Recipe for turkey, spinach and feta meatloaf sliders with lemon sauce

My father had a way with ground meat. For holiday meals, he rolled five-pound batches of sweet-and-sour meatballs, each one exactly the same size and shape, as only an engineer could do. For family dinners, he threw burgers on the grill, or a meatloaf into the oven. We were a straight-up beef family for most of my life, but years after I moved into my own apartment, my dad began to make turkey meatloaf. His earliest experiments came from Weight Watchers recipes and, quite frankly, lacked in flavor what they also lacked in fat. Today, on Fathers Day, in honor of my dad, I made turkey, spinach and feta meatloaf sliders, with an easy lemon sauce. I think he would have approved.

Turkey, spinach and feta meatloaf sliders with lemon sauce

From the pantry, you'll need: ground turkey, egg, feta cheese, dry bread crumbs, onions (or homemade caramelized onions), Dijon mustard, dried thyme, fresh black pepper, kosher salt, lemon, mayonnaise.

Serves 6-8.

Ingredients

For the meatloaf:
1-1/4 lb ground turkey (I use 93% fat-free)
1 large egg
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup plain or seasoned dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup caramelized onions (or 1 small onion, sliced, cooked in olive oil until browned)
2 cups spinach leaves, chopped
4 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp fresh black pepper
1/2 tsp kosher salt

For the sauce:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
Zest of 1/2 lemon
Fresh black pepper, to taste

Small potato rolls or other slider buns
Romaine lettuce leaves

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil, and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the meatloaf ingredients. Mix with your hands just until everything comes together; do not overmix. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet, and form into a loaf shape.

Bake at 400F for 55-60 minutes. Take the meatloaf's temperature at 55 minutes with an instant-read thermometer; the temperature should read 160°F. If it doesn't, return to the oven for an additional 5 minutes.

While the meat is cooking, combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl, and set aside.

Remove the meatloaf from the oven and let it sit for 10 minutes before slicing with a serrated knife.

To serve as sliders, set out as many small rolls as you wish. Place a piece of crisp lettuce on the bottom half, and slather the lemon sauce on the top. Cut pieces of meatloaf to fit. Serve warm, at room temperature, or cold.

[Printer-friendly recipe.]

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Quinoa turkey meatloaf
Greek red pepper and feta turkey meatball salad
Greek turkey burgers with yogurt and feta sauce
Greek turkey meatloaf
Turkey meatloaf with fig gravy

Other recipes that use these pantry ingredients:
Spiced turkey burgers with green olives and feta, from Pinch My Salt
Lettuce wrapped cumin and feta turkey burgers, from The Adventures of Kitchen Girl
Bread and tomato salad, from David Lebovitz
Feta sun-dried tomato turkey burger sliders, from Picky Palate
Basil-feta turkey burgers with avocado, from BrokeAss Gourmet

Turkey, spinach and feta meatloaf sliders with lemon sauce

From the pantry, you'll need: ground turkey, egg, feta cheese, dry bread crumbs, onions (or homemade caramelized onions), Dijon mustard, dried thyme, fresh black pepper, kosher salt, lemon, mayonnaise.

Serves 6-8.

Ingredients

For the meatloaf:
1-1/4 lb ground turkey (I use 93% fat-free)
1 large egg
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup plain or seasoned dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup caramelized onions (or 1 small onion, sliced, cooked in olive oil until browned)
2 cups spinach leaves, chopped
4 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp fresh black pepper
1/2 tsp kosher salt

For the sauce:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
Zest of 1/2 lemon
Fresh black pepper, to taste

Small potato rolls or other slider buns
Romaine lettuce leaves

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil, and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the meatloaf ingredients. Mix with your hands just until everything comes together; do not overmix. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet, and form into a loaf shape.

Bake at 400F for 55-60 minutes. Take the meatloaf's temperature at 55 minutes with an instant-read thermometer; the temperature should read 160°F. If it doesn't, return to the oven for an additional 5 minutes.

While the meat is cooking, combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl, and set aside.

Remove the meatloaf from the oven and let it sit for 10 minutes before slicing with a serrated knife.

To serve as sliders, set out as many small rolls as you wish. Place a piece of crisp lettuce on the bottom half, and slather the lemon sauce on the top. Cut pieces of meatloaf to fit. Serve warm, at room temperature, or cold.

[Printer-friendly recipe.]

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Quinoa turkey meatloaf
Greek red pepper and feta turkey meatball salad
Greek turkey burgers with yogurt and feta sauce
Greek turkey meatloaf
Turkey meatloaf with fig gravy

Other recipes that use these pantry ingredients:
Spiced turkey burgers with green olives and feta, from Pinch My Salt
Lettuce wrapped cumin and feta turkey burgers, from The Adventures of Kitchen Girl
Bread and tomato salad, from David Lebovitz
Feta sun-dried tomato turkey burger sliders, from Picky Palate
Basil-feta turkey burgers with avocado, from BrokeAss Gourmet

Comments

This looks delicious and I'll be making this for dinner one night this week. I'm so glad I stumbled upon your blog!

Gorgeous top photo of the sliders! This would be right up my alley. I love the idea of serving the sliders with the lemon sauce.

Nancy, I'm glad you're here! This little turkey meatloaf tastes great on its own, or as sliders.

Kalyn,great flavors in this meatloaf to perk up the turkey. The lemon sauce is indulgent but perfect.

Feta, caramelized onions, lemon anything...I am in! This recipe is like a nice "summer" meatloaf!

Carol, that's exactly what it is, perfect for summer, delicious hot or cold, can be made ahead -- everything you want in the summer.

These have me craving a cocktail in one hand and a turkey meatloaf slider in the other. I don't know if it's those small buns they now have in the stores, but sliders are one of my new options for small plates.

TW, I'm always tempted by those little slider buns in the market, the same way I'm tempted by kids' meals at restaurants. The portions make more sense for the way we eat now. (And, really, everything tastes better with a cocktail.)

Love meat loaf - and feta is a great addition (and, of course, spinach). We can't get ground turkey... I could grind it myself, I suppose.... I'm just not sure why I would LOL.
I used it lots when we lived in the US, but I'm pretty happy with our beef.
Great lemon sauce. I could use that on lots!

Oh, I love the idea of adding feta and a lemon sauce to turkey burgers. I recently stirred some leftover pesto into chicken patties (to my surprise, they grilled up bright GREEN). But your recipe would be a lovely variation.