My husband isn't much of a meatloaf fan. His previous experience with meatloaf growing up weren't very good and he tries to eat beef sparingly anyway. So when I had some ground chicken to work with, I figured I'd try making a chicken meatloaf in hopes I could open his mind to meatloaf again. It's a good thing I did! I was inspired by Chicken Parmesan - chicken, italian spices, Parmesan cheese... how could this combination go wrong? I seasoned the ground chicken with a few dry spices, added some shredded cheese and formed it into a loaf. Before baking, I topped it with a homemade tomato sauce. Just before serving, I topped the meatloaf with a blend of shredded Italian cheeses and baked it again until the cheese melted. It was delicious and probably a lot easier to make than chicken Parmesan itself! This dish went especially well with Scalloped Tomatoes. If you're looking for a new meatloaf recipe to try, this may be one to consider!
Chicken Parmesan Meatloaf
original Joelen recipe
original Joelen recipe
1 lb ground chicken (ground turkey can be substituted)
1 egg
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1-2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 small onion, grated
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup pasta sauce (homemade or store bought)
1/2 cup shredded Italian cheese blend
minced parsley for garnish
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a loaf pan with cooking spray, set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the ground chicken, egg, breadcrumbs, thyme, oregano, basil, garlic, onion, salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese. To not over handle the mixture otherwise it will get tough. Place the mixture in the greased loaf pan and form into a loaf. Top the meatloaf with pasta sauce.
Place filled loaf pan on a baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes. Remove the meatloaf from the oven and sprinkle the top with the remaining shredded cheese. Place the meatloaf back in the oven and bake until the cheese is melted.
Remove the meatloaf from the oven and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before serving/slicing. Garnish with parsley if desired.
* To make ahead/freezer meal - Prepare the meatloaf mixture as directed and place in a disposable loaf pan. Cover and freeze.** When ready to prepare and serve, defrost the meatloaf completely and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Top with pasta sauce and place filled loaf pan on a baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes. Remove the meatloaf from the oven and sprinkle the top with the remaining shredded cheese. Place the meatloaf back in the oven and bake until the cheese is melted. Remove the meatloaf from the oven and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before serving/slicing. Garnish with parsley if desired.
** Alternately, you can top the meatloaf with pasta sauce before freezing and then bake from frozen, uncovered for 55-60 minutes on a baking sheet. Remove the meatloaf from the oven and sprinkle the top with the remaining shredded cheese. Place the meatloaf back in the oven and bake until the cheese is melted. Remove the meatloaf from the oven and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before serving/slicing. Garnish with parsley if desired.
42 comments:
what a great idea!! Chicken parm meatloaf sound delicious, thanks so much for sharing!
i think a lot of people were traumatized by bad meatloaf when they were kids... this looks pretty yummy though.
This looks like a really lovely meatloaf adaptation. I'm putting it on my to-try list!
That is food porn at its best!
This looks wonderful. What a fun take on a classic.
What a fun twist on chicken parm. I love it!
Hmmm, I never tried chicken meatloag. I'll find time to make that. thanks!
I definitely hate meatloaf but this looks so delicious!!
wow, what an awesome idea!
You are very creative, indeed. Thank you for such great idea.
These look delish. Thought you might be interested in these mini meatloaf's with cherry glaze:
http://www.muffintinmania.com/2010/06/mini-meatloafs-with-cherry-juice-glaze.html
Great idea! I am going to give this a try.
I made this recipe tonight and it was sooooooo good!
Thank you Jolene!!
This looks real tasty.
What is shredded Italian cheese blend?
I love good meatloaf. And, I do mean "good" meatloaf. This...Looks like good meatloaf to me. Email me a slice? :D
Making this tonight... will report back with the results (which I'm sure will be fantastic!). I never had meatloaf as a kid, but my husband did... and chicken parm is one of his favorite dishes. I'd say this hybrid recipe is his dream come true :)
The chicken parm meatloaf came out great! Thanks for a fun and delicious recipe.
Delicious! I made this a while back and popped it in the freezer. We had it 2 weeks ago and it was a huge success. I just made two more for the freezer today! Thanks for the great recipe.
I made this on Sunday night. It was so good! Thanks!
I bookmarked this recipe ages ago and finally made it tonight with my little sister. It was delicious! Thanks so much for sharing.
i HATE meatloaf but love this recipe. i just made it while visiting my family and it was a big hit with them too.
Sounds wonderful! Love chicken parmesan at our house. I might also try it as meatballs with the sauce on a toasted garlic hoagie roll....
I made this for my husband last night and he liked it better than traditional meatloaf which was suprising because he is totally a red meat/pork person. Thanks for a great idea.
My husband is one of those traumatized by previous meatloaf experiences (from his Mom, not me!). This sounds so delicious though and I am thinking of forming into meatball shape and cooking that way. Anyone else try it that way yet?
Amazingly good. Thank you so much for this lovely jewel to add to my rotation! Easy and so yummy
Aimee - so glad you enjoyed it! :)
Great recipe. I can't wait to try it. This should satisfy my hubby's love of meatloaf and my love of chicken. New follower - found you through Six Sisters' Stuff. Looking forward to more of your recipes!
Rhondi
http://bigmamashomekitchen.blogspot.com/
This recipe looks really good - I can't wait to try it. Just so you know, I clicked on Print Friendly and it printed 6 pages including everyone's comments. I think there's an error somewhere that needs to be fixed.
Hi Lorie - thanks for the heads up! Sorry for the long print but I've checked with Print Friendly to see if I need to do anything different with my post so it won't include comments. Thanks again for letting me know :)
This looks delicious! The list of ingredients just says 1/4 breadcrumbs. I'm guessing 1/4 cup, but just want to be sure.
OMG! This is a major hit with my husband and I. I made this tonight and we are loving, loving, loving it! It is definetly a keeper recipe at our home. Yum, Yum... I think I'll go have another piece. Maurine from New Mexico
Made it tonight and loved it! Will be making it again!
Dinner for when Aiden comes over next week!! Looks zummaziod!!!
I made this tonight...fabulous! It's going into my monthly meal rotation, for sure. Thanks.
Silly question...if you make this to put in the freezer, do you still add pasta sauce, or do you add it after the loaf has thawed? Thank you!
Anonymous - yes, you make it as directed (meatloaf) and then transfer the mixture into a disposable/freezer safe container then top with pasta sauce, cover and freeze. (See picture above of meatloaf in disposable pan topped with sauce just before freezing). Hope this helps!
Your directions for freezing in the comments section is different from the blogged version above
Anonymous - sorry for the confusion. I've updated the blogged version above since it works both ways. You can top the meatloaf before freezing or after thawing - it won't matter really. I've topped the meatloaf with the pasta sauce before freezing and then baked from frozen a little longer... and I've topped the meatloaf with the pasta sauce after thawing/from freshly making the meatloaf and then baked for a shorter period of time. Results are still the same once it's topped with cheese and baked until melted. Hope this clarifies things a bit!
Thanks! Looking forward to making this and stashing some in the freezer for my night shift working hubby
Made 2 of these last week to put in the freezer. Pulled one out today to cook for supper. I had frozen with the sauce on, so I used the directions for cooking for that. I baked @ 350 for 60 minutes, added the cheese and melted, pulled it out and let it sit for about 15 minutes. When I went to cut into it, it was squishy. Stuck my finger in there and it was still pretty cold and looked pink still. Any clue what I did wrong? The oven was definitely preheated before I put the meatloaf in there.
This was very good, but missing something. I think it needed a little more flavor in the meat itself. Next time I think I'll add italian seasoning or pizza seasoning in addition to the other spices the recipe called for. Also, next time I will cook longer than the 45 minutes, or on a slightly higher temperature, as it was cooked thoroughly, but pretty runny. I've read about meatloaf pan inserts so maybe I'll use that next time. Overall, great adaptation and enjoyed this a lot! Thanks!
I did I just finish eating and it was mhhmmm good. I did make a few minor adjustments, I love spice so I added crushed red pepper flakes in the meat mixture. And I had to add a teaspoon of sugar to the tomatoe sauce because it helps with the acidity other than that I followed the recipe. It was great.....Thank YOu so much!
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