A day off on Monday is a great day to make some comfort food for supper – like these Meatloaf Meatballs with Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes.
There’s no rushing home from work, no piano lessons to get to, no schedule at all, in fact, because it’s spring break. What a good day to make some turkey meatloaf.
And I did, based on this Smitten Kitchen recipe!
Or rather, giant meatloaf meatballs … so flavorful, very moist, and pretty much super delicious on top of the mashed potatoes.
These take a little prep work and it’s best if you have a food processor. (I have a Cuisinart that I absolutely love.) But there’s nothing complicated about the recipe or the ingredients. (And if you don’t feel like making the browned butter, you can certainly do your regular mashed potatoes and it would still be delicious. However, I thought the browned butter and buttermilk were a fun switch on my plain-jane mashed potatoes.) Plus, the sauce you dollop on the meatballs is fantastic — a little tangy and not too overly saucy.
I served this with a side of peas in a wide, shallow bowl so I could mix everything together in every bite.
My boys, however, prefer everything to not-be-touching so they used a regular dinner plate. Whatever floats your boat!
xoxo – Lara
Turkey Meatloaf Meatballs with Browned Butter Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- GLAZE
- 4 teaspoons vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons smooth dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon table salt
- MEATLOAVES
- 2 slices sandwich bread
- 1/2 medium onion roughly chopped
- 1 garlic clove chopped
- 1 medium stalk celery roughly chopped
- 1 medium carrot roughly chopped
- Olive oil for cooking
- 1 teaspoon table table salt plus more for vegetables
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 pounds ground turkey
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- POTATOES
- 2 pounds yukon gold potatoes about 6
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- Finely ground black pepper
Instructions
- Combine glaze ingredients in a small saucepan, and simmer, whisking constantly, for 2 minutes until and glaze is smooth. Set aside.
- Heat your oven to 350 degrees F.
- Lightly coat 2 9×13-inch baking dishes with nonstick spray or oil.
- Tear the bread into chunks and then blend it, in a food processor, into breadcrumbs.
- Place the breadcrumbs in a large bowl (it should be about 1 cup).
- Add the onion, garlic, celery, and carrot to the food processor, and pulse it until they are finely chopped.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat.
- Once the skillet is hot, coat the bottom with olive oil, and heat the oil for a minute; add the finely chopped vegetables.
- Season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring frequently, until they begin to brown, about 10 minutes.
- Add the vegetables to the large bowl with breadcrumbs, then add the remaining ingredients.
- Stir the ingredients together with a fork or your hands until evenly blended.
- Start mashed potatoes by placing the potatoes in a medium pot, and cover with a couple inches of cold water.
- Bring to a boil over high heat, and once it’s boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer.
- Cook for about 20 minutes once the simmering begins; the potatoes are ready when a fork can be inserted into the center with little resistance.
- Drain potatoes, then wipe the pot dry.
- Resume your meatloaves while the potatoes boil – form the meatloaf mixture into twelve 3-inch meatballs; each will weigh about 4 ounces.
- Arrange 6 in each prepared baking pan, evenly.
- Brush each meatball with a teaspoon or so of the tomato glaze and bake until cooked through, about 20 to 25 minutes (an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of a cooked meatball should register 165F).
- Finish mashed potatoes by peeling your potatoes (as soon as you can hold them). The skins should come off very easily with a paring knife.
- Mash the potatoes them with a masher until smooth.
- In your empty potato pot, melt butter over medium heat and continue cooking once it has melted, stirring almost constantly, until brown bits form around edge and bottom and it smells nutty.
- Pour the hot butter over the potatoes.
- Add buttermilk to pot and warm it gently and then pour this over the potatoes.
- Add salt and pepper and stir to combine.
- To serve, place a dollop of potatoes in the bottom of a plate or shallow bowl. Top with a meatloaf. Garnish with extra chopped parsley, if desired.