This Curried Chicken Meatloaf is The. Best. Meatloaf. EVER! I can't understate how delicious this is. It is packed with herbs, spices and veggies, then topped with a sweet and spicy sauce that will knock your socks off. The heat in the sauce comes from the fresh ginger. If you want to dial back the heat, just reduce the amount of ginger you put in.
Variations and Substitutions
I adapted this recipe from Nom Nom Paleo's Curry Turkey Bites. Many thanks to her for this brilliant combination of flavors! This meatloaf version has become one of my family's favorites. Although you can make this recipe with turkey or chicken, I think that the chicken is more moist and flavorful. But honestly, I don’t think you can go wrong either way. It is THAT good! I have also made it with and without eggs (depending on our diets at the moment) and both ways work out fantastic. My husband and I were on a very strict Auto-Immune Protocol (AIP) Diet for awhile and we were able to make substitutions to adhere to the diet and it was still delicious. Check the notes in the recipe for what to swap.
How to Make Curried Chicken Meatloaf
If you have a food processor, it will bring this recipe together very quickly. If not, you can grate the sweet potatoes on the large holes of a box grater and chop the remaining ingredients. This will take a little longer, but is well worth it! I usually put the sweet potatoes, spinach, garlic, ginger and scallions in the food processor together in batches. Once they are chopped into small bits, combine them in a large mixing bowl with the remaining ingredients. Then it all goes into the loaf pan and in the oven to bake. You can prep this ahead and store covered in the fridge for a day prior to baking too.
Apricot Ginger Sauce
This sauce is the bomb! Sticky sweet with a bit of heat from fresh ginger. It compliments the Curried Chicken Meatloaf perfectly and adds an extra layer of goodness. Think of it as the special sauce to your hamburger. It wouldn't be the same without it. I use Polaner All Fruit Apricot for this recipe. It doesn't have any extra ingredients or sugar in it, has a wonderful flavor and keeps a perfect consistency when heated for the sauce. I use coconut aminos when we are trying to avoid soy, but I actually prefer the flavor soy sauce adds. To make the sauce, just combine all of the ingredients in a saucepan, heat and let thicken. That's all there is to it!
More Weeknight Meals
Italian Style Turkey Meatloaf is another one of my family's "go-to's." Along with a side of Roasted Gourmet Potatoes, Roasted Broccoli, Perfect Baked Potatoes or Maple Glazed Bacon Wrapped Green Beans and we've got a meal with leftovers!
Curried Chicken Meatloaf
Ingredients
- 2 Lbs ground chicken
- 1 large or 2 small sweet potatoes - (cut into 2” chunks)
- 2 cups fresh spinach
- 3-4 cloves garlic - (peeled)
- 2 tsp fresh ginger - (peeled & roughly chopped)
- 3-4 scallions - (roughly chopped)
- 2 Tbsp curry powder - (Indian style yellow curry, not the Jamaican style)
- 1 ½ teaspoon Salt
- 2 limes - juiced
- 2 eggs - optional, omit for aip diet
- Apricot Ginger Sauce
- 2 Tbps Coconut Aminos - (or soy sauce if soy is ok for you)
- ½ cup apricot jam - (sweetened with fruit juice)
- ½ teaspoon minced fresh ginger
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon or lime juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a food processor, chop or grate (depending on your attachment blades) the sweet potatoes, spinach, garlic, ginger and scallions in batches.
- You want small pieces but not a puree. If you don’t have a food processor, you can grate the sweet potatoes and finely chop the remaining ingredients.
- Put all meatloaf ingredients in a large bowl & mix until well combined. I think using your hands is best to get the mixture combined well… but it is pretty messy!
- Put your mixture in a standard 9x5 loaf pan and bake for about an hour and 15 minutes or until the internal thermometer reads 165 degrees. If the top starts to brown too much, cover with foil and continue to bake until done. Let cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting & serving to allow juices to get absorbed back into the meat.
For the sauce
- In a small saucepan, add all ingredients for the sauce and simmer over medium heat until it begins to reduce and get a bit thicker.
- Keep warm until ready to serve. This sauce has a bit of a kick so you may want to put it on the side so that you can decide how much of it you want in each bite.
Tanya says
Not everyone has a food processor. Will this still work without one?
Shay says
Hi Tanya! Great question & very true. You can finely grate the sweet potato on a box grater (or similar) and finely chop the green onion, garlic and spinach for similar results in texture. The flavor shouldn't change at all. It is so delicious, I would definitely give it a go! Let me know what you think:-)