This Halloween Mummy Meatloaf recipe is guaranteed to be a hit at your next Halloween party or family dinner! Made with a juicy, turkey meatloaf formed into a mummy shape, then wrapped in edible mummy wrappings, it's perfect as a spooky main dish!
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📋 About the Recipe
- Easy meatloaf recipe! Don't let the mummy wrappings scare you away. This meatloaf recipe is a riff on my ultra popular Healthy Ground Chicken Meatloaf and is as easy to prep as a regular old meatloaf.
- Delicious Halloween dinner. This spooky meal is welcome on the dinner table any night during the month of October. It's a hit between kids and adults alike and a fun way to spruce up a regular meatloaf during the Halloween season. Serve it with a Spooky Halloween Snack Board and a Spooky 7 Layer Halloween Spiderweb Taco Dip.
- 100% homemade. Many Halloween meatloaf recipes are made with store-bought crescent dough or other shortcut ingredients. This mummy meatloaf is 100% homemade, including a homemade dough for the mummy wrappings. As an added bonus, it has hidden veggies too. Good for you and good for a fun holiday night!
🛒 Ingredients
A few notes about the ingredients:
- Eggs: You'll need fresh eggs for both the mummy wrapping dough and the meatloaf. In both cases, it adds moisture and acts as a binder, helping to hold the ingredients together.
- Unsalted butter: For the lightest, fluffiest, mummy wrapping, it's important to use cold, cubed butter.
- Ketchup: Adds a tangy, slightly sweet flavor to the meatloaf and helps keep it moist as it bakes.
- Ground turkey: Although I do plenty of cooking using Beef & Pork, I do tend to lean towards the leaner proteins when I can. For this reason, I've opted to make this mummy meatloaf using leaner ground turkey.
- Bread crumbs: Add texture and help bind the meatloaf ingredients together to create a cohesive mixture that is easier to shape and slice without falling apart.
- "Eyes": There are 2 different options you can use for the eyes - I love the look of large candy eyes, bought in the baking section at the grocery store. However, if you can't find the candy eyes or prefer a savory option, you can also slice a black olive and use 2 slices as eyes instead.
⁉️ Substitutions and Alterations
- Ground turkey substitutions - Ground chicken would work well.
- Dough substitutions - If you don't have the time to make your own dough for the mummy wrappings, you can use a store-bought shortcut, like pie crust.
📓 Instructions
- Preheat and prep. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Make the ketchup mixture. In a small mixing bowl, stir together ketchup, light brown sugar, and 1 teaspoon of the Worcestershire sauce.
- Make the meat mixture. In a large bowl, combine the ground turkey, breadcrumbs, egg, shredded carrot, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, and 1 teaspoon of the Worcestershire sauce.
- Add in ½ of the ketchup mixture. Stir well to combine.
- Shape the meatloaf. Roll a small ball of meat in your hands to form the mummy's head and place it on the prepared baking sheet. Then, form the remainder of the meat into an oval shape to form the body. Place the body on the baking sheet and connect it to the head using your fingers.
- Brush the mummy meatloaf with remaining ketchup. I find this easiest to do using a pastry brush or basting brush but the back of a spoon will work too.
- Make the dough. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the egg and ice water and set aside.
- Combine the dry ingredients. Add the flour and salt to a food processor. Pulse a few times until to combine.
- Add cold butter. Add the cubed butter to the food processor. Pulse again until it forms a crumb.
- Add the egg/water mixture. Pour in the egg/water mixture and pulse until a thick dough forms.
- Roll out the dough. Flour a clean surface and a rolling pin, then turn out the dough and form it into a disc. Roll out the dough until it forms a large rectangle, about ¼-inch wide.
- Cut the dough into strips. Cut the dough into long, thin strips, about ½-inch wide to resemble mummy wrappings.
- Wrap the mummy meatloaf. Place the dough on top of the meatloaf, crisscrossing the dough to look like a mummy, leaving space towards the top for the face.
- Bake. Bake the meatloaf for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the mummy wrappings are golden brown and a meat thermometer inserted in the middle of the loaf reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
- Add the eyes. Allow the mummy meatloaf to cool before placing "eyes" in the empty space in the head. Then, transfer to a serving plate and slice and serve as desired.
❄️ How to Store
To store: This mummy meatloaf is best served fresh, but can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container, once cooled to room temperature, for up to 5 days.
To freeze: You can freeze this dough-wrapped meatloaf up for 6 months. However, once defrosted and re-warmed, the crust may not be quite as crisp.
To reheat: If reheating leftovers, reheat the dough-wrapped meatloaf on a baking sheet or in an oven-safe dish at 200 degrees F until warmed through and lightly crispy on the outside, about 20 minutes.
🔍 Recipe FAQs
I've personally never used a pre-made meatloaf mix and cannot confirm it would work well in this recipe. I always recommend cooking from scratch for best flavor and overall results!
Great question! Halloween mummy meatloaves can be served with the classic side dishes like Fluffy Mashed Potatoes without Milk, Air Fryer Garlic Bread, and veggies, like Roasted Green Beans and Carrots or Maple Balsamic Brussels Sprouts.
You can also serve it with other non-traditional sides like Air Fryer Carrot Fries and Air Fryer Fingerling Potatoes.
The key to a juicy meatloaf is in using the right balance of ingredients and moisture. For this reason, it's important to follow the recipe as written. Leaving out the shredded carrots, for example, would lower the amount of moisture in the meatloaf mix and dry it out while baking.
It depends on the recipe, but in this instance, cooking the meatloaf uncovered is essential to getting the dough to bake golden brown and crispy.
💭 One More Tip
Adjust the bake time as needed. Depending on your oven, the meatloaf may require an adjusted bake time. Keep a close eye on it and pull it from the oven once the meat reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F and the outside turns golden brown.
Happy Halloween! 🎃👻
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Share your cooking with me! If you make this recipe, I'd love to know! Tag @yourhomemadehealthy on Instagram or leave a comment with a rating and some feedback at the bottom of this page!
Mummy Meatloaf
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 1 large egg
- 2 ½ tablespoons ice cold water
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed
For the Turkey Meatloaf
- 1 cup ketchup
- 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce, divided
- 1 pound ground turkey
- ½ cup plain breadcrumbs
- 1 large egg
- ¾ cup shredded carrot (about 1 carrot)
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 large candy eyes or sliced black olives
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, stir together ketchup, brown sugar, and 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce.
- In a medium bowl, combine ground turkey, breadcrumbs, egg, shredded carrot, remaining 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, kosher salt, and black pepper.
- Add ½ the ketchup mixture to the meat mixture. Stir to combine.
- Roll a small ball of meat in your hands to form the mummy’s head. Place it on the prepared baking sheet. Then form the rest of the meat into an oval shape for the body. Place on the baking sheet and connect it to the head using your fingers.
- Brush remaining ketchup mixture on top of the loaf.
- Make the dough: In a small mixing bowl, whisk together egg and ice water.
- Add flour and salt to a food processor. Pulse a few times to combine.
- Add the cubed butter to the food processor. Pulse again until it forms a crumb.
- Pour in egg/water mixture. Pulse until it forms a thick dough.
- Flour a clean surface and a rolling pin. Form the dough into a disc and roll the dough over the floured surface until it forms a large rectangle, about ¼ inch thick.
- Cut the dough into long, thin strips, about ½ inch wide.
- Place dough* on top of the meatloaf, crisscrossing to look like a mummy, and leaving space towards the top for the face.*You may not use all the dough.
- Bake meatloaf for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the dough is golden brown and a meat thermometer inserted in the middle of the loaf reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
- Allow meatloaf to cool before placing 2 “eyes” in the empty space on the head. Then, slice and serve.
Notes
- Check the internal temperature of the meatloaf to ensure it doesn't overcook. Once it reaches 160 to 165 degrees F, remove it from the oven. The dough on top should also be golden brown.
- There are 2 different options you can use for the eyes - I love the look of large candy eyes, bought in the baking section at the grocery store. However, if you can't find the candy eyes or prefer a savory option, you can also slice a black olive and use 2 slices as eyes instead.
Nutrition
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