Louisiana Meatloaf with Cajun Gravy
This Louisiana Meatloaf with Cajun Gravy is bursting with tasty Cajun flavor as a fun way to take this classic comfort food to the next level! This recipe is easy to put together and very family-friendly. We’ve made this for friends and neighbors before and it is always a hit! This meatloaf makes six big, filling servings that include enough gravy to pour over your side dishes as well. I pretty much always serve meatloaf with mashed potatoes and a vegetable, and both taste great smothered in Cajun gravy! Not only is each serving of Louisiana Meatloaf with Cajun Gravy tasty and satisfying, it’s also just 327 calories or 7 WW Points each! To view your current WW Points for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, click here!
My family calls this recipe “Claire’s Famous Meatloaf” because my five-year-old daughter, Claire, loves this dinner and wants to help make it all the time. We found the original recipe in The Disney Princess Cookbook (affiliate link) as Tiana’s Bayou Meatloaf and though we made a bunch of changes, Tiana’s bold flavors still shine through! For our version, we increased the amount of each spice that goes into the meatloaf, use dried onion instead of fresh, and make a Cajun gravy to go with it instead of the original honey-ketchup topping. To lighten it up I also swapped in ground turkey breast for the original ground pork, and used less ketchup, milk, and breadcrumbs in the recipe. I really think you’re going to love Claire’s meatloaf!
Ingredient Notes
- Meat: I use a blend of lean ground turkey breast and lean ground beef in this recipe, and it turns out great! We’ve also used ground chicken in place of the ground turkey and it’s also delicious. You could also use all ground beef if that’s what you have, though that will change the nutrition info/WW Points.
- Better Than Bouillon: If you don’t have this, you can substitute powdered bouillon or cubes for the Better Than Bouillon, but I highly recommend purchasing it. I’ve seen it in pretty much every grocery store I’ve been to, including a small local store in my area, so you should be able to find it pretty easily. I have the chicken, beef and vegetable bases in my fridge at all times. BTB is sort of a paste rather than a powder, and the flavor is just unmatched in my opinion!
- Gravy Master: I always use this when I make gravy! Gravy Master adds flavor and browning to your gravy in a way that enhances the whole thing. Kitchen Bouquet is a similar product by a different brand, so if you have that on hand then feel free to use that instead!
- Light Butter: I always have a tub of Land-O-Lakes Light Butter Spread with Canola Oil in my fridge, because it’s the main butter product that I use. I like it in recipes and also on toast, etc. It works great and is less calories/points than traditional butter.
- Dried Chopped/Minced Onion: This ingredient is easy to find by the dry spices in every grocery store I’ve been to, but it goes by different names depending on the brand. If you see chopped onion or minced onion, either one will work great. I personally prefer using dried onion when I make meatloaf unless I’m going to cook the onions beforehand, because I can’t stand when the onions aren’t cooked enough for my liking. I can’t just throw them in the mix raw and leave it to chance! Dried onion solves that problem for me and works great in this recipe.
More tasty Comfort Food recipes
Looking for more tasty, lightened up, comfort food recipes like this Louisiana Meatloaf? Check out my Skillet Chicken with Mushrooms and Gravy, Slow Cooker Chicken and Stuffing, Meatloaf with Gravy, One-Pot Chicken Parmesan Pasta, Ham and Cheese Au Gratin Potato Bake, One-Pot Cheeseburger Pasta, Cheesy Bacon Ranch Stuffed Chicken, One-Pot Meatballs and Macaroni, Hot Turkey Sandwich with Gravy, One-Pot Creamy Tomato Pasta with Chicken and Spinach, One-Pot Cheesy Chili Mac, Sheet Pan Meatloaves with Roasted Potatoes and Green Beans, Swedish Turkey Meatballs, Chicken and Dumpling Casserole, Stuffed Turkey Bundles with Gravy, and so many more in the Comfort Food category of my recipe index!
Louisiana Meatloaf with Cajun Gravy
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 1 lb 99% lean ground turkey breast
- 1 lb 95% lean ground beef
- 2 tablespoons dry minced/chopped onion, (found by the dried spices, different brands call it minced or chopped)
- 1 ¼ teaspoons celery salt
- 1 ¼ teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 ¼ teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 ¼ teaspoons paprika
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¾ cup plain dry breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup skim milk
- ¼ cup ketchup
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons Cajun seasoning, (found by the spices)
- 4 tablespoons light butter, (I use Land O’Lakes light butter spread with canola oil)
- 2 cups reduced sodium beef broth
- 1 teaspoon Better Than Bouillon Beef Base, (you can also use powdered bouillon or a bouillon cube, but I highly recommend BTB, it’s awesome)
- ½ teaspoon Gravy Master Seasoning and Browning Sauce
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly mist a 2 quart casserole dish (mine is a 7x11 Pyrex) with cooking spray and set aside.
- Crack the eggs into a large mixing bowl and lightly beat with a fork. Add the ground turkey and ground beef and mush them together to combine.
- In a small bowl, mix together the dried minced onion, celery salt, garlic powder, thyme, paprika, and black pepper. Pour the spice mixture over the meat in the large mixing bowl. Add the breadcrumbs, milk, and ketchup to the bowl and use clean hands or a fork to mix the ingredients together until well combined. Transfer the meat mixture to the prepared casserole dish and spread evenly throughout the dish.
- Transfer the casserole dish to the heated oven and cook for 45-50 minutes until cooked through (should have an internal temperature of 160 degrees).
- When there is about 10 minutes left on the meatloaf, stir the flour and Cajun seasoning together in a small dish. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When the butter is melted, whisk in the Cajun flour a little at a time. Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the broth a little bit at a time, whisking it into the flour mixture until smooth and well combined. Add the bouillon and Gravy Master. Whisk regularly until the gravy comes to aboil and thickens. Remove from heat and allow to sit for at least 5 minutes to thicken.
- When the meatloaf is ready, slice it into 12 equal slices. Each serving is 2 slices of meatloaf and 1/3 cup of gravy.
Notes
327 calories, 20 g carbs, 4 g sugars, 10 g fat, 4 g saturated fat, 41 g protein, 1 g fiber, 914 mg sodium (from myfitnesspal.com) Weight Watchers Points Plus:
8 per (2 slices meatloaf + 1/3 cup gravy) serving (PP calculated using a Weight Watchers PointsPlus calculator and the nutrition info)
We made this tonight for dinner and it was a hit, even for my 7year old who is picky about meat. The gravy is so tasty and the seasoning blend in the meat is perfect. We made ours with mashed potatoes and peas for a very hearty meal. We are long time fans, Emily! Thank you for another winner!
This stuff is a miracle. Really great flavor, and it even works if you have to make it with beyond beef or impossible meat! Such great flavor and it’s easy to double.
Claire is a hero!
Thank you for this recipe. It was sooo good! My husband just told me I “hit it out of the park tonight”.
Made this on Sunday and it was fantastic.My husband is not normally a gravy fan, but he loved this one. We will definitely put it in the regular rotation.