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Moist, flavorful and packed with protein, this carrot and zucchini Gluten-Free Meatloaf is an easy healthy dish to enjoy any day of the week. Ground lean turkey gets teamed up with zucchini, carrots, and lots of seasonings before baking into the perfect melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness. It's Gluten-Free + Low-Calorie + Paleo + Low-Carb!
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I'm bringing back meatloaf to your table in a leaner, protein packed way with this paleo meatloaf with zucchini and carrots! You get all your veggies in one slice, and it's low in carbs and sugar. Oh yeah, it's pretty freaking delicious too.
If meatloaf is comfort food for your family, you’ve got to give this upgraded, healthier version a try. It packs in all the flavor, and needs just 15 minutes of prep time to put together.
This is also an excellent recipe to use up those leftover carrots and zucchini you might have. I love using zucchini to make my red pepper zucchini frittata for breakfast or zucchini taco boats when I’m in the mood for a delicious and healthy meal.
Sometimes, I also batch make some healthy zucchini biscuits, but this time, I just had a few that I wanted to use up.
Why You’ll Love This Gluten-Free Meatloaf Recipe
- Healthy and delicious: Packed with protein and healthy ingredients, this meatloaf makes for a delicious meal that you can savor guilt-free. It's suitable for gluten-free, dairy-free, and paleo diets!
- Family friendly: It’s perfect for the family. This meatloaf is a great weeknight meal that everyone will enjoy!
- Easy to make: With just minutes of prep time, you’ll be able to put this delicious paleo meatloaf together.
- Meal-prep friendly: It’s great for meal-prepping too. Perfect for those rushed weekdays when you want to put something healthy on the table.
Looking for more healthy meatloaf recipes to try? Check out my low-carb buffalo meatloaf or this meatloaf with 1 pound of ground beef!
Ingredients
- Ground turkey: I used extra lean ground turkey breast. You could use chicken or lean ground beef too.
- Carrots: For their incredible juiciness and sweetness.
- Zucchini: Grated fresh zucchini adds a ton of moisture and texture to the meatloaf.
- Almond flour: To help the meatloaf hold its shape. If you don’t have this, swap with any other gluten-free flour of your choice though these may not be paleo.
- Egg: To bind everything together.
- Seasonings: Just a dash of garlic powder, onion powder and Italian seasoning make the flavor pop! And of course, some salt and pepper too.
- Ketchup: I love using my homemade low sugar ketchup here. It tastes fantastic!
- Parsley: For a bit of freshness and flavor.
See the recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts, nutritional information, and detailed instructions.
Variations & Dietary Modifications
- Spicy: Add a dash of cayenne pepper or paprika into the meatloaf mixture to lend it a nice kick of heat.
- Extra flavor: Along with ketchup, use some gluten-free Worcestershire sauce to make the zucchini meatloaf more flavorful.
- Herby delicious: Experiment with different flavors by adding fresh or dried herbs like marjoram, thyme, rosemary and cilantro into the mix.
How to Make Gluten-Free Meatloaf
Start by preheating the oven to 375 F. Prepare the pan by greasing it with a bit of olive oil or some cooking spray.
Step 1: Prepare and assemble. In a large mixing bowl, add the ground turkey, carrots, zucchini, egg, almond flour and seasonings.
Step 2: Make the meatloaf mix. Combine everything together until you get a uniform mixture.
Step 3: Transfer to the pan. Transfer the mixture to the greased loaf pan and spread it out evenly. Bake for 20 minutes.
Step 4: Remove from oven. After baking for 20 minutes, remove the meatloaf from the oven.
Step 5: Spread ketchup. Top this with some of the ketchup.
Step 6: Bake, cool and serve. Bake for 40-45 minutes longer or until nicely done. Let the loaf rest for 10 minutes and then slice and serve.
Storage Directions
- Storing: Storing your leftover low carb meatloaf is pretty easy. Slice it up and transfer it to an airtight container before you refrigerate it. It should stay good for up to 3 days or you can store in the freezer for up to three months. You can freeze it whole, or in individual slices, which is what I prefer.
- Reheating: You can reheat the sliced meatloaf in the microwave or the oven. If it's frozen, allow it to thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
Serving Suggestions
This gluten-free turkey meatloaf is incredibly versatile. I love pairing it with a simple tomato cucumber salad or a low-calorie pasta salad.
If you’re a big fan of potato side dishes, serve the meatloaf with a simple low-calorie potato salad or my favorite healthier mashed potatoes and cauliflower.
For low-carb options try this dish with my cauliflower mash or some roasted cauliflower or roasted broccoli.
Recipe Tips
- Use a meat thermometer: To check if the meatloaf is done cooking, use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature. If it reads 165 degrees, it's ready to come out of the oven.
- Let it rest: Letting your meatloaf without breadcrumbs rest for 10-15 minutes after cooking allows all the juices to soak back into the meat rather than oozing out as you cut into it! This time will make the meat more juicy and flavorful.
- Use fresh: I used garlic powder and onion powder here, simply because they’re more convenient and easy to use. You can totally use fresh garlic and onion too, if you have them at hand.
Recipe FAQs
I used my blender or food processor to pulse the carrots and zucchini. It shreds them in two seconds which I highly recommend you do instead of grating by hand. If that doesn't work for you, you can use a box grater to get the perfectly shredded carrots and zucchini.
I’ve used just carrots and zucchini here, but you can also use celery, mushrooms, spinach and red bell peppers if you want to.
More Gluten-Free Recipes
If you tried this gluten-free meatloaf recipe or any other recipe on my website, please please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you go in the 📝 comments below.
Zucchini Meatloaf Without Breadcrumbs
Ingredients
- 1 lb extra lean ground turkey breast another meat will work
- ¼ cup carrots shredded
- ½ cup zucchini grated (~1 small zucchini with skin)
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup almond flour
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
For the Topping
- ⅓ cup Low Sugar Ketchup
- 1 tablespoon parsley
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F. Prepare a loaf pan by lightly greasing with cooking spray or extra virgin olive oil.
- In a large mixing bowl, add ground turkey breast, carrots, zucchini, egg, almond flour, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper.
- Using your hands, mix the ingredients together just until combined. Do not over mix as it will toughen the meat.
- Transfer the meat to the prepared loaf pan and spread into an even layer.
- Place the pan in the oven and bake 20 minutes at 375 F.
- After 20 minutes, remove the pan from the oven and spread the ketchup over the top of the meatloaf.
- Return the pan to the oven and bake another 40-45 minutes until the center is cooked.
- Allow the loaf to rest 10 minutes then sprinkle with dried parsley, slice and serve!
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator up to 1 week.
Notes
- To check if the meatloaf is done cooking, use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature. If it reads 165 degrees, it's ready to come out of the oven.
- Letting your meatloaf rest for 10-15 minutes after cooking allows all the juices to soak back into the meat rather than oozing out as you cut into it! This time will make the meat more juicy and flavorful.
- I used garlic powder and onion powder here, simply because they’re more convenient and easy to use. You can totally use fresh garlic and onion too, if you have them at hand.
- My Amazon shop has more products similar to those used for this recipe and that I recommend to my nutrition clients.
Nutrition
I'm so glad to have come across your blog! So many food sites claim to be healthy and then you look at the ingredients and it's a ton of butter, sugar, salt, etc. I just don't understand how they get away with it. I love that your recipes have natural and genuinely healthy ingredients and I'm excited to start going through and trying a bunch of them out!
Hi! I'm allergic to almonds, so I can't use almond flour. Have you found anything that might be a good substitute? Maybe chickpea flour?
Oat flour would work. It would not be Paleo, not sure if that matters to you.
For nutrition information, is serving of this recipe one gram?
It is 1 slice.
Same here! I ate it like every week. I think now people are missing out! I love it, and actually just updated an old meatloaf recipe. This one looks fab friend
Aww thanks lady! YEAH for meatloaf!