The Ultimate Meatloaf Recipe - Does it Exist?

How fatty should the meat be?

My favorite is Leslie Bruni's recipe. She's NY Times columnist (and meatloaf cookbook author) Frank Bruni's mom. Here's a link to the cookbook, but the recipe is also online.

I usually use 85% Angus beef, r1.

I like making a meatloaf from this Ancho-Leek-Turkey Meatball recipe.

The best I made was from a recipe found on the back of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup can. Really simple. Soup, an egg, breadcrumbs, onion. The key is using a third ground beef, a third ground veal, and a third ground pork

How about a keto meatloaf? All of my attempts are gross

MEATLOAF is DEAD!!!.....74 YEARS OLD...Looked 84...

Good meatloaf is difficult to make. More misses than hits with all these recipes.

OP, My mother also used uncooked oatmeal in her meatloaf, she would also put in a packet of onion soup mix. Great for sandwiches.

My own meatloaf recipe is descended from my mom's, but I've innovated considerably from her version of it.

2 lbs Ground Beef, preferably lean

1 16oz package Owens Hot Sausage

1 medium White Onion, diced

1 Green Bell Pepper, diced

2 tablespoons Minced Garlic

4 eggs

2 tablespoons beef broth powder (Knorrs)

1 tsp black pepper

1 12oz can Tomato Paste

¼ cup Worcestershire Sauce

1½ tsp Ground Celery Seed

1 tsp Yellow Mustard Powder

2 cups Old Fashioned Oats

Ketchup

Heinz 57 Steak Sauce

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In a large mixing bowl, combine the ingredients, mixing with your hands (yes, it's kind of distasteful, but hands wash). Divide up into eight mini-loaves, each about softball size, oval-shaped, and place on an oven broiler pan (the underpan will catch the grease). Top each mini-loaf with a mixture of ketchup and Heinz 57 Steak Sauce. Heat the oven to 400°, and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. The sauce on the tops should be slightly blackened.

Serve with your best mashed potatoes, and green beans cooked with bacon (I like Italian cut).

The measurements here are approximate; I've been making this recipe for years, and it's always been something I just throw together. So it was a little difficult to quantify exactly what I put into it by exact measurements. But this ought to be pretty close.

(Originally posted on DL thread "Does anybody still eat MEATLOAF?" on May 25, 2021.)

^^ celery seed, green pepper? Oh, gurl, no.

For the "Ultimate Meatloaf's Meatloaf" prepare the raw mix according to your preferred recipe, and bake. Then have an unvaccinated family member or neighbor (preferably overweight and over the age of 60) cough and drool onto the finished loaf before serving.

Cook it, fling it out to the dogs.

Meatloaf is the sort of thing I'll get once in a blue moon at a diner. It never comes out good when I make it.

The best meatloaf on the planet is The Altitude’s lamb and green chili meatloaf in Laramie, Wyoming. As much as I’ve tried substituting lamb and green chili in regular meatloaf recipes, I cannot recreate this amazing concoction.

Meatloaf died today.

Whatever the recipe, substitute cocktail sauce for ketchup. Transformative.

[Quote]Meatloaf is the sort of thing I'll get once in a blue moon at a diner. It never comes out good when I make it.

This. For a beloved American staple few can get it right at home.

My own recipe includes lots of veggies(carrots, celery, onions, sometimes mushrooms, zucchini or red bell peppers) ground up in a food processor. I don't sweat or saute them beforehand(though it would add extra flavah), because they're such small pieces they cook up just fine.

One of the more unusual meat loaves I've had included white, whole pre-cooked pearl onions. When the loaf was sliced rings of onion were quite noticeable and most unusual.

For all you salt lovers and those who want a quick and easy recipe: 1.5 lbs ground meat + 1 pkg. dry onion soup mix + 1 small can( 5 fl oz[or thereabout] of evaporated milk. Squish everything together, shape, let stand 15 minutes before baking. Good texture hot, VERY firm when cold.

I’ve always hated meatloaf—too oniony.

After it was mentioned on Little Fires Everywhere, I added Ritz crackers to my meatloaf. It was delicious.

r19 Simply decrease the amount called for, or omit them entirely. That's one of the +'s of making your own meatloaf, endless variations.

Whatever the recipe, bake the dish by the dashboard light. Metaphoric!

I have found that raw onion rarely cooks thoroughly in a meatloaf, and I'm sensitive to raw onion, so when I make it, I often saute the onions for a bit before mixing in. I also like to use rice (white or brown) in meatloaf sometimes as the filler to vary the texture. I don't like meatloaf with milk. I'd rather use a can of tomatoes or rotel for liquid and for flavor.

Here is the meatloaf with oatmeal that used to appear on the box of quaker oats:

Ingredients 1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef 1 cup tomato juice or tomato sauce 3/4 cup Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked) 1 egg or 2 egg whites, lightly beaten 1/4 cup chopped onion 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional) 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Meatloaf is over.

[quote]^^ celery seed, green pepper? Oh, gurl, no.

That's 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 celery seed, R10, and diced green bell pepper. And why not? My mom's original recipe called for diced celery and diced bell pepper, but the addition of celery was a bit too much in the way of vegetables, and contributed to the meatloaf sometimes falling apart. Additionally, the celery sometimes retained a little too much crunch; R23 complains that raw onion doesn't cook through in a meatloaf (in my meatloaf, it does), but that was what was happening with the celery. Ground celery seed keeps the rich flavor of celery, but without the problems that went with the chopped vegetable.

And there's nothing wrong with green bell pepper.

My mother (who was never fat, rather she was underweight) swore by ground ‘chuck’ for meatloaf, claiming only it could make a juicy tender meatloaf. Her recipe called for eggs, crustless white bread torn into small bits, ketchup, minced onion and garlic, parsley, and salt and pepper. In a pinch she would use dried breadcrumbs, and onion and garlic powder but it’s not quite as delicious and moist.

My mom always topped her meatloaf with a few strips of bacon. It flavored the meatloaf as it cooked and we kids fought over the bacon strips.

What I've begun doing is throwing several strips of raw bacon into the food processor. Grind it up, then add it to the meatloaf mixture. It makes the meatloaf juicier while it adds a nice but low-key smoky bacon note to the meatloaf.

r26 sounds like the quintessential diner style meat loaf. Pure and delicious.

Mix with Ranch instead of Ketchup for a better taste. Add macaroni instead of bread crumbs for those who don’t eat bread.

My mother made a good one with onions and ketchup. I miss it still.

I like Rolo me Kima with hard boiled eggs in the middle and topped with a simple tomato sauce for the last part of baking. Best recipe that I've found is from a book called A Kitchen In Corfu.

Might just be "Rolo Kima"

And you don't chop the onion, you grate it.

[quote] I like Rolo me Kima with hard boiled eggs in the middle

Do you have to boil the egg first or put it in raw to cook in the oven?

Joan Crawford had a ludicrous meatloaf recipe that she said everyone raved about. The amount of salt in it from the added salt and seasonings makes my ankles swell. But like all her recipes I’m ghoulishly curious to try it.

I use a pound of ground turnkey and 1/2 pound of pork. All my other ingredients repeat most of the above suggestions.

r5

so many variables. . .

stuffed loaf is popular with the meatheads that don't want to go lower than 90/10 - possible fillers: cheese, eggs, veggites, etc. whatever meal in a meal you want to do. if you need a no brainer just alter a keto friendly meatball recipe to serve as your inner loaf.

binders? I know some call for nut flours but I find fresh ground nuts tend to work better since they retain oils (though it doesn't hurt to add a bit mor, like a touch of black walnut oil or whatever) and you can control the texture a bit more - a lot of hos also combined with cooked brown rice or substitute.

Or obviously a pork rind panko.

Cracklins not quite as healthy and more awkard to use but there are options too

There's also some alternatives for using ground beans but that obviously makes it dirty and can add an extra day of prep time.

Meatloaf is one of those things that a little alteration can make a big difference to the flavor profile... and ultimately that's what people are trying to achieve is getting as close in approximity to the flavors they like or first hand. . . because otherwise it's just a greasy shitbrick.

so yeah, look at the vegetarian/vegan fauxloafs and the keto/paleo loafs, and combine the recipes to fit into the profile you're trying to reach while hiring the neighbor's kid to work out the math (ingredients amount, calories, carbs, fats, etc) for you.

Crawford appears when you're making it, screaming NO MORE WIRE HANGERS.

Joan Crawford’s "Party Meatloaf" (1970 version) Ingredients: 1) 2 pounds ground lean sirloin 2) 1 pound ground veal 3) 1 pound bulk or link pork sausages 4) 3 raw eggs 5) 1 large purple onion, finely chopped 6) 2 green peppers, seeded and finely chopped 7) 2 bottles steak sauce 8) 2 bottles Worcestershire sauce 9) 1 jar seasoned salt 10) 4 hard boiled eggs 11) ¼ cup of water Directions: Do not let butcher mix sirloin and veal at time of purchase. Put ground sirloin, veal, pork sausage and raw eggs in shallow baking pan. Mix thoroughly. Add finely chopped onion and green peppers and mix thoroughly, once again. Pour one bottle Worcestershire cause and one-half jar seasoned salt over mixture and knead, forming an oval loaf. Make hollows in top with dessert spoon and gently press in hard boiled eggs. Pour the remaining bottle of Worcestershire sauce and steak sauce over loaf, ribboning the sauces. Sprinkle the top of the loaf with the remaining one-half jar of seasoned salt to form a crust. Pour water into the bottom of the pan. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes; baste with juices. Reduce heat to 250 degrees and bake one hour, basting frequently with juices. Serving: To serve, use two spatulas to lift meatloaf from baking pan to a heated platter. Serves 14 to 16.

Holy shit, the amount of sodium in r39's Joan Crawford recipe will either cause a stroke or shut down your kidneys. How did she die again?

My Meatloaf recipe died of COVID. Whatever happened to SATURDAY NIGHT?

[quote]Do you have to boil the egg first or put it in raw to cook in the oven?

You have to cook them first then you pat the meat mixture into a line on a piece of parchment and then you use the parchment to make a "roll" around the eggs and then cook it off in the oven for a bit then you remove the parchment and cook it some more with or without more olive oil on top until it browns a bit and then you spread a thick tomato sauce on it and finish it in the oven like that.