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Best MEATLOAF Ever! (A Family Recipe)
This is my meatloaf recipe that I have been making for years. It is based on my mother's meatloaf recipe that I wrote down before I moved away from home. It is basically the same, except hers made twice as much, so I adjusted it to make one big meatloaf instead of two. I also put in all the optional ingredients (because I found it was much more flavorful that way) and I always add a variety of colorful vegetables around the meatloaf.
I learned that this recipe is quite flexible; you can put in less (or more) of some of the ingredients and still achieve good results. You can even eliminate some of them if desired. This is a very delicious meatloaf that your family will love!
This recipe can be doubled so that you can freeze one meatloaf (uncooked) for a meal another time. Just roll it tightly in waxpaper, and wrap it well in plastic bags and freeze. When you are ready to make meatloaf again, most of the work has already been done. Take it out of the freezer a day ahead of time to thaw in the refrigerator. Add your vegetables & follow same baking instructions as with fresh.
The list of ingredients is below, which you will need when you go shopping. On the left is my mother's recipe (well, I already divided it in half) and in parentheses to the right is how I refined the recipe to my liking. I left the original recipe alone because you might want to tweak it further according to your own preferences.
Meatloaf Ingredients
2 lbs ground meat: beef, deer, pork, etc. (I used 2 one pound packages of 85/15 Ground Round)
1 big onion, cut up (I used a big sweet onion such as Vidalia)
Garlic, minced (I used 3 cloves)
Garlic Powder (I added a few shakes)
Parsley, cut finely (I use a lot of parsley: about 2/3 of a bunch, including stems)
Celery leaves, cut finely (I usually do not include this, so it is really optional)
1/4 c. Grated Cheese (Romano or Parmesan)
Bread Crumbs or Bread Cubes (I use 1/2 c. flavored bread crumbs, store bought, such as 4 C. brand)
2 eggs, beaten
Sweet green pepper, cut up, optional (I always add this: I used 1 whole for this recipe)
1/2 can tomato soup or mushroom soup, optional (I always use tomato soup- save the other half can because it will go on TOP of the meatloaf, later. Use condensed kind.)
1 can mushrooms, cut up, optional (I use one 7 oz can sliced mushrooms, and I cut them up further into small pieces)
rolled oats, optional (I use approx. 1/3 c.)
corn flake crumbs, optional (I usually do not include this)
Variety of fresh vegetables to go around your meatloaf (carrots, potatoes, peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, etc.)
This is the amount of vegetables needed to fill up the rest of my roaster.
(My oval roaster pan measures 12" wide X 16" long by 4" high- without the lid on.)
1 lb carrots, peeled and cut into 2" pieces
3 sweet peppers (green or colored such as red, yellow, etc.), sliced into thin strips
1/2 pkg sliced mushrooms
1 medium zucchini (or 2 small), sliced or cubed
5 red potatoes, quartered (wash, but leave skins on)
Instructions
Basically you make the meatloaf by mixing all the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. I mix first with a large spoon to get it started, then I use my hands, squeezing the meat and ingredients through my fingers and turning it over. More detailed instructions and hints below.
- Cut up the parsley finely. You can see below I used almost an entire bunch of parsely (including the stems), cut up into tiny pieces. This made about a plate full! Dump it in your big mixing bowl. Do the same for the onion, and mince the garlic finely. After preparing each ingredient, you can add it to your bowl but you don't need to mix yet.
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Although I don't usually measure the dry ingredients such as grated cheese, breadcrumbs, and oats, I have done so for this demonstration to be sure it turned out well in the amounts specified. It doesn't need to be exact however, and you can add less, or more, according to your preference. If you want a firmer meatloaf, add more breadcrumbs or rolled oats. This meatloaf comes out very moist, and with the addition of all the vegetables in the pan, also produces juice at the bottom (which can be removed with a turkey baster later and used to make gravy.) Use approximately 1/4 c. Romano cheese, 1/2 c. flavored bread crumbs, 1/3. c. oats
- Add all of the ingredients in no particular order to the mixing bowl one at a time, right on top of whatever was previously added.
- Double check the ingredients list when you think you are done, just to make sure you didn't forget anything. Don't forget your half can of tomato soup. (Use the condensed kind and do not add water to it.) Then start to mix it all up, first with a large spoon to get it started and then by hand, using both hands.
- When the meatloaf is mixed well by hand, you can form it into a loaf and place inside your roaster. I put a little olive oil in the bottom of my roaster, shown below, but it is probably not necessary. If you doubled the recipe to freeze one, then now is when you wrap it in wax paper (roll in several layers) and tape tightly. Place that inside several layers of plastic bags and then freeze. As you can see one recipe makes a large meatloaf. It can be deceiving at first when you are looking at the two little packages of 1 lb. ground meat. But by the time you add all the other ingredients, it will more than double in size. It makes a lot more than you may initially expect.
- Prepare your vegetables that will go around the meatloaf. Slice up the sweet peppers into strips. I usually quarter the potatoes, and leave the skins on if using red potatoes. (If they are small, you can leave them whole if desired.) If using brown potatoes, I peel them; I also peel the carrots and cut them into 2 or 3 pieces each. You can use other vegetables if desired. I just showed the ones I usually include, but you can add as many or as few as desired and also experiment with different ones as well. Occasionally I add celery or onion slices for example. Vegetables commonly included are: zucchini, potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, and sweet peppers of various colors.
- Remember the other half of the can of tomato soup that you saved when you added half to the meatloaf ingredients? Well, now is when you spread the other half can of tomato soup on top of the meatloaf as shown below. Then begin layering your vegetables around the pan.
- Continue to add the vegetables to the pan, however many (or few) as desired. It is ok to fill the pan up. Sometimes I have so many vegetables that it buries or partially buries the meatloaf. This is ok.
- Place roaster on one of the lower racks and bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 2 1/2 hrs. It is said that the internal temperature of meat should be cooked to 160. I have often checked the temperature of the meatloaf after baking (even when large roaster filled with vegetables as shown) and I get an internal meatloaf temperature of over 200. This meatloaf is throroughy cooked, and very moist. All of the vegetables are completely cooked through as well. Carrots and potatoes are soft. Depending upon how many (or which kinds) of vegetables were added to the pan, you may or may not get a lot of juice at the bottom of the pan after cooking. You can use this juice in making gravy if desired, or you can just leave it alone, because once you put the leftovers in the refrigerator, it will congeal by the next day or be absorbed again into the meatloaf.
- Slice and serve on a plate with some of the vegetables! If you find you have leftover meatloaf in the refrigerator, make a new meal out of it by slicing it up (heat it) and placing it between two slices of bread for a meatloaf sandwich!
I hope my guide helps you make a delicious meatloaf for your family!
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