It’s not your grandma’s meatloaf, it’s better… there, I said it! I know, some of you are thinking “them’s fightin’ words” and hitting unsubscribe right now. But in all seriousness, I don’t go labeling recipes as being “best” willy-nilly. As a mater of fact, out of nearly 600 recipes, there have so far only been 3 that I’ve deemed worthy of getting the title “best”
Sure I have a page with a few dozen of my favorite dishes on this site, but in order to get “best” in the title it has to be something unparalleled. In this case, this meatloaf is the kind of delicious that has me sneaking back to the fridge to nibble on leftovers as I write this post.
While meatloaf has legitimate ancestry stretching back to various dishes from across Europe, it didn’t become widely popular in the US until the Great Depression. Rationing made it necessary to find clever ways to stretch what little meat was available, and it’s around that time that meatloaf became as American as apple pie (which isn’t actually American at all, but that’s a topic for another post). Sadly the budget friendly, belly filling qualities of meatloaf made it perfect for school cafeterias and microwave dinners, which gave it a bum rap over the years.
The thing with meatloaf is that it’s not a solid piece of meat, which means you can season it right to the core, then adjust the richness and texture to suit your tastes. Personally I like my meat tender, moist and flavorful. To paraphrase Descartes: “I crave, therefore I make”
Breadcrumbs and milk not only make the meatloaf tender, the milk adds moisture, while the breadcrumbs reabsorb the juices released by the meat. As for flavor, I throw everything I have in my flavor arsenal at it; this includes onions, cheese, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, and to top it all off, thick slices of bacon. A sweet tomato glaze on top not only helps disguise the rather unsightly log of meat, it brings a balancing sweetness to the savory meat underneath.
Make It Better.
Add 1 cube of caramelized onions from my perfect caramelized onions post to add a flavor boost that will take this meatloaf to another level.
The other trick to making a great meatloaf is to not take the name so literally. If you make meatloaf in a loaf pan it ends up cooking in its own grease, making it soggy. By forming it into the shape of a loaf on a sheet pan, the excess fat drains away, leaving you with a moist, tender loaf that’s neither mushy nor greasy.
Serve this with mashed potatoes, and use the leftovers for meatloaf sandwiches (not that you’ll have much in the way of leftovers)
As a house-keeping note, you may have also noticed that I’ve started adding an equipment section to each post (like the one below). The idea behind the section is to demystify what equipment you’ll need to make the dish. Use the arrows to scroll through the list and mouse-over each piece of equipment to see a description of what it is. Also, if you happen to be missing a piece of equipment, I’d be much obliged if you bought it through one of these links, as the small cut of sales I get help pay for the cost of running this site.
Units
Ingredients
- 450 grams ground beef
- 280 grams ground pork
- ½ medium onion (minced)
- 2 cloves garlic (finely minced)
- ½ cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
- 40 grams Gruyere cheese (grated)
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon pimentón (smoked paprika)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper (to taste)
- 5 sprigs fresh thyme (stems removed, leaves minced)
- 170 grams thick-cut bacon
- 3 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Add the ground beef, ground pork, onion, garlic, panko, Gruyere, egg, milk, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, honey, soy sauce, pimentxf3n, salt, pepper and thyme to a bowl. Put a food-safe glove on and use your hand to knead the mixture until uniform.
- Line a broiler pan with some parchment paper. This makes cleanup much easier and it prevents the meatloaf from sticking to your pan. Shape the meat mixture into a loaf on the parchment paper. Top with the bacon, slightly overlapping each slice.
- Bake the meatloaf for 30 minutes. While the meatloaf is in the oven, make the glaze by mixing the ketchup, honey, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard in a small bowl to combine.
- Remove the meatloaf from the oven and cover with the glaze. Return the meatloaf to the oven and bake for another 20-30 minutes, or until an instand read thermometer reads 160 degrees F.
- Remove the meatloaf from the oven and allow it to rest for at least 15 minutes before cutting into it. Serve with mashed potatoes.
Thomas Abraham says
I’m not seeing a recipe for the glaze??
pcstock says
I use concentrated tomato paste in a tube. How do you advise according to your recipe quantity?
Marc Matsumoto says
I use the type in a tube too. Just squeeze it into a measuring spoon.
pcstock says
Thx. Just didn’t know if your amounts were with the tube tomato paste. That is the only kind I use.
pcstock says
Thx. Just didn’t know if your amounts were with the tube tomato paste. That is the only kind I use.
Sela says
The best meatloaf ever!!! Thanks for sharing your recipe, Sela from Michigan.
AmyAlbrecht says
Have to try 🙂
Gina says
Finally made is yesterday and it is so yummy!!! I also made the mistake of adding mustard (like one of your readers below) and put in 1 tsp of Worcestershire sauce instead of 1 TBSP (mistook the measurement of the glaze recipe to the meat mixture) ..but the meatloaf still turned out great! Thanks Marc for sharing this recipe. Will do this again soon!
Gina says
Finally made is yesterday and it is so yummy!!! I also made the mistake of adding mustard (like one of your readers below) and put in 1 tsp of Worcestershire sauce instead of 1 TBSP (mistook the measurement of the glaze recipe to the meat mixture) ..but the meatloaf still turned out great! Thanks Marc for sharing this recipe. Will do this again soon!
Natasha says
I literally just served this up to my family!! My goodness this in my opinion is the BEST meatloaf recipe I have ever cooked, it was a huge hit. This will now be my go to recipe. Unfortunately I had no bacon in the house but everything else, if it tastes this good without bacon I can’t wait to try it with. Moist, flavourful and just absolutely delicious. Thank you soooo much for posting this, I have been looking for this recipe for years!!! 🙂
rebecca at thisfineday says
I hate hate hate meatloaf, but I may be able to make a serious exception for this bad boy! Thanks- you may have just converted me to a meatloaf lover.
https://thisfineday.com
SandyS says
It says to put the Worcestershire sauce and the honey in with the meat mixture. Then at the bottom it says to make the glaze with them. I think I just messed this up. To late now, it’s in the oven:/ Hope it still tastes good.
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Sandy, if you look in the ingredients list, Worcestershire sauce and honey are listed twice (once in the middle and once towards the bottom). I separated out the measurements to avoid the problem you had. Did you end up adding worcestershire sauce and honey twice to the meat or did you just miss the second time they were listed in the ingredients?
Judy says
What other cheese can u use other than gruyere?
Marc Matsumoto says
Comte, is the closest, but cheddar, pecorino, or even parmesan would work.