Jess
Silver Post Medal for All Time! 267 Posts 
I learned this basic meatloaf recipe from my Mama. It's easy to add or substitute any ingredients you might have left over in your fridge and pantry. Here's a version I made recently that was very well received.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: About 1 1/2 hours
Supplies:
- 1-2 lb ground meat (I used beef and turkey but any type of meat could be used)
- 1 cup breadcrumbs (or oatmeal)
- 1 egg
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
- 1 carrot, shredded
- 1 Tbsp garlic powder or minced garlic
- 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1 squirt or spoonful of various condiments*
- salt and pepper
- 1/2 package bacon
*Use whatever you have in your fridge and what your family enjoys. I used ketchup, dijon mustard, barbecue sauce and some soy sauce in this one. In the past, I have used any type of mustard handy, spaghetti sauce, tomato paste, salad dressing or marinade, horseradish or sriracha. It's a great way to use up the end of the bottle.
The same is true for vegetables, herbs and spices or even cheese, use what you have on hand. Mushrooms, peppers, zucchini, tomatoes all will work well, just make sure the pieces are small. Some recipes call for the veggies to be sautéed first, which is fine but I usually don't bother with that extra step.
This recipe is very forgiving and adaptable. I topped this one with bacon but I have topped it with tomato sauce or cream of mushroom soup and they both were very tasty.
Steps:
- Place ground meat to a large bowl. Add finely chopped vegetables, condiments, herbs and spices and an egg.
- Mix together using your hands. It is the easiest way to ensure it is well mixed. If the meatloaf seems too dry, add another egg and/or more condiments. If it is too wet, put in a bit more breadcrumbs or oatmeal.
- Place the mixture in a loaf or baking pan. Pat it down to ensure that there are no air gaps. I usually poke it several times on the surface and then smooth the mixture out, leaving some headspace for the liquid that will come out during cooking. My mixture was too large for one loaf pan so I added the excess to a muffin tin. These make great lunches later on. You could also pat the loaf into a shape on a cookie sheet but the juices can run out and make a mess unless the loaf is very dry, so I always use something more contained.
- Top with bacon slices and bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees F. I also baked potatoes with the meatloaf as they take the same amount of time and are the perfect side for this dinner. The muffin tin meatloaves need about 30 minutes so I baked them separately afterwards.
- Remove the meatloaf (and potatoes) from the oven and allow to cool and reabsorb the liquid, about 15 minutes. If the liquid seems very greasy (depending on the meat you use), you can pour off the fat but this might result in a dry loaf so be cautious.
- Serve with the baked potato and perhaps a side of veggies or a salad.
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15mhhm15
Diamond Post Medal for All Time! 1,298 Posts July 17, 20220 found this helpful
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I haven't tried making ground beef & turkey before. will have to one day thank you!
Jess
Silver Post Medal for All Time! 267 Posts July 18, 20220 found this helpful
It's a great way to lighten up the calories but have some of the beef flavor. Ground pork is also delicious.
likekinds
Gold Post Medal for All Time! 523 Posts October 17, 20220 found this helpful
I've made meatloaf only a couple of times and that was years ago. I want to try your recipe as it sounds so good. Since there's just me, I'm wondering how well sliced portions would freeze. Have you tried that?
Also I'm wondering how it would be to precook the bacon about half way and add it when the loaf is about half done. This should cut down on any extra greasiness. What do you think? (For the meat, I would be using only beef as I find it more flavorful than turkey). I do like the idea of adding bacon flavor to the beef.
Jess
Silver Post Medal for All Time! 267 Posts October 17, 20220 found this helpful
I think cooking the bacon halfway makes a lot of sense to cut down the grease.
I've frozen the meatloaf in individual servings for lunches later and it works good. I've also made it in muffin tins for individual servings.
I really like using oatmeal instead of breadcrumbs best but I had the leftover breadcrumbs to use up. Hope it turns out great for you.
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