This meatloaf is a fairly standard cafeteria-style meatloaf with a few small twists. If you want your meatloaf as simple as possible, they’re easy to work around. Either way, this easy-to-make recipe of an American classic is a great one to keep on hand.
Meatloaf, With a Twist
The first thing to know about this meatloaf is that it’s pretty vegetable-heavy. While it may seem odd, I think they work pretty well here. As someone who dislikes both carrots and celery, I found them completely inoffensive here.
There’s also quite a lot of seasoning; specifically, black pepper. I kept the original amounts the same since I enjoyed it, but you may want to reduce the amount of pepper, since it is quite a lot.
The recipe also calls for anchovy paste, but that can be safely omitted if you don’t have any.
What You Need to Make It
To make this meatloaf you’ll need things like ground meat, eggs, and breadcrumbs.
This recipe calls for both ground beef and ground turkey. While ground turkey is very lean, ground beef can have a much higher fat content. I recommend using ground beef that isn’t too fatty.
I used an 80/20 and that was almost perfect; not dry, but not swimming in excess grease. While you can use whatever’s on hand, I think an 85/15 ground beef would work best.
You’ll want to use large eggs for this. If you only have a different size (medium, jumbo,) I recommend using an egg conversion chart to see how much egg you’ll need.
For this recipe, I used finely-ground unseasoned breadcrumbs. An italian-style or similar should also work, but I wouldn’t use something more coarse, like panko.
How to Make This Meatloaf
The first step in making this meatloaf is cooking the vegetables. This helps them melt into the meatloaf and keeps them from being off-puttingly crunchy.
You’ll then add the remaining ingredients to a large bowl, followed by the now-cooled vegetables.
Before baking, you’ll add your glaze to the top of the meatloaf. I have a suggested glaze in the recipe, but a basic ketchup and sugar glaze would work too.
Finally, you’ll bake until everything is cooked through. I recommend letting the meatloaf set in the pan for 10-20 minutes. This not only lets it cool, but also helps absorb excess fat.
Final Thoughts and Other Posts
If you like this recipe for meatloaf, consider sharing with friends and family. You can also check out my recipe for pan-fried meatloaf cutlets.
For more recipes, consider following me on Wix or Pinterest, which will alert you of my new posts. My next post will be a recipe for a blueberry dutch baby. If that sounds good to you, be sure to follow 🙂
Recipe
Ingredients
1 lb ground beef, 454 grams
1 lb ground turkey, 454 grams
2 Tbsps unsalted butter, 28 grams
1 cup diced yellow onion, 128 grams
1/2 cup diced carrot, 80 grams
1/2 cup diced celery, 80 grams
1 1/2 tsps garlic powder, 7 grams
1 1/2 tsps onion powder, 7 grams
2 large pinches of dry oregano, about 1 tsp
4 large pinches of dry basil, about 2 tsps
Large pinch of red pepper flakes, about 1/2 tsp
2 large pinches of black pepper, about 1 tsp
2 1/2 tsps kosher salt, 15 grams
1/2 cup breadcrumbs, 66 grams
2 large eggs, beaten
1 Tbsp Worcestershire, 15 grams
1/2 Tbsp anchovy paste
For the glaze:
3/4 cup ketchup, 172 grams
1 Tbsp granulated sugar, 15 grams
1 Tbsp packed brown sugar, 11 grams
1 Tbsp honey, 14 gram
1/2 Tbsp soy sauce, 7 grams
1 tsp hot sauce, 5 grams
Preparation
Preheat a large pan over medium heat. Add the butter, onion, celery, carrot, and seasonings*. Cook until the vegetables are very soft, about 10 minutes, then turn off the heat.
In a large bowl, add the ground meats, eggs, breadcrumbs, Worcestershire, anchovy paste, and the contents of the cooking pan**. Mix with your hands until well-combined.
Add the meatloaf mix to a loaf pan and press down to help form the loaf.
Pour the glaze over top, then bake at 350 F for about an hour***.
Notes
* This would be the salt, pepper, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, onion powder, basil, and oregano.
** Be sure the vegetables have cooled down significantly before adding them. They can be slightly warm, but you don’t want them too hot or they may cook the eggs. Plus, it would be a literal pain to mix with your hands.
*** For best results, use an instant-read thermometer and remove when the loaf gets to 155 F (carryover cooking and oven time should make it perfectly safe).