbs. The texture was perfect.
This was a nice change from my usual turkey meatloaf recipe. I did sub butternut squash for the sweet potatoes since that’s what I had from my produce delivery box. I just microwaved the squash and used one cup of the cooked squash instead of the sweet potato.The meatloaf was nice and moist, but still held together well.
Forgot to add that I did take GIna’s suggestion to sauté onion and garlic with tomato paste to add into the mix.
I saw your note to sauté 1 small onion and garlic with tomato paste for more flavor, I’m assuming this would be to replace the dried onion, correct?
correct
Made it for dinner last night and it was delicious! It was moist and super easy to put together. It’s a keeper recipe. Already shared it with family and friends!
Forgot to rate the recipe in my last comment! 👍👍👍👍👍
Would love to see the portion size in grams for us calories counters 🙂
This recipe showed up in my email and I gave it a try. So glad I did. It was so good. A wonderful changeup to ground beef meatloaf. I also like that the sweet potato gave the turkey loaf some color.
Can I use canned sweet potato for this recipe?
sure
OOOOOHHH…….. can’t wait to try this out – always looking for GF recipes
Can you get this past sweet potato hating people?
I’d suggest that if you can’t, replace all or some of the sweet potato with something like rutabaga/swede. It’s low carb and low sugar, but it still has a little of the sweetness that sweet potato has, so might be a great alternative!
This was so good and so easy. Very moist. Used chicken as that’s what I had. Everything else the same. 55 minutes was good. I was really surprised at how moist it was and was a little concerned it wouldn’t keep its shape but it held up and very very tasty! I’d say this is my go to meatloaf for quite a while. Had with Mexican zucchini skillet because I wanted to try it and it was a nice combo!
Made this tonight and we both gave it “two thumbs up!” Will definitely make again—it’s a great change up from our regular turkey meatloaf and loved that there is no breadcrumbs or oatmeal, etc. The sweet potato is a great addition. I followed the recipe…exactly….which is not always the case for me, but wanted to try it as written and don’t need to change a thing. Also—thanks for the tip on the Primal Kitchen ketchup—wow, might be my new favorite. Super fast to put together and tasty for any night. Thanks again, Gina!
Wonderful!!
Does ketchup go into the meatloaf as well?
yes! Part goes in, and the rest is a glaze.
Loved this! Will definitely make again.
AMAZING!!!!!! will make on repeat!
Glad you enjoyed it!
For some reason my family has an aversion to “meatloaf”. I’m wondering how this recipe would be as meatballs?
What about making the meatloaf mix in shape of a patty…like a salisbury steak? My grandkids have the same issues. Shaping the mixture differently is a sly trick for this grandma!
I’m going to try it in muffin cups. I make most meatloaf recipes as muffins. Good for portion control and takes less time to bake.
How long do you bake them and what temperature?
Also, pumpkin purée will work with lower fat meat like ground Turkey 99/1 and ground beef 86/4 plus 1 egg per lb. of ground beef.
This looks delicious. I’m always looking for a different recipe for meatloaf