Classic Meatloaf is one of those comfort recipes that never gets old. It’s super juicy and flavorful with a ketchup/brown sugar glaze on top. Served with mashed potatoes and green beans, it is such a satisfying family meal.
I also love it with this Super Creamy Mac and Cheese!
Make Ahead Recipe
Classic Meatloaf is wonderful for a weeknight meal. It’s quick and easy to mix together and can be assembled ahead of time and then baked or it can be baked, refrigerated and then reheated for supper.
This Classic Meatloaf is flavored with plenty of onion, green pepper, basil, and a little dried thyme and hot sauce.
Type Of Ground Beef To Use
It’s best to use a ground beef that isn’t too low in fat or too high in fat. I like to use a 90%/10% ground beef.
Recipe Tips
I like to bake my meatloaf in a 9×5-inch pan. A great tip is to place 2 pieces of bread in the bottom of the pan to soak up excess grease and oil. Then you can scrape the oil-soaked bread off the bottom just before serving.
Be careful not to overmix the meatloaf mixture. Overmixing will result in a tough texture.
Ground turkey can be substituted for ground beef.
Meatloaf is one of my favorite southern comfort foods. Be sure to try this Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Meatloaf and Italian Meatloaf.
Storage
Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4 days. They make an excellent meatloaf sandwich.
More Comfort Food Recipes
- Chicken Fried Steak
- Easy Chicken Pot Pie
- Homestyle Ground Beef Casserole
- Cubed Steak with Onion Gravy
- Spicy Chicken Spaghetti
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Classic Meatloaf
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 medium sweet onion, chopped
- 1/2 green pepper, chopped
- 4 slices bread, divided
- 3/4 cup milk
- 2 pounds ground beef, 90% lean
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 3 to 4 shakes hot sauce, (I use Tabasco)
Glaze
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a nonstick pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and green pepper and cook until soft.
- Season onion and pepper with salt and pepper and let cool.
- Tear 2 pieces of bread into small pieces and combine in a small bowl with the milk.
- Grease a 9×5-inch pan and place the remaining 2 pieces of bread in the bottom of the pan. You can use the end pieces of bread for this. The bread will soak up most of the grease and can be discarded after cooking.
- In a large bowl, combine ground beef, eggs, seasoned salt, pepper, basil, thyme, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and hot sauce.
- Add bread soaked in milk and cooled onions and peppers.
- Gently mix everything until evenly combined, being careful not to overmix.
- Transfer mixture to prepared pan and gently pat it down so that it is even along the top.
- To make glaze, mix together ingredients in a small bowl. Spread on top of uncooked meatloaf.
- Place in oven for 60 to 70 minutes.
- Let cool 10 minutes before removing from pan. Scrape bread slices off bottom and discard. They are just there to soak up excess grease.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
More Comfort Food Recipes
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Made this tonight and it was some of the tastiest meatloaf I’ve ever had! Thank you for sharing!
Quick question: any tips on getting it out of the pan to scrape the bread off the bottom? Mine totally fell apart when I tried and I wasn’t too concerned about presentation.
This was one of the beat meatloaf we have ever cooked.
I’m going to up It and use 1 pound ground beef and 1 pound of Bob Evans spicy sausage.
This meatloaf was very yummy. It will be replacing my old recipe. Only issue is that the bread on the bottom of pan did absorb all excess liquid and difficult to remove at the end.
Will make again but not use bread in pan bottom.
We are planning a meatloaf cook-off at my work and this recipe is nearly identical to my grandmother’s! And what a super helpful “kitchen hack” using the bread to soak up the fatty drippings (especially since I mixed 1/2 pound of ground pork with the beef). Two thumbs up!
Good luck with the cook-off Vickie!
Did you win?
It’s hard to make meatloaf look pretty, but you sure did! Classic flavors done so well. Yum!
This really does look like the BEST ever classic meatloaf, Christin! This looks so cozy and comforting and the absolute perfect weeknight meal that I’m pretty sure my family is going to love!
You are the expert on classic comfort foods! We LOVE a meat and potatoes meal and I definitely want to try this!
When I think of meatloaf this is what I imagine. This really reminds me of what I used to eat growing up. Nobody used to like anything spicy, but now that I’m making it I’m definitely using the Tabasco. Yum!
I definitely agree that meatloaf is one of those classic dishes. I hardly ever make meatloaf, but every now and then, I get a craving for it. Your version looks SO good, Christin!
I’m… Floored. I had no idea I could make meatloaf this good. I used really thick hot dog buns on the bottom and just slapped the meatloaf upside down on a plate. Really wish there was a prettier way but holy cow was this bomb af.