- 8
- 15 mins
- 60 mins
Ingredients
- Meatloaf:
- 1 cup Whole Milk
- 6 slices White Bread
- 2 pounds Ground Beef
- 1 cup (heaping) Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon Seasoned Salt
- 3/4 teaspoons Salt
- Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 1/3 cup Minced Flat-leaf Parsley
- 4 whole Eggs, Beaten
- 10 slices Thin/regular Bacon
- Sauce:
- 1-1/2 cup Ketchup
- 1/3 cup Brown Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Dry Mustard
- Tabasco To Taste
Preparation
Step 1
Begin by throwing six slices of regular white bread (I’m talking sandwich bread, folks) into a bowl. Pour the milk over the bread and let it soak in.
Throw the soaked bread into the bowl, along with some eggs. Add salt, and lots and lots of freshly ground black pepper. And you can add some finely minced garlic if you’d like!
Scrub your hands with soap and water, scour them with an SOS pad, hold them under a bacteria-destroying UV light, and dip them in antiseptic solution (okay, just soap and water will do) and knead the mixture together.
When it’s all mixed together, form the mixture into a (I’m going to say it) loaf shape on top of a broiler/drip pan.
Add brown sugar and dry mustard.
Then add as much Tabasco as you’d like.
Pour a third of the sauce over the top and spread it to cover the bacon, then bake the meatloaf for 45 minutes. After that time, pull the pan out of the oven and spread another third of the sauce over the top. Return it to the oven for fifteen minutes or so.
These photos don’t show it because I took them back when I was even more of an amateur photographer than I am now, but the sauce is truly bright red. There are some meatloaf recipes that have more of a canned tomato-based sauce, and those can be delicious, too. But to me, a ketchup-based sauce is what makes meatloaf truly…meatloaf.
And the next day, make meatloaf sandwiches with the leftovers.
Eggs, Beaten
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour milk over the bread slices. Allow it to soak in for several minutes.
Place the ground beef, milk-soaked bread, Parmesan, seasoned salt, salt, black pepper, and parsley in a large mixing bowl. Pour in beaten eggs.
With clean hands, mix the ingredients until well combined. Form the mixture into a loaf shape on a broiler pan, which will allow the fat to drain. (Line the bottom of the pan with foil to avoid a big mess!)
Make the sauce: add ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, and hot sauce in a mixing bowl. Stir together. Pour 1/3 of the mixture over the top of the bacon. Spread with a spoon.
Bake for 45 minutes, then pour another 1/3 of the sauce over the top. Bake for another 15 minutes. Slice and serve with remaining sauce.
Spicy Cauliflower Stir-Fry
this might make me a meatloaf fan!
ketchup, little more than mustard…to me, the “K” is what makes it!
Add some ketchup to the top and bake 350 for about 1 1/2 hours. Keep checking, oven temps vary, but you should have a VERY non-dry tasty meat loaf…add some mashed ‘p’ and green beans (garlic, butter, pepper and onion for them)!!!
I like meatloaf okay, but this recipe might make me LOVE it! YUM! And I agree with the ketchup based sauce for on top. Can’t beat it!
Also, I made THE BREAD last night and the family went wild! If you haven’t tried THE BREAD…do it! I made mine with italian bread and sprinkled garlic salt on top of the butter (tons and tons of butter) and served it with spaghetti. I was a bit afraid to leave it under the broiler so long, but do as Ree says…let it burn a bit, baby! The butter was bubbling like crazy, but I resisted the urge to yank it out of the oven and waited…it was worth the wait! The family kept asking how I got the cheese on there. No cheese, I said, just lots and lots of BUTTER! Thanks for the easy and new way to make garlic bread…I’ll be making THE BREAD like this forever more!
It may be an all american dish, but it is world reknown! I add the brown sugar, mustard plus horseradish to the meat mixture and top with ketsup. Also add the milk separately and instead of white bread, oatmeal. Yummmm!
I don’t know why meatloaf gets such a bad rap! We like it in our house…and I’m going to try your variation on in this week!
We love, love, love meatloaf in this house. It’s the ultimate comfort food. And it makes amazing sandwiches the next day.
I desperately needed this. I can’t make meatloaf to save my life.
Oh my gosh, Ree- I am laughing so hard right now! How do you manage to make me laugh outloud while reading a meat (I’m going to say it) loaf recipe! The calf nut’s sent me over the edge!
Looks delicious and I’ve been hungry for meatloaf. This recipe is a lot like my own (well, really, my mother’s–the quintessential family meatloaf) but mine doesn’t have the parmesan, which makes everything a little more yummy.
I’ve had a heart attack, too. I still eat beef 2-4 times a month with no adverse effects. Turkey can be used very successfully in meatloaf. Ina Garten has a recipe (makes a HUGE loaf) at the Food Network. It’s probably in one of her cookbooks, too. She does lasagna with ground turkey, too.
Hi Nicki, we’re in the same boat here! I have been using this recipe from Ree’s cookbook as template to make my own version for awhile now. I use lean ground turkey in place of the beef and omit the bacon altogether. Sometimes turkey can be dry and lack flavor. Through trial and error I have found adding one large onion (diced and GRILLED in a VERY small amount of olive oil) to the mixture helps to keep the turkey moist & flavorful through the cooking process. It too is even better the next day in a sandwich. Maybe you’ll want to give it a try, I know it helps my hubby feel less deprived! The added bonus is this version saves you just over 100 calories per serving. I hope your husband is recovering well. Cheers!
Use stuffing mix soaked in milk, instead of bread, makes a tasty turkey meatloaf.
You may want to try ground chicken instead of turkey sometime. There seems to be a flavor in ground turkey I don’t care for (though I love turkey), but chicken doesn’t have that. It’s a better beef substitute since it’s flavor is mild and adapts to whatever you cook it with. I have added cooked mushrooms pulsed in a food processor to help add moisture since the chicken is so lean. My mushroom HATING husband had no idea! Good luck!
Here’s a question I’m desperately hoping you’re able to answer. I love meatloaf when it’s done well, but I’m deathly allergic to tomatoes and peppers. There is not a meatloaf recipe out there that doesn’t involve copious amounts of ketchup or bbq sauce as the topper for the dish. I have no idea what that could be replaced with. Any suggestions? What tomato and pepper free substance can you use as a ketchup substitute?
I had a recipe that used steak sauce for the topping (thick steak sauce). In the mixture, you put a couple of dashes of liquid smoke in it.
Meat loaf doesn’t have to be topped with anything. Just omit the topping. Or, you can make gravy from the drippings or make another kind of topping — maybe a soy sauce based sauce.
sallyk is right; meatloaf doesn’t “have” to be topped with anything. My mom and grandmother always made meatloaf ‘dry’, without any topping — just the meat mixture. It wasn’t until I was in college that I had it with any topping! I prefer mine ‘dry’, my husband prefers his ‘wet’ so sometimes I put the ketchup mixture only on half of the loaf so that we’ll both be able to have what we like!
A friend of mine always just tops hers with honey. I’ve never tried it myself, but she swears by it, and her family loves it. Ooohhhh, now that I’m thinking about it, a nice honey/dijon mix would be good!
My hubby to be can’t have any tomato products…I use Paula Deen’s cheeseburger meatloaf for him….cheddar cheese inside, and a creamy cheddar cheese sauce on top….Can’t wait to try PW’s for me… I make alot of different tomato ones, so I know it is tricky.
Hey Charissa–my mom made meatloaf frequently, but ours did not have the tomato topping. She would make regular ol’ gravy from the drippings. Dinner was meatloaf & mashed potatoes with gravy, mmmmm…….YUMMY!!!
I hadn’t thought of soy sauce, either. I use that alot to replace tomato based stuff.
The steak sauce sounds like a good idea, but I’ve never found one that didn’t have a tomato or pepper product of some sort in it. Pretty much anything with the words “BBQ” in it is right out because it either has chili powder or cayenne in it. That mustard sauce looks good. I wonder if I replaced the cayenne with cumin. . . hmmm. . .
Gooseberry Patch had a recipe that tops it with an applesauce/dijon mustard mixture. Super yummy!
I have a recipe that uses 1 cup honey, 1 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup mustard (type of your choice — when I got the recipe, I probably only knew yellow mustard), 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon ginger and 1 teaspoon dry mustard. Because it has so much honey, I’d add it towards the end of cooking so it doesn’t burn.
You could definitely replace or leave out the cayenne. It gives the sauce heat but I think it would be just fine without it.
mix it all up, put it into loaf pans (mine are ancient and Pyrex) and bake covered with foil for an hour, at 350 degrees, then uncovered for another 15-30 minutes, or until the meat thermometer reads “well-done” for pork.
Two days ago I wanted to make meatloaf but needed a different recipe than the one I used. So I thought, Maybe Ill have a look and check out if Ree has a recipe for meatloaf. And you didn’t, which disappointed me greatly. So imagine my excitements when I clicked on the site today and you were making meatloaf! With bacon! If I’m going to convince my 10 year old son to eat meatlaof, bacon is the wya to go. Thanks for reading my mind Ree.
Heather (Heather's Dish)
I keep a box of powder-free latex gloves in my kitchen. It’s really so quick and easy to just don a pair for meatloaf mixing, pie crust mixing, onion handling, etc. No more greasy, sticky, icky, germy, stinky hands!!!
Ooh, me too! I’m a vegetarian who cooks for a complete carnivore. I use the latex gloves for all manner of mixing meat, separating chicken, rolling meatballs etc. They have been my saviour!
Thank you so much for this great recipe! We love meatloaf at our house and we have several recipes but this might be the favorite!! Never tried it with bacon on top but how can you go wrong with bacon? We sometimes make meatloaf not as an entree but just to make sandwiches…..Mmmmmm….can’t wait to try it!
We make this all the time now thanks to your cookbook!!! It is the best meatloaf I have tasted. Make it today you will love it!
Looks delicious! I make meatloaf a lot too, so I’ll have to try something different for a change and make this. Thanks for the recipe!
Here’s a suggestion: instead of scrubbing the heck out of your hands (not that there’s anything wrong with that!) before using your hands to mix this up, get a box of latex or non-latex medical gloves at the pharmacy; it might cost about $5 for a box of 50.
Don a pair of the gloves to mix this up, and when you strip them off your hands will be instantly clean — no mess or congealed fat to scrub off your hands and no mess stuck underneath your fingernails!
I use these gloves fairly often when I’m cooking to keep my hands clean — when mixing meatloaf or cookie dough with my hands, when handling something greasy or messy(cutting up a rotisserie chicken or BBQ chicken or ribs), et cetera.
This is one of my new all-time favorites! The bacon really makes it happen (because, you know, when *doesn’t* bacon make it happen?)!
This seriously IS the best meatloaf I have ever made! Funny, I just got my cookbook out last night to copy down the ingredients to make this week. Love it the first night! Love it just as much in a sandwich the next day!! Thanks, Ree!
Seriously, everyone I’ve served this too has adored it and I think my husband might just love me a little more now that I know how make it! Thanks for sharing! Xxx
Not a fan of meatloaf, my dad swears that us kids had some really bad meatloaf at school and that’s why we won’t eat it now!!! I think I agree!!! I’ll make this for my husband as he loves it!!!
I have to make meatloaf for my husband’s birthday dinner EVERY year. It’s coming up here in October, perhaps I will try this new recipe out on him! I hope he will like it!!
I love meatloaf! I love it even more the second day on a sandwich (white bread and Hellmans, and lots of black pepper.) However, my husband will not TOUCH it! It has all of the ingredients he loves so I know it is just the name that is a turn-off: meat+loaf=husband won’t touch it!! Oh, and he is the same with meatballs…he said just the word makes him queasy…weirdo!!
Every since I got your cookbook I have wanted to try your meatloaf. However, I’m not a big bacon fan (shhh, don’t tell anyone), hopefully I can make it without bacon, or would that be a HUGE no no?
This meatloaf ROCKS!!!! The bacon makes it awesome! I made it two weeks ago and my hubby has already asked for it again!
I love meatloaf but I never make it because I always think it requires way too much effort. But guess what I just bought at the store yesterday….ground chuck and sliced French bread (although I bought them for unrelated purposes). I’m contemplating using them for this dish! What happens if you don’t use the bacon? I’m drooling just looking at these pictures…yum!
you had me at “just add bacon”
This meatloaf is AWESOME! The bacon makes it awesome! I love everything in this cookbook!
The wiki says that “meta” as a prefix indicates an abstraction that completes the original concept. I’ve never before heard a better explanation of the nature of meatloaf, so, for now on “Metaloaf” it is. I’ll fire up the broiler, as soon as the !@#$%^ heat breaks around here.
Love meatloaf, just never have enough time to make it.
We have meatloaf regularly at our house because it is quick and easy. Quick meaning you put it in the oven and can go about other things for about an hour. Rarely are there any leftovers at our house to make a sandwich, but I have done that before, and they are good. My grandmother used oats in her meatloaf, and that is what I use, but I have used bread before. I use a mixture of ketchup and tomato sauce. Your recipe sounds good. I may have to try it.
Now that summer is over, this is a great dish for the cool weather….can’t wait to make it again…..!!!!
Now that I’m a bit older and/or my tastebuds have matured, I make meatloaf for my family and we love it.
This is pretty similar to our meatloaf recipe, although we don’t use parsley, and only maybe 2 pieces of bread. Put in about a tablespoon of soy sauce and some garlic powder and onion powder and the flavor really pops. Also, if you add about a tablespoon of baking powder it helps keep it from being heavy.
But where are the onions? I always have to add some finely chopped onion.
I don’t know why, but my grown son will not eat meatloaf to this day, and he loves hamburger meat! When I try to tell him the ingredients, etc…. he just says “I don’t want to eat a loaf of meat.” Makes me so mad! On another note, is there ANY sandwich better than leftover meatloaf??? I think not.
I think the Bacon makes it so moist and the sauce on top gives it some zing. The leftovers made great sandwiches.
Everyone loved it and I had to make it twice in one week
I just came on your site last night to find a meatloaf recipe! I couldn’t find one so I had to make up my own. Mine was good, but yours looks much better.
This is one of our family’s absolute favorites!!! In fact, my son was begging me to make it this week.
Oh Ree! I just pulled a pound of ground beef out of the freezer to make meatloaf for dinner tonight. It looks like I’m going to be trying a new meatloaf recipe!
Meatloaf is one of my punks favorite meals. He requests it all the time. Darling husband doesn’t care for it so I don’t make it as often. However, with your addition of bacon…well I bet that will change everything!! Everything is better with BACON!!! I’ll have to try this recipe next time my little guy requests meatloaf and mashed tators mama with his little angelic voice.
You know what you need? Disposable cooking gloves. They’re sold in Korean grocery stores — haven’t seen them in Japanese or Chinese stores, though. Koreans love using these gloves to mix up noodles by hand, handle kimchi, and mix up meat fillings for dumplings. They’re kind of like the gloves you get in a box of hair dye. They will change your life. Let me know, and I can mail you a box of them. Seriously, will change your life.
Very, very similar to my meatloaf recipe, but I do add a little worcestshire sauce to mine. I also top it with ketchup, brown sugar and mustard. Can’t imagine eating meatloaf without it! The bacon makes it look yummy….I don’t do that but think I might give it a try! Thanks for sharing!
The quickest, easiest caramel sauce you'll ever make! Serve it over ice cream, apple pie, or cheesecake...or just drink it with a straw!
Spicy Cauliflower Stir-Fry
Add a Pinch