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Meatloaf
Updated May 1, 2024
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- Total Time
- 1½ hours
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing
- 1large yellow onion, finely chopped (about 2 cups)
- 5large garlic cloves, minced (about 2 tablespoons)
- 2tablespoons tomato paste
- 3(½-inch-thick) slices white sandwich bread (about 3 ounces), torn into small pieces
- ⅔cup whole milk
- 3large eggs
- ¼cup coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf or curly parsley
- 2tablespoons kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) or 1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt or fine salt
- 1teaspoon black pepper
- 1teaspoon dried thyme
- 3pounds meatloaf mix (or any combination of ground beef, pork and/or veal)
- ½cup ketchup
- 1tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- Chopped fresh parsley, for serving (optional)
For the Meatloaf
For the Tomato Glaze
Preparation
- Step 1
Make the meatloaf: Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease a rimmed baking sheet with oil. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a medium skillet over medium. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in tomato paste until well combined; let cool.
- Step 2
In a large bowl, combine bread and milk, and mash with a spoon until a paste forms. Add eggs, parsley, salt, pepper, thyme and cooled onion mixture and mix until well blended. Add the beef, pork and veal, and mix gently to combine, being careful not to overwork the meat. Divide mixture into 2 equal portions and shape each into a 4-by-8-inch meatloaf on the prepared baking sheet. (If you like, use an 8-inch loaf pan to shape each meatloaf before unmolding for baking.)
- Step 3
Make the glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together ketchup and Worcestershire sauce until smooth. Use a spoon to spread mixture over the top and sides of each meatloaf. Bake until nicely browned and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center of meatloaf registers 160 degrees, 45 to 55 minutes. Let rest for 15 minutes before sprinkling the top with fresh parsley, if using, and slicing.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Could you be more specific about how you substitute quick cooking oatmeal for the bread and milk. Do you cook it first? How much oatmeal do you use? It is a very interesting idea.
I much prefer adding the Worcestershire sauce to the meatloaf mixture, and adding vinegar and brown sugar to the ketchup for the glaze. Just personal preference.
I use quick cooking oatmeal instead of bread and milk. The texture is very good, and perhaps it is a healthier version. And faster!
@Anita, the Quaker Oats meat loaf recipe (which I've used for decades) calls for 3/4 cup uncooked oats per 1-1/2 pounds of meat.
I think instead of two tablespoons of kosher salt, it should read 2 teaspoons. I cut it back to 1 tablespoon, and very salty.
Why on Earth anyone feels the need to add five garlic cloves to this recipe is beyond me? Garlic overpowers every other flavor. Lay off the garlic, it is included in almost every recipe you publish on this site, Americans use it way too much and it's a lazy way to flavor food. Especially, when it is completely unnecessary. I know many will disagree, and that's ok.
If you add half a package of frozen chopped spinach, cooked and squeezed dry, along with some dry basil and oregano and one cup or more of grated imported Reggiano Parmesano to the mix it will add more flavors to the meatloaf and make it very moist. I use cream instead of milk to soak the bread and use bread that is not as soft as regular white bread.
My best friend from college, still my dearest friend after 50 years, had a wonderful mother who was a superb cook. She taught me to mix ketchup, mustard and brown sugar for my meatloaf glaze. Caramelizes beautifully and tastes delicious. (Quantities to taste.)
Anita-- It doesn't have to be quick cooking oatmeal, regular oatmeal will do (maybe not steel-cut). I grew up making it this way, the recipe was on the side of the Quaker Oats canister of oatmeal. About 3/4 c. UNCOOKED to 1 1/2 lbs of meat mixture.
I used to make my meatloaf with catsup but now I substituted my favorite barbecue sauce for it. I also add a bit to the meat mixture.
Morton Kosher Salt (blue box) has more sodium than Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt (red box). Most culinary magazines rely on Diamond Crystal for their recipe testing & they usually list their 'standards' like, large eggs, unsalted butter, Diamond Crystal salt, etc. somewhere near the index section. Once you switch brands you'll immediately taste the difference.
I often use shredded zucchini as the filler with the meat. plus add some spices like cumin and mustard, and only one egg for helping bind it all together. But then again, I am not using three pounds of meat.
Use the leftover tomato paste thinned with ketchup—or even better with cocktail sauce—for the glaze. The tanginess of horseradish in the cocktail sauce is delish. Actually, I call cocktail sauce “ketchup for adults” and usually keep it in my fridge instead of ketchup.
This is exactly our old family recipe for meatloaf. I was surprised when Sam said it is new. What goes around comes around. Always good.
Maybe if I hadn’t been drinking I would’ve thought harder before adding 2 tablespoons of salt to this recipe... let alone any recipe ever. NYT cooking I love you but why the fancy salt? Can we flag this type of thing more clearly in the future?
So so so good. Cut down on the salt as many people suggested. Also swapped with impossible meat and almond milk to make it veggie. Super delicious. Five stars!
Big family so added an extra # of ground beef so 4# total - increased other ingredients proportionally. Added lots of fresh herbs from garden. Whole family had 2nds.
I think that adding a few tablespoons of ketchup instead of tomato paste would have been better and I would have added brown sugar to the glaze. One scant tablespoon of salt was plenty. Also, it was better the next day—I think the flavors need to meld.
Sadly, I completely agree with Mary Larson. The amount of salt called for made it inedible. My poor family. They were so relieved when I pronounced it “way too salty”. Good thing there were mashed potatoes and gravy plus green beans. I will make it again but with little or no salt added.
2 Tbsp of salt is wayyyyy too much. Cut it back to 1 Tbsp, total.
Never, ever use veal. Substitute ground lamb. Veal has little to no flavor, lamb has a ton
My absolute favourite meat is veal, in any one of many forms. Tons of flavour. Open your palate a little! You'll see (taste) what you're missing!
2 t Diamond kosher coarse salt (red box0 mince onions v saute less garlic ketchup, mustard, brown sugar (BBQ sauce) v. cocktail sauce wtih horserad\ish
Did not enjoy this. Even with reducing the salt it was much too salty. The thyme added a weird flavor. I was hoping to get a special meatloaf, but grandma’s old recipe is much better.
Followed the recipe exactly. Used 1/2 ground pork shoulder, half ground chuck and threw in 4 strips of bacon (after running it through a food processor and turning it into paste.) Was very good fresh, but the next day brought it to a new level of yum!
Really enjoyed this recipe and found making it cathartic. It's old-school comfort food and it's meat made for a great sandwich. We grew up raising beef cattle so our meatloaf was always made with ground beef (pork was meant to be used in country sausage where we grew up and nobody knew what veal was). I'm firmly in the BBQ sauce-topping school and prefer using my two-piece meatloaf pan I've hauled around for years. I haven't used a meatloaf recipe in years, but my spouse prefers this version.
I used to serve meatloaf a lot when my children were young, until they begged me to stop. It's been many years, but after seeing this recipe, I decided to try making it again. It was delicious, and both loaves disappeared, eaten hot, or cold in sandwiches. A definite winner!
It's an excellent recipe! Adding tomato paste to the sauteed onion and garlic is clever.
THREE pounds of meat for 6-8 servings??? I use one pound for 4-6 servings (with 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs and one egg). Makes one loaf or three mini-loaves (one for the two of us to share, two to freeze for later). I often include oyster sauce in the flavorings.
Also, my mom’s hack for her bomb meatloaf was to soak the break in beef bullion and cook with bacon strips on top.
Meatloaf, like Turkey, is all about the sandwiches the next day!
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