I’ve never been a big fan of meatloaf. So, I thought it would be fun to ask my Facebook friends for their favorite recipes so that I could sample a few to see if there was something I was missing. I received a number of great submissions and actually made and sampled eight of them. They ranged quite a bit in flavors and ingredients, from a braided bacon wrapped 3 pound meatloaf to a healthy turkey mini meatloaf designed for the health conscious. After making all of them, I’ve actually changed my mind and will put meatloaf back on my menu in the future. If you haven’t made meatloaf in a while, here are the eight recipes I tried, plus a few more. I’m sure you’ll find one you’ll enjoy.
MEATLOAF RECIPES
Patti's Meatloiaf
courtesy of Patti Bogdanovich Arnish
Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs Ground Round
1 cu Old Fashioned Rolled Oats or Quick Oats
3/4 cu Tomato Sauce
1 1/2 cu Tomato juice
1 sm Yellow onion, chopped
1 Egg, slightly beaten
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Method
Preheat oven to 350. Coat a pyrex/glass loaf pan with Olive oil spray, set aside.
In medium bowl, combine: meat, oats, tomato sauce, 3/4 cup of the tomato juice, onion, and egg, salt and pepper. Press mixture into loaf pan, and pour remainder of tomato juice on top. Cook for one hour. Remove from oven and let stand for at least 5 minutes before cutting and serving.
Natalie's Meatloaf
courtesy of Natalie Toler Smigel
1 1/2 lbs Hamburger
3/4 cu Rolled Oats
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
1/4 cu Chopped Onion
1 lg Egg, beaten
3/4 cu Milk
Mix this all together and add about 1/3 of this topping into the meat mixture as well:
3/4 cu Ketchup
3/4 cu Brown Sugar
1/3 cu Mustard
Spread the rest of the topping on top and bake at 350 for 1 1/4 hours. I use a meatloaf pan that has holes in the bottom of the inner layer so that the grease drains out. You almost have to serve with mashed potatoes!
Glenda's Meatloaf
courtesy of Glenda Doorn-Specht
2 1/2 lbs Ground Meat (1/4 pork, 1/4 veal, 1/2 chuck works well, or all beef is good too)
2 tbl Sugar
1/2 tbl Salt (optional)
1/2 tsp Pepper
16oz can Tomato Sauce (I use fresh if I have them)
2 lg Eggs
3/4 cu Rolled Oats
1/2 cu Cracker Crumbs
about 40 shakes of Garlic Powder
1/3 cu Dried Onions (I often use fresh instead)
2 tbl Parsley, chopped
Mix well. Put into a long bread pan. Bake 400 for about 1-1/4 hours. If you throw in potatoes wrapped in foil, it will all be done at the same time.
Very easy to make gluten-free with GF oats and GF crackers, or sometimes I just use GF Corn Flakes cereal.
Steve's Turkey Meatloaf
courtesy of Steve Abrams
nonfat cooking spray
1/2 cu Chopped Onion
1/4 cu Chopped Celery
1/4 cup Chopped Carrot (optional- leave out if you prefer less carbs)
1/2 tsp Paprika
1/2 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Cayenne
1/8 tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper
8 ounces Lean Ground Turkey (can be turkey breast, but lean turkey works fine)
1 Egg White
3/4 cu Diced Canned Plum Tomatoes in juice (just use a whole, 14 ounce, can of diced tomatoes with no added salt, available at Trader Joe's or anywhere)
Preheat oven to 350F. Heat a nonstick skillet or frying pan over medium heat, and coat with nonfat cooking spray. Add onion, celery and carrot. Cook for 3-4 minutes until softened. Mix spices together and stir in to veggies. Cook for an additional minute or two. Remove to a bowl.
Add turkey, egg white, and tomato to the bowl. Mix until just blended (use your clean hands...this is the fun part of making a meatloaf). Bake for 30-45 minutes until loaf is no longer pink in the center and a thermometer inserted registers 165F. Serve with steamed spinach or cauliflower and is great the next day as leftovers. This should make 2-4 servings.
Nutritional information per serving: 232 calories, 23g protein, 12g carbohydrates, 10g fat, 3g saturated fat, 2g fiber, 8g sugar
Sharon's Meatloaf
courtesy of Lynne Stasiak
2 lbs Ground Chuck
1 lg Egg
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
1/2 Cup Bread Crumbs
8 oz can Tomato Sauce
1/4 cu Vinegar
1/4 cu Brown Sugar
1 tsp Prepared Mustard
1 Small Onion, minced
Heat oven to 375°. Mix meat, egg, salt, pepper, bread crumbs, ½ can of tomato sauce, sugar, vinegar, mustard. Mix well. Shape into loaf on 9 x 13 pan. Pour remaining tomato sauce over loaf. Bake for 1 hour.
Lynne’s Note:
I use only tomato sauce in loaf. On top of loaf I put barbeque sauce then I broil it to make it a little crispy. And in a pinch I use the freeze dried onions.
Scott's Mozzarella Stuffed Meatloaf
courtesy of Scott Alderman
Ingredients
1 1/2 lb Ground Sirloin
1/3 cu Breadcrumbs
2 lg Eggs
1/4 cc Onion, minced
1/2 cu Tomato Juice
1/3 cu Green Pepper
1 1/4 tsp Salt
Dash Thyme, marjoram, garlic, basil, & black pepper
8 oz Mozzarella Shredded Cheese
1 1/2 cu Tomato Sauce (optional)
Method
Put eggs, onion, tomato juice, & green pepper in blender to mix thoroughly. In large bowl put sirloin, breadcrumbs, & seasonings. Mix together. Add liquid mixture & blend thoroughly with your hands.
Take meat mixture and flatten in shape of rectangle on top of large piece of wax paper. Sprinkle cheese across meat. Roll meat like a jelly roll. Pinch ends. Spray loaf pan with cooking spray and add meat. Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 1/4 hours or until brown. Add 11/2 cup of tomato sauce for last 1/2 hour of baking if desired.
Karen's Meatloaf
courtesy of Karen Pfeifer
Ingredients
2 1/4 to 2 1/2 lbs Ground Round
1 lg Egg
small handful of Dried Parsley
3/4 cu Milk (low-fat, 2%, doesn't matter)
1/2 cu Italian Bread Crumbs
Dried Savory, Rubbed Sage, Thyme, to taste
Montreal Seasoning, to taste, or salt and pepper
1 tbl or more Dijon Mustard
1 tlb or more Open Pit with onion BBQ sauce
Method
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Mix the egg, milk and bread crumbs together. Let them sit for 5 minutes so the bread crumbs can soak up the milk. Add everything, but the meat, and whisk together. Mix the meat in with your hands until well combined. Do not over mix. Place mixture into a greased 9" x 5" loaf pan and bake for 75 minutes. Let rest in pan for 5 minutes, but not any longer because then the fat will get soaked up back into the meatloaf making it greasy.
I use the Italian breadcrumbs in the blue cylinder (I forget the brand name). I have also used panko.
Beouf de Hervochon
courtesy of Dean Hervochon
Ingredients
Brown Sugar Glaze
3/4 cu Ketchup and/or Chili Sauce (you can mix them together)
6 tbl Brown Sugar
6 tsp Cider or White Vinegar
1 sm can Tomato Paste
3 tbl (or more) Balsamic Vinegar
Mix all ingredients in small saucepan, cook down for about 5 minutes -set aside.
Meat Loaf
2 tsp Vegetable Oil
1 lg Onion, chopped
1 lg Red Pepper, chopped
1 tsp Dried Thyme Leaves
4 Garlic Cloves, minced
3 lg Eggs
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp ground Black Pepper
1 can Chopped Green Chilies
1 1/2 tbl Smoked Paprika
3 tsp Dijon Mustard
3 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
3 tsp Soy Sauce
1/2 tsp Hot Red Pepper Sauce
3/4 cu Whole Milk or Plain Yogurt
3 lbs Ground Beef (use all organic ground beef if you can get it...85/15 works great)
1 2/3 cu Italian Dried Bread Crumbs
1/2 cu Minced Fresh Parsley Leaves
6-8 oz thin-sliced Bacon (8 to 12 slices, depending on loaf shape)
Heat oven to 350F. Sauté onion and red pepper, then add garlic and dried thyme - sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool while preparing remaining ingredients.
Mix eggs with salt, pepper, chilies, paprika, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, pepper sauce, and milk (yogurt). Add egg mixture to meat in large bowl along with breadcrumbs, parsley, and cooked onion and garlic. Lightly mix with fork until evenly blended and meat mixture does not stick to bowl. (If mixture sticks, add additional milk or yogurt, a couple tablespoons at a time, until mix no longer sticks.) Do not compact the meat, you don't wan't it smashed into a patty! Use forks works well.
Turn meat mixture onto work surface. With wet hands, pat mixture into approximately 12 x 5-inch loaf shape. Place on foil-lined shallow baking pan. Spray foil with "Pam" before putting the meat on the foil. Brush with a bit of glaze. Arrange bacon slices, crosswise, over loaf, overlapping slightly and tucking bacon tip ends under loaf. Kinda braid the bacon. It should cover most of the surface. Brush on all of glaze.
Bake loaf until bacon is crisp and internal temperature of loaf registers 160 degrees F, about 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes. Check with a thermometer.
Once cooked - broil it for about 5 minutes to get a great glaze on it. WATCH IT!!! Cool at least 10 minutes. Cut the meat loaf with a bread knife - "saw" through bacon to keep it from coming off. Serve with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli.
Patty's Mom's Meatloaf Burgers
courtesy of Patty Strahan
Ingredients
1 lb Ground Beef
1 Med Yellow Onion. coarsely chopped
1/2 to 3/4 Sleeve of Soda Crackers, crushed
1 lg Egg
1 tbl Ketchup
Salt and Pepper to taste
Method
Mix all above ingredients together and form patties. Cook them in a skillet until cooked through. Remove them to a plate and make brown gravy with the drippings. Serve with boiled potatoes and brown gravy and a nice salad.
Jennifer's Meatloaf
courtesy of Jennifer Koleske McWilliams
Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs Meatloaf Mix
1 cu Bread Crumbs
1 egg
1/4 cu or less Onion, chopped
1 packet Onion Soup Mix
Cheese on top the last 30 min
No ketchup here.
Tony's Meatloaf
courtesy of Tony Watson
(quantities not provided)
Ground turkey
turkey italian sausage
chopped onion
red bell pepper
chopped garlic
"Granny smith apples" diced
celery
salt pepper
cayenne pepper
crushed red pepper
glaze top off with a mixture of Worcestershire, ketchup, honey
Thanks again to all my Facebook friends for their recipes. They were all great! If you have any questions or comments, please send me an email at wayne@waynesweekend.com or follow me at waynej on Facebook.
