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| My meatloaf standard, made with lean ground beef and finely minced veggies. Shown here baked with slices of bacon on top and finished with a brown sugar and tomato glaze. |
Basic Meatloaf
Don't believe for a minute that you cannot get a nice, moist meatloaf without using a high fat ground beef like ground chuck. I love ground chuck and use it exclusively in burgers for the best flavor, or in recipes where I can drain off the excess fat. Is it tasty and delicious? Yes! But, let's face it.Ground chuck is also a very high fat beef and while it's sure tasty, really not ideal for a baked meatloaf, unless you don't mind all the accumulated fat the meat swims in during cooking. Plus, all that grease makes it more messy to deal with and your meatloaf will usually be so saturated in fat, it will likely crumble. You can resolve that somewhat with a broiler pan, and now that I have one, I've been using one to bake my meatloaf, but with this recipe I still prefer a leaner beef.
This recipe uses ground sirloin, but with the addition of vegetables - onion, celery, bell pepper and mushrooms - not only adding great flavor, but also keeping the meat nice and moist, not at all dry and not drenched with all that fat. It's a delicious basic meatloaf recipe - nice and moist and plenty flavorful. The key here is including vegetables, either minced with a food processor or finely minced by hand- and your kids won't even know that they are in there.
You want about 1/2 cup of whole mushrooms, which you will mince. How many you need depends on the type and size that you use.
Process 4 slices of bread - whole wheat, white, white wheat - whatever you have, and add in the beaten egg and seasonings.
Give that a gentle mix. A lot of folks dive right in with their hands. Yeah. I'm not doing that, but a wooden spoon works nicely. Most folks tend to over handle the meat when they mix by hand, which can make it very compact and dense after cooking. A spoon seems to work a little better for me. Then begin adding in the broth, a little at a time, until everything binds together.
You can place this into a loaf pan or just cook it on a regular rimmed baking sheet of some kind. I like using my broiler pan, but for easier clean up, I line the bottom pan section with foil.
Gather the meat in the bowl to form a loaf shape, then roll it out on your pan.
Shape that into a loaf shape. Occasionally I wrap the loaf with bacon so that's what I'm doing this time. By using the broiler pan, most of the fat will drip away, but the bacon will provide flavor. And The Cajun loves it this way so in order to get my way with the glaze, I am happy to accommodate him. Besides that, well... it's bacon y'all!
Just lay it across the top and tuck the ends under the meatloaf. Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. If you are using the tomato glaze, about 10 minutes before it's about done, remove the meatloaf and brush with the glaze.
You can slice the meatloaf right from the pan of course, but to transfer it to a serving platter like this, I use a long fish spatula. I also use it to get my slow cooker meatloaf out of the crockpot. This kitchen tool is handy for much more than fish y'all!
As far as glazes go, I personally prefer the classic and simple ketchup, mustard, and brown sugar glaze with my meatloaf as shown in the picture above - I just happen to like the tangy contrast personally. The Cajun prefers it with a homemade gravy, as pictured below, because he likes the gravy with the typical side dish of mashed potatoes.
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| Basic Meatloaf shown here with a Brown Gravy. |
It's a great meatloaf and I hope you enjoy it! Here's how to make it.
Basic Meatloaf
Yield: About 4 to 6 servings
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 2 HourTotal time: 2 H & 15 M
My meatloaf standard, made with lean ground beef and finely minced veggies. Shown here baked with slices of bacon on top and finished with a brown sugar and tomato glaze.
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 pounds ground sirloin* (see note)
- 2 small cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium sweet or yellow onion, minced
- 2 green onions, minced
- 1 stalk celery, minced
- 1/2 of a green bell pepper, minced
- 4 slices white, whitewheat or whole wheat bread, torn in chunks and ground to crumbs
- 1/2 cup whole mushrooms, minced
- 1 cup chicken broth or stock
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons kosher or seasoned salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon of Cajun seasoning (like Slap Ya Mama),
- or to taste, optional
- Hot sauce, to taste, optional
For the Glaze:
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degree F.
- Line the bottom of a broiler pan with aluminum foil. May also use a large 10 x 5 inch loaf pan or an aluminum foil covered, regular rimmed baking sheet.
- Place ground beef in a large mixing bowl, adding in the remaining ingredients; mix very gently taking care not to compact.
- Shape into a loaf, placing onto the top rack of broiler pan. If using a loaf pan, place meatloaf pan on top rack in oven and place an aluminum covered baking pan on the rack underneath to catch any overflow drippings.
- Bake for about 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees.
- If extra time is needed, you may tent with aluminum foil to prevent burning and continue baking until done.
- For glaze, combine the ketchup, mustard and brown sugar and stir well. Brush glaze across the top of meatloaf the last 10 minutes of cooking. Alternatively, you may serve the meatloaf with a brown gravy instead of glazing.
- Allow to rest 5 to 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with buttered rice, or homemade mashed potatoes and a green veggie or salad.
Notes:
Shape into two smaller loaves if desired, and check temperature at the earlier time. I use a food processor to mince all of the vegetables. Pulse garlic cloves first, cut the onion, green onion, celery, and green pepper into chunks and add to the garlic, processing about 10 seconds. Add the vegetables to the ground beef and then process the bread and mushrooms together about 10 seconds and add to ground beef.
*Use a leaner ground beef like sirloin as noted in the recipe, rather than a higher fat beef, like chuck. The minced vegetables provide plenty of moisture to make for a very tender and juicy meatloaf, and any higher fat beef will likely not hold together well. May also use a mix of ground beef and sweet Italian sausage, or a product sold as "meatloaf mix" which typically is equal parts of ground beef, veal and pork.
Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf: Form meatloaf into a loaf shape and place onto the top of a broiler pan. Lay bacon slices over the top of meatloaf, tucking the ends underneath. Bake as above.
BBQ Glaze: Substitute 1/4 cup of barbecue sauce for half of the ketchup.
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