This meatloaf is packed with flavor and is super moist. Once you try this recipe you might possibly toss your old meatloaf recipes away.
I always loved meatloaf but found that the traditional American way to do it is more dry and usually doesn’t have any sauce left over. I am a sauce girl! I don’t like to overpower my plate with sauce, but sometimes a little extra sauce can go a long way and bring out the flavors in a lot of dishes.
I wanted to try something new and wanted to add more flavor to this popular dish. I started researching and then I began experimenting until I got it right. My mom makes a mean meatball. I haven’t perfected it yet, but I am on a mission. Once I do, I will be happy to share!
Stay tuned! 😉
With my mom’s amazing meatball recipe and some other research I did, I decided to blend it all together and this is the result! I was not disappointed. This meatloaf is super moist. Packed with lots of flavor and an amazing way to add vegetables to a dish for your littles! You can thank me later! 😉
Meat
I like to use different meats for my meatloaf. It adds flavor and it’s a good fat ratio when blending other meats besides beef. Typically, meatloaf has 3 kinds of ground meat, beef, pork, and veal. I am not a big fan of veal, so I stick to beef and pork. You can use equal parts of the meats in this recipe if you’d like. I like to use a little more ground beef than pork, but that’s just personal preference! Go ahead and use whatever ratio you’d like!
I usually make a big batch of this because it’s a great leftover dish. My husband loves meat, so I like to make extra for him. This meatloaf is great in a sandwich. Slice the meatloaf, place it on your favorite bread with some shredded cheese, toss it in your air fryer, and voila!!!! YUUUMMMMM! I promise it’s delicious!
For a healthier version, this is also great alongside a salad. I like to eat this for lunch with a salad on the side or mix it all up in one big bowl with a balsamic vinaigrette. It is goodness in a bowl!
Blend meats together in a big bowl and mix well. Add in all the chopped vegetables and seasonings listed below and mix well. I usually blend all this with my hands. I feel as though it all blends better than when using a spoon to mix it.
Vegetables
I love vegetables and I thought adding them to this meatloaf would be a great addition. It really is a great way to add veggies into your meal and for your littles to also have it already incorporated into their dish. Feel free to replace any vegetable if desired.
Binding Agents
Meatloaf is so good, but if you don’t use a binding agent, it will quickly fall apart and crumble if not done right. Bread and eggs are great binding agents when it comes to meatloaf, they add richness and moisture. This is what I love about my recipe because I don’t like a dry meatloaf. It’s also important to mention that you want to make sure your meat-to-vegetable ratio is higher. This is critical to help prevent the meatloaf from falling apart if it doesn’t keep its consistency with the amount of meat and binding agents.
If you don’t eat eggs or bread, there are substitutions that you can use to modify this recipe according to your nutritional needs such as applesauce, oatmeal, breadcrumbs, chia seeds, mayonnaise, and the list goes on. I would recommend using ½ cup to ¾ cup of any of these to substitute for the eggs and bread I used in my recipe below.
Bread
Using stale bread is the best option, but if you don’t have any on hand then fresh bread works well too. Take a few slices, break them apart, and soak them with your desired milk. Using this in place of plain ole breadcrumbs adds a lot more moisture to the meat as it cooks. It’s a great addition to this recipe. After the bread soaks up all the milk, grab it with your hands and squeeze all the excess milk out. You don’t want your meatloaf to be mushy.
Sauce
While many meatloaf recipes call for ketchup as a topping, I prefer tomato sauce. This may seem a little too much like one big fat meatball, but I promise it’s not. Give it a try! It’ll be worth all the hard work.
The vegetables alongside the tomato sauce and binding agents really help make this meatloaf super moist and juicy. I mix tomato sauce with some seasonings, listed below, and Worcestershire sauce. Worcestershire sauce, try saying that 5 times in a row, LOL 😉 is a great addition to any ground meat. It adds a kick with its tangy, savory, sweet, and salty taste. I don’t add it to the meat, but I do love adding it to my sauce in this recipe.
Baking
Preheat oven to 400℉ while you prepare the meatloaf. Bake for 45 minutes uncovered without the sauce. After 45 minutes pour sauce over the meat and lower the heat to 375℉. Bake an additional 20-25 minutes uncovered until the center of the meat reads 160℉.
I would suggest using a meat thermometer. If you don’t have one, it is a great addition to your kitchen tools. It has saved me many times when I thought my meat was cooked all the way through and it actually wasn’t. Once removed from the oven, let sit for about 10 minutes and then serve!
Side Dish
I know the typical way to eat meatloaf is served with mashed potatoes, but I am not your typical ordinary girl. 😉 I love sauce and love eating this with rice and peas and a yummy house salad. It pairs really well with this meatloaf. I say give it a try and let me know what you think!
Have fun with this recipe. Feel free to share what you have done in the comments below or share a picture of you enjoying this delicious meal!
Bom apetite! Enjoy your meal!
My Famous Homemade Meatloaf
Equipment
- 9×13 deep dish oven proof
- 1 meat thermometer
- 2 mixing bowls
Ingredients
- Ingredients
- 3 lbs ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork
- 2-3 carrots diced into little cubes
- ½ eggplant diced into little cubes
- 2-3 stalk of celery diced into little cubes
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1 small onion chopped
- 4-5 portabella mushrooms chopped into little cubes
- 2-3 cloves garlic minced
- 4 eggs whole
- Seasonings
- 1 tbsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- Sauce
- 1 ½ – 2 cups tomato sauce crushed
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 2 tbsp of Worcestershire Sauce
- ½ tsp salt
- Breadcrumbs
- 3 slices of white bread stale
- 3 tbsp of milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400℉.
- In a mixing bowl, place ground beef and ground pork together and blend well.
- Add in all diced and chopped vegetables: carrots, eggplant, celery, parsley, onions, mushrooms and garlic.
- Then add all seasonings: salt, black pepper, garlic powder, paprika and Italian seasoning.
- Take 3 slices of bread and crumble them up into a bowl. Add the 3 tbsp of milk and let bread soak up all the milk. Once done, using your hands, take the soaked-up bread and squeeze the excess milk out of it. Place bread in the bowl with the ground meat.
- Take 4 whole eggs, crack them into a separate bowl to ensure that there is no broken shells and whisk eggs until well blended.
- Add eggs into the bowl with ground meat.
- Using your hands or a wooden spoon, mix everything really well until it is all blended together.
- Prepare a 9×13” dish and coat bottom with non-stick cooking spray.
- Dump all of the ground meat mixture and form into a rectangle.
- Place in oven at 400℉ for 45 min.
- In a separate bowl, place tomato sauce with garlic powder, Italian seasoning and worcestershire sauce and mix well. Set aside.
- After the 45 minutes take tomato sauce mixture and dump it carefully onto the meatloaf and lower temperature to 375℉ until thermometer reads 160℉ in center.
- Remove from the oven and let rest for about 10 minutes.
- Cut meatloaf into ½ – 1 inch slices and serve with rice, mashed potatoes, salad or bread.
- Bom appetite! Enjoy your dinner!
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