Easy Meatloaf Recipe

Hey, I’m John Canel and today we’re making an easy, delicious meatloaf. So, let’s get started. First off, preheat your oven to 350 so it’s nice and hot. And now we’re going to do the tiniest bit of prep work. Grab one medium onion. We want about a cup of finely chopped onion here. This recipe can be traced all the way back to ancient Rome, but this is something I would consider an American classic, especially the way we’re going to make it. And yes, there is ketchup involved. My mom used to make meatloaf fairly often. It was like in our family dinner rotation and I can see why. It’s easy, it’s satisfying, and it is so fast to make. Get a nice fine chop on that onion. I also have three cloves of garlic here. You could mince these. I’m just going to use a garlic press because this is a quick and easy recipe and that’s the fastest thing to do. Grab a medium skillet. You’re going to pop that over medium heat. Add a tablespoon of olive oil and wait for it to get nice and hot and shimmering in the pan. By the way, if you’re like, ugh, I don’t want to do any chopping whatsoever. You could sub in a teaspoon or so of onion powder and garlic powder and call it a day. That’s if you’re really busy. The oil’s nice and hot, so grab your onions and pop them in. We’re adding half a teaspoon of salt. And if you notice your onions are getting too dark, maybe things got a little bit too hot, just add a bit of water in. It’ll deglaze the pan and it’ll also help steam the onions and cook them faster. That’s a trick I do when I’ve been super busy in the kitchen or the kids are asking me questions and I come back and the onions are on the cusp of burning. Just add some water and it kind of reverses it but helps them cook faster. It’s been a few minutes. These onions are softened and taking on some color. So, add the garlic in. Cook this for another minute so the garlic gets nice and fragrant. But make sure it doesn’t burn. So stir continually. Took on some color. It’s nice and softened. It smells delicious. I’m going to take this off heat. Right now it’s time to transfer this over into a large bowl. This needs to cool down until it’s just warm. So spread it out into that bowl so it cools down really fast. It could take up to 15 minutes. You could pop this into the fridge if you’re in a hurry. And as soon as it’s warm, we’ll be right back.

Mixing the Meatloaf

Once your onions have cooled down, and I did pop these into the fridge cuz nobody wants to wait around for nothing. We’re going to add in 2 lbs of ground beef. And this is a 90/10 mixture. I think it works best to hold things together. Two large eggs. It’s funny, like this is very similar to how I make turkey patties. I don’t think turkey meat tastes great, but my family really likes it, so I jazz it up with sautéed onions, garlic, lemon zest, some herbs, panko breadcrumbs, an egg. It’s very similar. One teaspoon of salt. Sprinkle it all over. ⅓ of a cup of milk. The milk really moistens things up, so don’t skip it. You do not want a dry meatloaf, do you? Mmm. Listen to that. Nice. ¾ of a cup of panko breadcrumbs. I love these for the texture. And if you want to make this gluten-free, you could use a gluten-free panko. One teaspoon of Italian seasoning. And if you’re not a fan of Italian seasoning, you could use thyme, rosemary, any of your favorite herbs. And yes, you could use fresh chopped herbs in this as well. 1 tbsp of Worcestershire. Little extra blessing. I also want two tablespoons of ketchup and half a teaspoon of black pepper. This has to get mixed together. You can use whatever you want, including your clean hands to do this. One note though is you want this to be well mixed and combined, but don’t go to town on it. It shouldn’t be overmixed because that’ll make it dense. It’ll lose its lightness and pleasant texture. So, I’m just giving it a good mix and breaking up any clumps of meat and also finding the pockets of egg and breadcrumbs and onions and distributing those.

Shaping and First Bake

I’m almost done. Grab a sheet pan. This could be a quarter or a half. Line it with foil and give it a light coating of oil so nothing sticks. Transfer your meatloaf right onto that prepared sheet. And now it’s probably time to use your clean hands. You want to shape this into an 8×4 inch loaf that’s 2 in tall. This job is much easier if you wet your hands cuz things stick to them less. So, little dampness. Get to shaping. If you don’t want to do the hand shaping, that’s fine. Grab a 9×5 in loaf pan. Grease it. Pop this in and bake it at 375 for 40 minutes. Then, brush with half the sauce and return for 20 minutes. This looks like a lovely loaf and it’s ready to go into the oven as soon as I wash my hands. My meatloaf is ready to go into the oven. 350 for 30 minutes. In the meantime, we’re going to make the sauce. Then it comes out. We’ll brush it with the sauce and bake it some more. In you go.

Classic Meatloaf Sauce

While your meatloaf bakes, we’re going to make the sauce. And starts off with six tablespoons or 100 g of ketchup. 1 tablespoon of packed brown sugar and then a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce. This I would say is a classic meatloaf topping. When my mom made meatloaf, she just used barbecue sauce. So feel free to grab your favorite barbecue sauce out of the fridge or off the grocery store aisle and use that if you prefer. If you want to serve your meatloaf with extra sauce dripping over, just double the recipe. Really easy. Give it a good stir and it’s done. It’s that easy.

Final Bake and Glaze

My meatloaf baked for 30 minutes. And now we’re going to grab half of the sauce and just brush that over the top and the sides all over. This will protect your meatloaf from drying out and give it some more flavor. Feel free to add your favorite flavors to the sauce, too. A teaspoon or so of onion powder, garlic powder. Use your favorites and make this your own. My meatloaf is ready to go back into the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until the internal temp hits 160. In you go.

Serving and Storage

Once out of the oven, transfer to a serving dish, garnish and cover with the remaining sauce. Your meatloaf will last for 4 to 5 days in the fridge. Just wrap it tightly in plastic, or you can freeze it for up to 3 months. Allow the meatloaf to rest for about 10 minutes before slicing. And just like that, it’s ready to enjoy. It’s light in texture, but still hearty, satisfying filling, and it’s a perfect vehicle for your favorite sauce. I hope you get a chance to make this recipe.