The Best Old Fashioned Meatloaf Recipe You Will Eat (2024)

FAQs

What is traditional meatloaf made of? ›

No bells and whistles - just a few ingredients including beef, egg, bread crumbs and a simple tomato-based topping. Use a gentle touch with ground beef. Over-mixing will result in burgers, meatballs or meatloaves with a firm texture.

The Basic Meatloaf Formula

All recipes for meatloaf start with the same basic formula: 2 pounds of ground meat and a “panade” made of bread or crackers soaked in milk. Along with a few eggs, this panade helps to hold the ground meat together and adds some essential moisture to the mix.

Milk and other dairy products, like heavy cream and buttermilk, contain both water and fat, adding two types of moisture to our meatloaf. There's a long-held theory that milk can tenderize ground meat, and this is the reason often cited for cooking ground meat in milk to make a Bolognese-style ragù.

In meatloaf, this is most commonly the eggs and breadcrumbs. Your binding ingredient is only second to the meat itself in your recipe and the reason why meatloaf crumbles. When this happens, it's because you didn't use enough. Next time, try adding in an extra egg and/or some more breadcrumbs.

Should I cook my meatloaf covered or uncovered? The meatloaf can be cooked uncovered. However, if you are concerned about it burning, you can cover the meatloaf with foil for the first 45 minutes and uncover it for the final 15 minutes to allow the meatloaf to brown on top.

The oven temperature is typically set at 350 degrees F for making meatloaf. That's the temperature you want to be sure to use so the meatloaf cooks and doesn't dry out. Too high, and the outer crust will burn before the interior is cooked all the way, too low and you don't get that delicious crust.

Gordon Ramsay's meatloaf recipe is made with ground beef, although you could use ground lamb, pork, veal, venison, or poultry as well if you like. When your meatloaf is cooked, you can slice it like a loaf of bread to make individual portions and serve them to your family or guests.

Yes, ground beef can sometimes dry out and get tough. However, baking soda mixed with water (slurry) and added to the ground beef will ensure tender meat. It will also speed up the browning process. I use 90% ground beef, but it is very tender by adding the baking soda.

What does Ina Garten serve with meatloaf? ›

Ina says her meatloaf serves 6 people, but I think it can easily serve up to 8 if you're enjoying it with a couple of sides like mashed potatoes and green beans.

Bread Crumb Substitutes

¼ cup panko. ¼ cup cracker or pretzel crumbs. ¼ cup crushed cornflakes or other unsweetened cereals. ⅔ cup regular rolled oats (Use this only as a substitute for bread crumbs in meat loaf and other meat mixtures, such as burgers.

A ratio of 80 percent meat to 20 percent fat is the generally accepted formula. Some cooks use 30 percent fat, but there is a fine line between juicy and greasy. This is the reason most cooks choose ground chuck since it has this ideal proportion of fat to meat.

Make Use of Milk: Soak breadcrumbs in milk before adding them to your mixture. This will keep your meatloaf moist during baking. Slather on Sauce: Add a layer of ketchup, barbecue sauce, or a mixture of both on top of your meatloaf before baking. This enhances flavor and helps retain moisture.

A neat trick to soak up the grease under your meatloaf is to line the bottom of the pan with bread slices. The bread soaks up the grease as the loaf bakes. When the meatloaf is done, you can either throw out the bread or bake it to make some truly indulgent toast.

Fewer eggs will create a denser and firmer meatloaf that will be more compact and easier to slice, but more eggs can create a more tender and light texture that allows the meatloaf to melt in your mouth.