Let’s discuss meatloaf.

Au gratin potatoes are the perfect side dish.

If I bother to make a meat loaf I probably won't be up to make complicated potatoes. Though mashed are perfect, I usually bake potatoes in the oven along with the meatloaf. I like mango chutney with meatloaf, sour cream or even raita for the potatoes.

Finely chopped onion, bread crumbs, ketchup, onion powder, black pepper and an egg.

Later in life I discovered the topping of ketchup/mustard/brown sugar to top it off at the end of baking.

I don’t care if it’s trashy, it’s comforting and tasty. I eat it cold the next day and it’s even better.

I use tomato paste instead of ketchup and sauté onions before adding them.

Me float

Anyone have a decent Keto meatloaf recipe?

I’ve used spaghetti sauce in place of ketchup and it was quite good.

Onion, green pepper, oatmeal, garlic, black pep. Little bit of bbq sauce on top until last 10 mins, then lavish it on.

I fucking love a good meatloaf; especially with mashed potatoes and peas and carrots. It's my favorite meal.

Oatmeal, eggs, tomato juice, ground up carrots, onions and celery, dried thyme, S&P, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, ground beef(not too lean) Not a fan of using a glaze. Mashed potatoes and creamed peas are the best go-withs, it's a total spoon meal.

Heavenly cold meatloaf sandwiches the next day. Multi-grain or whole wheat toast, a smear of barbecue sauce and a thick slab, or two, of meatloaf. Potato chips? Of course!

I really like my Wegman's Turkey-Sage Meatloaf (have one in the freezer). Mashed potatoes and gravy with it.

I love it cold the next day in a sandwich. Toasted bread, a slice of American cheese and some mustard.

I ate meatloaf tonight, cold, left over from last night. On a warm baking powder biscuit with sauce gribiche and a small arugula salad and some chickpea salad I had left over, too. Sweet potato pie for dessert.

A pound of beef, a pound of veal, and half a pound of pork, ground; two eggs, a sleeve of Town House Crackers crushed into crumbs, celery salt, cocktail sauce, Worcestershire sauce, dry mustard, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper and mix it in a big bowl with your hands. Press it into a biggish loaf pan, drape four slices of bacon over the top then an hour and a half in the oven at 375F.

Let it rest for 5 or 10 minutes to let the juices settle and drain the fat off before removing it from the pan for serving. I had roasted potatoes with it last night.

Hey I like your meatloaf R13 - heavy on the MEAT. Good taste.

Also that's a pretty big meatloaf - 3 lbs of meat?!

R13 is a big boned party girl.

The Ann Landers recipe always works for me!

I’m inspired to make a meatloaf this weekend.

The way my mother always made it (she's American-Italian) was essentially all the ingredients you would use to make a meatball (sans the cheese), baked in a loaf pan with some home made pasta sauce on top (my parents gardened and canned). We never used ketchup on top, the sauce itself would thicken and become more sweet and concentrated on it's own.

* ground meat (turkey or beef / pork / veal combo), none low-fat

* a panade (bread with the crusts cut off, or not, torn in pieces, soaked in milk, then the milk squeezed out)

* whole canned tomatoes, squooshed by hand; tomato paste if you prefer

* egg

* parmigiano-reggiano and / or pecorino romano

* salt and pepper

* canned tomato sauce or pureed canned tomatoes for the top

Leslie Bruni's (Frank Bruni's mother) Meat Loaf

I like to use cooked rice in my meatloaf instead of oatmeal or bread crumbs. I like the taste and texture better. It's fun to experiment with alternate ground meats. Ground turkey makes a dandy meatloaf, or else mix ground beef, ground pork, and ground turkey for something different. I've also found that freshly cut onions don't always cook thoroughly in the baking process and I'm sensitive to raw onions in my food, so I saute them first before adding them to my meatloaf mix. It's hard to go wrong with meatloaf, it's a very forgiving food - no need to slavishly follow a recipe.

Typically, I'd start with: 1 pound ground meat 1 medium onion finely diced and sauted until translucent 1 cup (or a little more) cooked rice 1 can of diced tomatoes, or a can of mild rotel tomatoes salt and pepper to taste a pinch or two of italian seasoning a little minced garlic one large egg to bind it Optional: a strip or two of bacon to lay across the top/a spritz of ketchup along the top

mix thoroughly with your hands

Put in loaf pan, and bake at 350 or 375 for about one hour.

R21, I like the idea of diced tomatoes.

Never had it. It's one of those American dishes that never caught on this side of the Atlantic.

I like the idea of cocktail sauce in the meatloaf R13

The current issue of Cook's Country has a recipe for Italian meatloaf.

I do ground pork, beef and if veal is available I use that too. With sauteed onion, carrot and celery Maybe a little oregano too. Plus plenty of salt and pepper. Maybe a little fresh garlic too.

Instead of bread crumbs I use a small bag of bacon/cheddar chips (TGIF is good). Crush them in the bag and add to the mix...also a small can of Prego tomato paste instead of ketchup or small can of roasted tomatoes....

I like the idea of scalloped potatoes - but I use the dried ones since I'm not a very good cook....

Mashed potatoes and corn. Added bonus: Cold meatloaf sandwiches with mustard OR catsup but not both.

I had an interesting version. The meat was lined up to the edges of the pan and inside a lasagna was buried,then topped with meat. Sliced it was beautiful and tasty.

R29 ??? Where's the meatloaf?

r27 Since when does Prego make tomato paste? They only do pasta sauces.

“I love it cold the next day in a sandwich.”

I would do anything for love—but I won't do that.

[quote] Press it into a biggish loaf pan

[quote] baked in a loaf pan

[quote]Put in loaf pan

NO! I never use a loaf pan. I always shape it freeform on a half-sheet pan (or other baking dish). Loaf pans steam the meat. NOT what you want. You want it to cook in a dry heat.

Miss Joan Crawford's Meatloaf is the only one I serve.

Thanks to this thread I substituted diced tomatoes for tomato paste in my meatloaf tonight. Delicious!

R34 Joan's meatloaf is a salt bomb! A BOTTLE of A-1 + Worcestershire + seasoned salt. ?????

[quote]You want it to cook in a dry heat.

If I wanted to do that, I'd move to Palm Springs.

I sometimes prefer meatloaf or a hamburger to some higher cuts of beef. At least you know what you’re getting with meatloaf. A bad steak is such a disappointment.

Does anyone mix beef, veal and pork?

Never mind... I see that it’s an ingredient in several recipes...

I'm partial to Alex Guarnaschelli's Tarragon Meatloaf. It's still moist and just as delicious reheated. I leave the ketchup glaze off. Can't stand ketchup on anything but bad hashed browns or fries. I also use tomato paste rather than ketchup for the meatloaf itself.

I love Alton Brown's meatloaf recipe, especially since you don't have to bake it in a loaf pan.

I made this one several months ago and it was really good.

R16 - Ketchup, Accent (MSG) and onion soup mix. That meatloaf is a sodium bomb.

The recipe in R43 is so complicated. It has about 5 bottled sauces, 6 herbs and spices, sauteed onions and garlic, and a panade. Meatloaf is supposed to be a simple meal.

As a Fat womon, I [italic]know[/italic] I'm useful on meatloaf detail! Well, on nutloaf detail. And, well, traditionally it's slopped onto a plate rather than being formed into a loaf. Still, I know you'll love it, and who doesn't enjoy having leftovers for a couple of days?

Cook:

400 lbs. of Brown Rice

Chop:

425 lbs. Onions

310 lbs. Mushrooms

400 lbs. Carrots

400 lbs. Yams

105 bunches Parsley

Mince:

13 lbs. of Garlic

Cube:

400 lbs. of Tofu

Blend:

1.75 lbs. Thyme

1.75 lbs. Margoram

1.33 lbs. Sage

Measure:

55 lbs. Walnuts

55 lbs. Peanuts

90 lbs. Sunflower Seeds

3.5 gal. Vegetable Oil

Grate:

150 lbs. Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Roast nuts in light oil, stirring constantly. Saute Onions, then Carrots, then Yams, then mushrooms. Add Garlic and Herbs, stir through. Add Tofu, and bring everything to a slow boil and simmer. Combine Veggie/Nut mixture with rice and grated cheese.

Note: Make a pot without Nuts.

Can go with 7680 pita bread halves and 168 lbs. of Tortilla Chips.

r44 And that's why it tastes so good!

Why post that here r46, it’s not meatloaf!

Sorry R31 I meant Prego spaghetti sauce......

[quote]Why post that here [R46], it’s not meatloaf!

MAN ON THE LAND!

Just had my leftover meatloaf. Even better the second day.

R51 Oh yeah...cold meatloaf sandwich!

Cold meatloaf sandwich with ketchup and a little mayo. Best sandwich ever.

R53 Now I have to make a meatloaf...just so I can have leftovers.

Good to know I'm not the only one who enjoys sandwiches made with leftover meatloaf, although I prefer mine with some good grainy mustard.

I think I'd rather eat Salisbury steak with gravy.

R56 That looks like dog puke

Veal tastes gamey to me personally (and I feel a bit bad eating it), so I just do 50/50 ground beef and pork. Saute FINELY diced onions, carrots, celery then cool. Quite a few eggs. Unseasoned bread crumbs and about a half cup of cream. Dried thyme, fresh chopped parsley, Lea and Perrins, salt and pepper. Form into an oval loaf shape on an oven pan/rack (so it can drain) and layer the entire top surface with thin sliced bacon. Once the bacon is crispy, the meatloaf is done. I make a sauce of ketchup, brown sugar, mustard powder and tabasco heated until combined and serve on the side.

Recipe for [bold]embutido[/bold], a Filipino-style pork meatloaf.

When I was a kid we used to get thinly sliced cold meatloaf at the deli counter in the supermarket, just like any deli meat. Very thin, delicious with some mayo, and cheese, on good bread. I miss those days, it was so much easier.

Mayo on meatloat? Ack!

As somebody who has to fuck up anything that works:

Bok Choy instead of celery? Tasty.

Old people need softer vegetables. Starting the vegetables in chicken fat instead of bacon grease worked, but I used ground turkey as the protein. I’ve put away my bacon grease because of health. Bunch of bullshit.

If it’s savory, I can’t use sun-dried tomato paste. That one needs something sweet and we’ll pretend it’s basil but it’s brown sugar.

Gross at r59...most Filipino food is gross.

I tried the Ann Lander's recipe out of curiosity and it came out as I was expecting - awful. It was dry, mealy, a salt bomb, and the ketchup was overpowering. Ketchup doesn't belong on or in meatloaf imo.

Don't let your meatloaf.

Did Mommie steal the hard-boiled egg trick from a Filipino servant of hers?

I made a version of r13's meatloaf last night, using cocktail sauce instead of ketchup or tomato sauce, and now I'll never make it any other way.

How about some drag queen meatloaf?

I love leftover meatloaf sandwiches too, but I heat up the meatloaf and melt some cheddar on top first. I don't care for it cold. I usually make mashed potatoes, tomato sauce gravy and peas with it. Last time I made it with homemade hash brown casserole and it was really good for a change.

Lately I've been using ground beef and ground pork and Italian panko. I agree with the posters who said not to use a loaf pan. It's best to form it into a loaf and bake with plenty of room around it, so it doesn't steam the meat. Also definitely saute the onions and garlic, so they aren't crunchy.

Agreed on everything, r70, though I generally use a panade instead of breadcrumbs. I must ask, though, what is an Italian panko. I thought panko was Japanese.

Yes, R71 panko is Japanese, but it comes in Italian seasoning flavoring, among others.

Bless you, R67. How much did you use? The horseradish in the cocktail sauce makes all the difference. And I guess I like it steamed by cooking it in a loaf pan, although it's hard to think of something that has a crisp crust cooked in its own juices and lots of fat as "steamed." The word's healthy connotation just isn't there - it's a lot of meat. And it holds together cooked that way. It'll taste better tonight, too; reheated or cold.

It is what it is. It's like what Julia Child said when some food critic gave her a hard time about all the eggs and butter and cream and sugar in one of her recipes: "I don't tell them to eat it every day." Meatloaf is not on the weekly menu rotation. Meatloaf is more like an annual or at most semi-annual event.

There is no healthy connotation to "steamed" ground meat. That's what we call it, but perhaps "boiled" would be a better description, as its own fat and other cooking liquids are what the ground meat is cooking it in.

Use a sheet pan.

The sheet pan sounds like the only way to mitigate the situation.

Some people even place the meatloaf on a cooling rack, which they then place on the sheet pan. I use a half sheet pan. I think I used the cooling rack once and didn't like it. But I'm not as fatophobic as some.

Ina Garten’s meatloaf recipe because it’s tasty and allows me to use less meat - by the time it’s done cooking you can’t tell it’s half vegetables and breadcrumbs.

I make meatloaf often and find it to be one of those dishes that you can easily customize with the addition of a few flavorings.

I use fresh breadcrumbs, just white bread in the Cuisinart until it’s in crumbs. I also purée a mirepoix to add moisture and stretch the meat.

The favorite flavor lately in my house has been a Mediterranean-inspired one with added pine nuts, feta cheese, spinach, diced olives, and baharat, a Lebanese 7 spice blend. I don’t glaze it but serve tzatziki alongside.

[quote]Bless you, [R67]. How much did you use? The horseradish in the cocktail sauce makes all the difference. And I guess I like it steamed by cooking it in a loaf pan, although it's hard to think of something that has a crisp crust cooked in its own juices and lots of fat as "steamed." The word's healthy connotation just isn't there - it's a lot of meat. And it holds together cooked that way. It'll taste better tonight, too; reheated or cold.

About 1/2 cup Trader Joe's cocktail sauce with one pound each of beef and pork. Glazed it with a mixture of cocktail sauce and Dijon mustard. Baked it in a loaf pan, but one of those with a slotted bottom so a lot of the fat could drip off.

It was even better cold. Thank you again!

I loved his “Paradise by the Dashboard Light”.

My favorite meatloaf is polpettone - italian meatloaf (basically a meatball made in a loaf shape) stuffed with spinach, provolone, mortadella and hard boiled eggs. Easy to make, but when you slice through it, it looks "dramatic" with a cross-section of the rolled ingredients.

Substitute Italian sausage squeezed from the casing for approximately one-fourth of the ground beef (I prefer sweet, but YMMV). Makes a big difference in the flavor.

I used to love meatloaf, and now I'm just completely neutral on it. Don't hate it, but no longer cook it either.

R68 ...and for desert, Strawberry Shortcut

I don't always follow a strict recipe or measure everything, but always include some Duxelles. Sometimes a combo of Cremini and White Button, or I'll even use porcini if on hand. I prefer Matzo meal or cooked Kasha over breadcrumbs. I use Noilly Prat white vermouth or a decent Sauvignon Blanc for the Duxelles. I sometimes add a bit of tomato paste, but shy away from ketchup glaze, or ketchup in the mixture. I always make a pan sauce brown gravy to go with the loaf and some mash.

I cheat with umami ingredients like Beef demi-glacé (Williams-Sonoma) and a few shakes of Maggi. I always serve with mash and either green beans or peas.

I used to have dinner with this sailor who I crushed madly on and his girlfriend. She was from Iowa and was a meat and potatoes gal. She made a ham loaf with a brown sugar glaze that was outta this world. Our friendship ended on a bad note and I regret not getting the recipe from her. I’ve found several online and the results were disappointing.

Ever since Sweeney Todd meatloaf is impossible to even chew.. (...mrs Mooney has a pie shop..using only pussy cats and toast...but I’m telling you them pussy cats is quick )

[quote]Our friendship ended on a bad note and I regret not getting the recipe from her. I’ve found several online and the results were disappointing.

Hmm ... I wonder why?

I only eat meat loaf or turkey loaf if it's made by someone I know. I won't eat it in a restaurant.

I wouldn’t eat anything that had a mother

Yesterday I was at Publix and on impulse I picked up a prepared uncooked meatloaf. Brought it home, took it out of the packaging and put it on a cookie sheet with some parchment paper underneath, reshaped it with my hands and put a layer of ketchup mixed with gochujang over the top. Cooked it at 350° for about an hour.

It was surprisingly moist and tasty, and I will be buying it again.

Great story, R91.

Bill Blass's meatloaf recipe is great. It's the only one I make.

I don't make it in a baking pan like the pic because it just parboils. I hand form it on a baking sheet.

“1 1/2 cups Heinz chili sauce“

Mary!

R93 Looked good till I arrived at Sour Cream and all the Chili sauce. I do like the Thyme and Marjoram as well as the sautéed celery and onion though.

Sautéed celery and onion are in Ina Garten‘s meatloaf recipe as well. It is a nice touch.

If you're going to put onion in meatloaf, and I do, you've got to cook it thoroughly beforehand. Onion isn't one of those foods you want to hear as you chew it.

Caramelized, r97?

R98 That can be tricky for some, as it can go from sweet to bitter quite quickly unless low and slow.

I just made the Cook's Country recipe for Italian Meatloaf. It came out better than I expected, although it was a little on the salty side. You make a simple marinara sauce with crushed tomatoes and garlic. Mix half ground beef and half Italian sausage, with a panade of saltines, eggs, parmesan, and milk. Oregano, granulated garlic, salt and pepper. You make a rectangular, flat loaf, cover with the marinara, and bake. When done, top with grated fontina cheese and broil. The only substitution I made was romano for the parmesan, which may account for the excess saltiness.

r98, no, I don't go all the way to caramelized. I just sweat the onions, using olive oil and salt, then put a lid on the pan, and cook on low for around ten minutes.

My grandmother taught me to add a little pinch of cinnamon, about 1/2 tsp, for each pound of meat. It is delicious.

I always made my meatloaf from chopped beef, pork and veal. Then one time I had the butcher grind up some skinless/boneless chicken thighs for me. This time I added some finely chopped red pepper, and celery to the chopped onions I always add and a little olive oil, all to compensate for the chicken being having less fat and would probably be dry. I added everything else the same, white bread soaked in whole milk, an egg per pound (I used 3 pounds of chicken) the cinnamon, ketchup a tiny dab of deli mustard S&P and that's about it.

Well, it was the best meatloaf I ever made or tasted. I always use the chicken now instead of the beef, pork and veal or even just beef.

I can’t wrap my head around chicken loaf.

[quote]Bill Blass's meatloaf recipe is great. It's the only one I make.

Don Loper never let his meat loaf.

I like make my meat loaf with 1/2 mild ground sausage 1/2 ground beef and I always use TownHouse crackers for the filler instead of bread crumbs or oatmeal, they give it a much richer flavor.

My go-to. Exquisite.