Stuffed Turkey Loaf Recipe for Home & Trail
This stuffed turkey loaf recipe is for anyone who ever dreamed about enjoying a Thanksgiving-style backpacking meal on the trail. Homemade stuffing and gravy are baked right into the turkey loaf, so all you have to add are the vegetables and mashed potatoes.
Photo: Dried stuffed turkey loaf with vegetables and sweet potatoes rehydrated as a backpacking meal.
For a unique, home-cooked meal, serve sliced stuffed turkey loaf right out of the oven with your favorite sides, or dehydrate it for your next outdoor adventure.
First, I’ll cover how to make the turkey loaf, and then I’ll cover how to dehydrate it and incorporate it into backpacking meals.
Stuffed Turkey Loaf Ingredients
Servings:
Sixteen or more thick slices. Loaf will measure approximately 9.5” long, 3.75” wide, and 2” deep.
Ingredients:
- 1½ lbs. lean ground turkey breast (454 g)
- 3 large slices of fresh bread, finely cut (140 g)
- 1 celery stalk, finely chopped (½-cup, 75 g)
- ½ large onion, finely chopped (½-cup, 75 g)
- 3 cloves garlic, finely diced.
- 2 chicken bouillon cubes (20 g), divided
- 2 cups chicken stock (16 oz., 473 ml) + 3 Tbsp.
- ½ tsp. poultry seasoning
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp. cooking oil
- Salt & pepper to taste
How to Make Stuffed Turkey Loaf
Steps:
- Prepare the Stuffing
- Prepare the Gravy
- Prepare the Stuffed Turkey Loaf
Prepare the Stuffing
Cut fresh bread into tiny pieces.
Shave one chicken bouillon cube into powder and mix in with the bread. Set aside.
Photo: Three slices of bread cut into small pieces. (140 g)
Chop onions, celery, and garlic finely. Chopping the vegetables finely ensures they will dehydrate well in the loaf.
Photo: Finely chopped onions (75 g), celery (75 g) and three cloves of garlic.
Using one teaspoon of cooking oil, fry finely chopped onions, celery, and garlic for approximately 10 minutes on medium heat, adding the garlic five minutes after the onions and celery.
Season with half-a-cube chicken bouillon.
As the vegetables cook down, and to prevent scorching, add one tablespoon of chicken stock at a time, using a total of three tablespoons.
Photo: Fried onions, celery, and garlic before adding to stuffing.
Once the vegetables are translucent and flavorful, turn the stove down to low.
Add the bread pieces to the cooked vegetables in the pan.
Stir to combine, then set the stuffing aside in a separate bowl.
Photo: Breadcrumbs and vegetables combined in pan.
Prepare the Gravy
Use the same frying pan or a separate saucepan to make the gravy.
The gravy will be added to the turkey loaf in stages.
Photo: Gravy made with chicken stock, bouillon, poultry seasoning, and corn starch.
Add two cups (16 oz., 473 ml) of fat-free chicken stock to the pan. For best flavor, use regular chicken stock, not low-sodium chicken stock. But low-sodium stock is fine if you are watching your sodium intake.
Add ½-cube chicken bouillon and ½-tsp. poultry seasoning to the stock and turn on stove to medium heat. Poultry seasoning is a mix of herbs and spices (thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, black pepper, and nutmeg) that you can buy in a single container.
Slowly whisk in one tablespoon of corn starch, so that it dissolves a little at a time. Start while the stock is cold and continue as it warms up.
Once the corn starch is dissolved, increase heat to medium-high for a minute or less, stirring continuously until gravy is bubbling lightly. Gravy will thicken, but it will not be as thick as gravy made using the fatty drippings of a whole turkey. Adjust to taste with salt and pepper.
Transfer gravy to a large Pyrex measuring cup.
Prepare the Stuffed Turkey Loaf
Place 1½ lbs. (454 g) of raw ground turkey breast in a large bowl.
Add the stuffing, one egg, and ¼-cup of the gravy to the ground turkey.
Mix it all together with your hands until well-combined. This is the messy part; you might want to remove your wedding ring. Using disposable gloves would be a little less messy.
Let the combined ingredients set for a few minutes to let the moisture absorb into the stuffing.
Photo: Stuffed turkey loaf in loaf pan before baking at 375°F (190°C).
Bake the Stuffed Turkey Loaf
Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
Place loaf into a loaf pan lined with parchment paper. The loaf pan should be about ten inches in length. When fully cooked, the loaf will measure approximately 9.5” long, 3.75” wide, and 2” deep.
Place loaf in preheated oven on middle rack and set timer for 50 minutes.
After fifty minutes, remove loaf from oven.
Coat top of loaf with ¼-cup of gravy.
Return loaf to oven and continue baking for 10 more minutes.
Photo: Stuffed turkey loaf fresh out of the oven.
After 60 minutes total baking time, remove loaf from oven and let it sit in the pan for fifteen minutes.
Check internal temperature of turkey loaf by inserting a meat thermometer into the middle of the loaf to ensure that the internal temperature has reached 165°F (74°C), which is the minimum temperature required for safely-cooked poultry per guidance from the US Food & Drug Administration.
For immediate serving at home, cut turkey loaf into slices and top with remaining gravy. Serve with your favorite sides like vegetables, mashed potatoes, or baked potatoes.
Tip: Bake sweet potatoes at the same time as the turkey loaf.
Dehydrating Stuffed Turkey Loaf
As soon as the turkey loaf is cool enough to handle, cut it into ½-inch slices, then cut the slices into ½-inch cubes. It’s easy and fast to cut a stack of three slices at the same time.
Place the turkey loaf cubes in a bowl and completely coat with the remaining gravy. You will have between 1–1½ cups of gravy to use for the coating.
Photo: Pouring gravy over the turkey loaf cubes.
Place coated turkey loaf cubes on dehydrator trays using nonstick sheets or trays. Leave a little space in between the cubes to ensure even drying.
Two Excalibur dehydrator trays will accommodate one turkey loaf.
Photo: Stuffed turkey loaf cubes on Excalibur dehydrator tray covered with a nonstick sheet.
Dehydrate at 145°F (63°C) for approximately seven hours.
Stir the cubes around halfway through the drying process.
Cubes will be hard when they are dry with no moisture on the insides.
Cut a few of the larger cubes in half to check for dryness.
Yield: One stuffed turkey loaf weighing 1130 grams before drying will weigh approximately 350 grams when dry. (volume 3½+ cups).
Storing Dehydrated Turkey Loaf
Store dehydrated turkey loaf cubes in an airtight container until ready to use them in backpacking meals.
Photo: Dehydrated turkey loaf stored in a mason jar with an oxygen absorber.
Making Backpacking Meals with Stuffed Turkey Loaf
To make Thanksgiving-style feasts on the trail, combine dehydrated turkey loaf with dehydrated vegetables, sweet potatoes, and mashed potatoes.
Photo: Rehydrated stuffed turkey loaf with vegetables and sweet potatoes.
Dehydrating the Sides
Since the stuffed turkey cubes fill only 2–3 dehydrator trays, you can dry your side items at the same time on the other trays.
Mixed Vegetables: A quick and easy way to dehydrate vegetables, especially when they are out of season, is to use frozen mixed vegetables. Steam them for six minutes and place them directly on mesh dehydrator sheets. Start drying them at 125°F (52°C) and then increase the temperature to 145°F (63°C) when you put the turkey loaf in the dehydrator.
Tip: Cut green beans in half lengthwise to ensure even drying.
Twenty ounces (567 g) of frozen mixed vegetables will fit on one Excalibur dehydrator tray.
Explore More: Dehydrating Vegetables.
Sweet Potatoes: Place two large sweet potatoes in the oven at the same time as the turkey loaf. Let them cool, remove the skins, and cut them into cubes. Dehydrate them with the turkey loaf directly on mesh trays for approximately seven hours.
Combine the dried sweet potatoes with the dried mixed vegetables.
Explore More: Dehydrating Sweet Potatoes.
Photo: Rehydrated stuffed turkey loaf and vegetables with a side of mashed potatoes.
Mashed Potatoes: Since making and dehydrating turkey loaf is a big project, you might want to take a short cut with the mashed potatoes and use a package of Instant Mashed Potatoes. They rehydrate instantly with boiled water. Just follow the instructions on the package and make them in a separate bowl.
With advance planning, you can make your own instant mashed potatoes powder.
Explore More: Dehydrating Potato Bark.
Photo: Dried stuffed turkey loaf on left, dried mixed vegetables and sweet potatoes on right.
Packing & Rehydrating Stuffed Turkey Loaf
Pack the dried turkey loaf and mixed vegetables with sweet potatoes in one plastic or Mylar bag and pack the instant potato flakes in another bag. Pack the original package if you want to prepare a large quantity of potatoes.
A 4-oz. (113 g) pouch of Idahoan Mashed Potatoes contains four servings.
Large Serving
Main Meal:
- 65 g dried stuffed turkey loaf
- 35 g dried mixed vegetables with sweet potatoes
- 1 cup water to rehydrate
Mashed Potatoes:
- ¼ cup instant mashed potatoes (28 g)
- ½ cup boiled water to rehydrate potatoes separately
Extra-Large or Two Servings
Main Meal:
- 80 g dried stuffed turkey loaf
- 45 g dried mixed vegetables with sweet potatoes
- 1½ cups water to rehydrate
Mashed Potatoes:
- ½ cup instant mashed potatoes (56 g)
- 1 cup boiled water to rehydrate potatoes separately
On the Trail:
Place dried turkey loaf and mixed vegetables in pot with required water. Soak food for five minutes, light stove, and bring to a light boil for one minute. Turn off stove and transfer pot to an insulating pot cozy. Wait 30 minutes for best results.
There will be a little flavorful gravy left in the pot.
Once your main meal is rehydrated, prepare the potatoes in a separate bowl or bag by adding the required boiled water to the potato flakes.
Alternative Cooking Methods: Add boiled water to the ingredients in a Thermos food jar, Mylar bag, or freezer bag. Insulate bag in a pouch cozy. Wait 30 minutes or longer.
Serving:
For festive occasions, carry light-weight plates or bowls for you and your hiking partners, and place those fluffy potatoes next to the turkey loaf and vegetables.
Otherwise, plop the potatoes on top of the turkey loaf and vegetables in the pot and let your spoon be your guide.
Style points if you garnish with a handful of dried cranberries.
Room for Dessert?
Top off your feast with one of these backpacking desserts:
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