Best Meat Loaf Ever!

By carvalhohm2

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• 1/2 cup quick cooking oats
• 1/3 cup 1% milk
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red pepper
• 1/4 cup finely chopped green pepper
• 1/4 cup shredded carrot
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 lb. extra lean ground beef

Details

Preparation time 15mins
Cooking time 75mins
Adapted from jennycancook.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with foil and set aside.

In a small pan sauté the onion, garlic and thyme in oil over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl combine all the ingredients, including cooled onion mixture, except the meat. When mixture is well blended add the meat by hand but do not overwork it.

Place on baking sheet and shape into a 9 by 5-inch loaf. Bake for about an hour or until the center reaches 160° F. Let rest 10 minutes.

If you use a foil lined 1/2 sheet pan then a foil covered broiler pan & place the meatloaf on it the fat/oil drains away from the meatloaf instead of sitting in the fat/oil! Try it you’ll like it & there’s no mess, just discard the aluminum foil.

Also, when you’re sauteing the onion & garlic (I use more than you call for), I also saute the carrot & any other vegetables, chiles, mushrooms spices etc. This really makes the meatloaf more complex & truly more flavorful ! I can’t stand the taste of sweet peppers, I use chilies. Also I use oats as you do but, I also add rice to my recipe as well as mushrooms & I make a sauce out of tomato ketchup, onion powder, garlic powder, Brer Rabbit Dark Full Flavored Molasses & I slather this sauce onto the meatloaf, I believe that my meatloaf is much better than your Plain Jane meatloaf.