The Best Meatloaf Recipe Ever - Gwen's Nest (2024)
By Gwen Brown18 Comments
This IS the best meatloaf recipe ever…according to my son.
“The kids in my class were CRAZY…they didn’t LIKE meatloaf! I couldn’t believe it. I guess it’s just because they had cafeteria meatloaf.”
I’m generally not a fan of tooting-my-own-horn, but the other suggestion for a title was ‘meat muffins’…and that just didn’t sound appetizing.
Truly, though, this is a very awesome meatloaf recipe, and I think you should try it, even if you like your current recipe, or if you have family members who ‘don’t like meatloaf’. That was us…that was ME, before I discovered this recipe!
It’s my own modification of a Boston Market Meatloaf recipe knockoff that I found online years ago. There are lots of opinions on meatloaf out there. My siblings and I sure had them when we were kids. ‘Slimy onion chunks’? Gone. Bell Pepper? No way-uh, Hosea. You won’t even need any eggs or ketchup for this one. It’s kinda’ special and unique!
This is everything that you love about a good meatball, ‘cept in a meatloaf form. Or, in the case of what I’m making today, ‘Mini Meatloaf’. If you prefer the traditional ‘loaf’, then feel free to bake in a regular loaf pan. The printable recipe has directions for both. I am going for the muffin tin with silicone liners today , because baking time is significantly reduced, and they freeze/reheat easily.Let’s get started!
First, crank the oven to 400*. Now, you’ll need a cup of tomato juice, 2 tablespoons of bbq sauce…and a tablespoon of sugar. Warm in a small sauce pan, until it bubbles around the edges, and turn off heat. The bbq sauce just adds depth and more flavor to the tomato sauce…it’s not going to taste like BB-Q meatloaf. Although, that might be a kinda tasty modification to try out!
While the sauce heats, I’m going to go ahead and combine my pound and a half of ground beef, 2/3 cup of oatmeal (regular or quick cooking), 1/3 c. flour, and spices in a bowl. I use 1/2 t. of onion powder, 3/4 t. salt, and a pinch of garlic powder and ground black pepper. Not tons of spices, but the sauce will impart a lot of flavor. And speaking of the sauce…I think it’s bubbly by now.
Pour in all but what you’ll need to top your meatloaf or mini-meatloaf. Usually, I reserve just shy of a 1/4 cup, but I should have saved a bit more…maybe 1/3 cups for one batch of mini-meatloaf.
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mix, mix, mix.
Once you’ve got a nice, even blend, it’s time to transfer it to your meatloaf pan! Here is my little mini-meatloaf pan all ready to go. I like to use a large stainless steel scoop to transfer it into the cups.
The last thing I do is make an indention down the middle that will later hold the sauce. Almost ready to go!
To keep them from drying out, I cover the pan with foil. Into the oven they go!
Bake for 20 minutes. They’ll be nearly set. Now, you want to take them out and remove the foil. I want a nice, browned top and some sticky nummy sauce on each one…
Yes! Back into the oven for 7-8 more minutes, until they’re browned and the house smells sooooo good that you can’t stand it!
The amounts I gave here are for one loaf, or 10 minis, but I almost always double the recipe, to get either 2 regular sized meatloaf, or 20 minis. Both are fantastic frozen, just cut the loaf into slices and freeze individually.
Here’s your printable recipe…hope you enjoy!
The Best Meatloaf Recipe Ever
Print
This IS the best meatloaf recipe ever…according to my son. It’s my own modification of a Boston Market Meatloaf recipe knockoff that I found online years ago. There are no ‘slimy onion chunks’ or bell peppers, and you won’t even need any eggs or ketchup for this one. It’s kinda’ special and unique!
Author: Gwen
Recipe type: Main Dish
Cuisine: American
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
1 c. tomato sauce
1 ½ T. BBQ sauce (Original or Hickory Smoke flavors are great)
1 T. sugar
1 ½ lb. Ground sirloin (10% fat)
6 T. flour
⅔ c. oatmeal
¾ t. salt
½ t. onion powder
¼ t. pepper
dash garlic powder
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400°.
Combine tomato sauce, sugar and BBQ sauce in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir often until it begins to bubble. Remove from heat.
In a large bowl, add oats, flour, salt, onion powder, pepper, and garlic powder.
Once the sauce bubbles, reserve ¼ cup of the sauce for a loaf, or ⅓ c. for the muffins.
Add the rest of the sauce to the meat.
Mix with a wooden spoon or your hands until well blended.
Place into a loaf pan or a silicone lined muffin tin, and make a small indent in the center of each one for the sauce later.
Cover with foil.
Bake for 30 minutes for a loaf, or 20 minutes for muffins.
Remove pan and drain any fat.
If making a loaf, slice all the way through into 8 slices.
Pour remaining sauce over the top of the slices or muffins in a ribbon down the center (don’t spread it out).
Place back in oven, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes.
Notes
I like to double this and freeze the remaining slices individually on a cookie sheet. Once frozen, put slices into a freezer bag. They re-heat easily this way and make great leftovers!
This is the reason most cooks choose ground chuck since it has this ideal proportion of fat to meat. During cooking, the fat will liquefy, making the meatloaf moist.
Egg yolks, which are mostly water but contain a good amount of protein and fat, add flavor, richness, and moisture. They also help bind the meat together and get the loaf to set in a stable form without the need to overwork the meat.
The wet ingredients you add to meatloaf make it juicy. Using whole milk will add more richness and fat that keeps it from going dry. Along with ketchup and Worcestershire sauce, it gives meatloaf a marvelous texture.
If you don't have any bread, you can substitute it for breadcrumbs, crackers, cereal grains, oatmeal, instant rice, instant barley, or even potato flakes! However, bread is still the best choice of all the potential options.
Metal pans are great conductors of heat; in other words, they heat up quickly, but in turn, they also cool down more rapidly once removed from the heat source. Additionally, metal pans can withstand higher temperatures than glass.
Adding more to your mixture is always easier than taking some out. Another common reason meatloaf is mushy is too much filler, like breadcrumbs, bread, and oatmeal. Too much filler will stop it from baking correctly and becoming a fully formed meatloaf.
When this happens, it's because you didn't use enough. Next time, try adding in an extra egg and/or some more breadcrumbs. Alternatively, rice, barley, corn flakes, crackers, and dried soup mix can also stand in as binding ingredients as well. Including larger quantities of these items should help solve the problem.
I later learned how I could avoid this problem and make a fully smooth meatloaf by pre-cooking any vegetables, especially the onion, before adding them to the ground meat. This way the meatloaf gets the flavor without the rawness -- a method from the smart people at Cook's Illustrated.
All recipes for meatloaf start with the same basic formula: 2 pounds of ground meat and a “panade” made of bread or crackers soaked in milk. Along with a few eggs, this panade helps to hold the ground meat together and adds some essential moisture to the mix.
A good rule of thumb is to add one teaspoon of kosher salt per pound of meat. Before you cook the meatloaf, it's not a bad idea to very quickly saute a small nub of the meat mixture and give it a taste.
Should I cook my meatloaf covered or uncovered? The meatloaf can be cooked uncovered. However, if you are concerned about it burning, you can cover the meatloaf with foil for the first 45 minutes and uncover it for the final 15 minutes to allow the meatloaf to brown on top.
Use Extra Egg: Eggs act as binders and provide moisture. Add one or two eggs per pound of meat for a moist texture. Make Use of Milk: Soak breadcrumbs in milk before adding them to your mixture. This will keep your meatloaf moist during baking.
To get a meatloaf that is moist (not dry) we need two things: binders and temperature control. When making meatloaf or meatballs, it's standard practice to add some kind of breadcrumb/cracker meal/soaked bread as well as eggs and, often, milk.
Should I cook my meatloaf covered or uncovered? The meatloaf can be cooked uncovered. However, if you are concerned about it burning, you can cover the meatloaf with foil for the first 45 minutes and uncover it for the final 15 minutes to allow the meatloaf to brown on top.
When this happens, it's because you didn't use enough. Next time, try adding in an extra egg and/or some more breadcrumbs. Alternatively, rice, barley, corn flakes, crackers, and dried soup mix can also stand in as binding ingredients as well. Including larger quantities of these items should help solve the problem.
Introduction: My name is Horacio Brakus JD, I am a lively, splendid, jolly, vivacious, vast, cheerful, agreeable person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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