Tarragon chicken with creamy white beans
Tender chicken in a creamy white bean sauce with fresh tarragon.
About 30 min · 375 kcal · 43 g protein per serving
One pan
Turkey, spinach and ricotta meatloaf with tomato
A soft turkey loaf with spinach and ricotta, baked in tomato.
By The foodose editorial team. Nutrition calculated from USDA FoodData Central. Checked on paper on 21 September 2026; not yet cooked in a test kitchen or photographed, so the times and yield are estimates. How we develop our recipes
What still needs a real kitchen
- Confirm a 350 g loaf reaches 74°C in 40 to 50 minutes at 180°C
- Photograph the finished loaf, sliced
- Time
- About 1 hr 20 min
- estimated
- Serves
- 2
- see below
- Energy
- 545 kcal
- per serving
- Protein
- 46 g
- per serving
Ingredients for 2 servings
Check off ingredients as you go.
Contains eggs, gluten, milk. Check the labels on packaged ingredients:
- dried breadcrumbs. Breadcrumbs can contain soya or milk; check the label.
- passata. Some passata is salted; check the label.
Cooking steps
Heat the oven to 180°C / 350°F (160°C fan).
Wilt the spinach in a dry pan, tip it into a sieve and press it hard until it stops dripping, then chop it.
Mix the turkey mince, ricotta, egg, breadcrumbs and chopped spinach with your hands until just combined. Do not work it hard.
Shape it into a loaf in an oiled ovenproof dish and pour the passata around the base, not over the top.
Bake for 40 to 50 minutes.
Cooked when: 74°C / 165°F in the thickest part. A food thermometer is the reliable way to tell.
Rest the loaf in the dish for 10 minutes before cutting, and spoon the sauce over each slice.
The useful detail
Rest the loaf for ten minutes before cutting. Straight from the oven it has no structure, and the first slice takes half the second one with it.
Make it work for you
One serving is Half the loaf with half the tomato sauce. You can switch to a smaller portion in the ingredients above; it is three quarters of this, and it contains correspondingly less energy and protein. It is an option, not a goal.
Chicken mince instead of turkey
Softer and slightly richer.
Per serving: about 10 kcal less, about 2 g less protein, about the same fat.
Cottage cheese instead of ricotta
Blend it smooth first. More protein for the same weight.
Per serving: about 25 kcal less, about 2 g more protein, about 3 g less fat.
Oats instead of breadcrumbs
A softer loaf. Blitz them first if you want them invisible.
Per serving: about the same energy, about the same protein, about the same fat.
Allergens: Oats are listed among the cereals containing gluten in UK law.
Estimated nutrition
Per standard serving, calculated from the ingredients above. Nutrition changes with substitutions, brands and how much oil stays in the pan.
A dinner built to be sliced and kept, where the ricotta keeps a very lean mince from drying out and adds protein of its own.
| Energy | 545 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 46 g |
| Fat | 28 g |
| of which saturates | 9 g |
| Carbohydrate | 31 g |
| of which sugars | 9 g |
| Fibre | 5 g |
| Sodium | 420 mg |
Show calculation notes
Each ingredient’s weight is multiplied by its USDA FoodData Central values per 100 g. The whole recipe is added up and divided by 2. Raw weights are used for meat, fish and vegetables; beans and lentils are drained weights. All of the oil is counted as eaten. Added salt is not included; sodium from stock, bread, cheese and tinned food is.
| Ingredient | Weight used | Source | Energy | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| spinach | 150 g | FDC 168462Spinach, raw | 35 kcal | 4.3 g |
| turkey mince | 350 g | FDC 172850Turkey, ground, 93% lean, 7% fat, raw | 525 kcal | 65.6 g |
| ricotta | 100 g | FDC 170851Cheese, ricotta, whole milk | 150 kcal | 7.5 g |
| eggs | 50 g | FDC 171287Egg, whole, raw, fresh | 72 kcal | 6.3 g |
| dried breadcrumbs | 30 g | FDC 174928Bread, crumbs, dry, grated, plain | 119 kcal | 4.0 g |
| olive oil | 9 g | FDC 171413Oil, olive, salad or cooking | 80 kcal | 0.0 g |
| passata | 300 g | FDC 170460Tomato products, canned, puree, without salt addedCalculated with FoodData Central's unsalted tinned tomato purée record, the closest match to sieved passata. | 114 kcal | 4.9 g |
| Whole recipe | Divided by 2 | 1094 kcal | 92.6 g |
Per serving the energy is rounded to the nearest 5 kcal, grams to the nearest whole gram and sodium to the nearest 10 mg. Calculation method 1.0, September 2026. How the calculation works.
Storage and reheating
- In the fridge
- Cool, cover and refrigerate within 2 hours of cooking. Eat within 3 to 4 days. This slices far more cleanly cold, and is better on the second day.
- In the freezer
- The FDA chart gives cooked poultry dishes 4 to 6 months in the freezer for best quality.
- Reheating
- Reheat until it reaches 74°C / 165°F, steaming hot throughout.
Checked against US Food and Drug Administration, Refrigerator and Freezer Storage Chart, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, Leftovers and Food Safety, FoodSafety.gov, Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures and FoodSafety.gov, Cold Food Storage Chart. UK guidance from the Food Standards Agency is shorter, at two days for most leftovers.
Try another recipe
Turkey meatballs with roasted pepper sauce
Tender turkey meatballs in a smooth pepper sauce, served with orzo.
About 40 min · 585 kcal · 42 g protein per serving