Crockpot Meatloaf is wonderfully juicy and flavorful with a ketchup/brown sugar glaze on top. It slow cooks in the crockpot for 5 1/2 hours and is large enough for 8 to 10 servings.
Serve with mashed potatoes and green beans, peas, or corn for a down-home southern meal. Also goes great with scalloped potatoes which you can easily make from a box. Leftovers make great meatloaf sandwiches.
This recipe only takes about 15 minutes to prep and then the crockpot does the rest.
I’ve crammed my freezer full of ground beef for the coming months. It is such an easy meat to freeze and have on hand for easy meals. I’ve also been trying really hard to use more pantry staples in my recipes so I’m able to limit my trips to the grocery store.
Tips For Using Pantry Staples for this Recipe:
- One tablespoon of dried onion flakes can be used instead of the chopped onion.
- Evaporated milk or powdered milk can be used instead of fresh milk.
The glaze on top is sweet and a little tangy. If you want to make this meatloaf spicy, add 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes.
Saltine crackers are used as the filler for this recipe. I think they add more flavor than bread crumbs.
How To Make Crockpot Meatloaf:
- Mix the crushed Saltine crackers with the milk and ketchup and let sit for a few minutes to soften the crackers.
- Give the mixture a good stir and then add the remaining ingredients. Mix just until evenly combined.
- Line the bottom of your slow cooker with aluminum foil so that you can easily lift the meatloaf out of the slow cooker after it is cooked.
- Shape the meatloaf mixture into a loaf in the slow cooker. Spread half the glaze on top.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 5 hours. Open the slow cooker and use paper towels to soak up any excess grease.
- Spread the rest of the glaze on top and recover and cook on LOW for 30 more minutes.
- Let cool 10-15 minutes before slicing.
Can You Freeze Meatloaf?
Meatloaf freezes really well. You can freeze a whole meatloaf or individual slices. Be sure to cool completly first and wrap in plastic wrap or foil and then place in a freezer bag.
Tips:
If you don’t feel like assembling the meatloaf in the morning, it can be assembled the night before, covered and refrigerated.
Don’t overmix the meatloaf mixture. The key to to tender meatloaf is mixing as little as possible.
More Meatloaf Recipes To Try:
- Classic Meatloaf
- Bourbon and Coke Meatloaf
- Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf
- Italian Meatloaf
- Cheesy Chipotle Meatloaf
- Old School Meatloaf
Crockpot Meatloaf
Ingredients
- 25 Saltine crackers,, crushed
- 1/2 milk
- 1/3 ketchup
- 2 pounds 90% lean ground beef
- 2 large eggs,, lightly beaten
- 1 medium onion,, finely diced
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Glaze
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Place Saltine crackers in a large bowl. Add milk and ketchup. Stir and let sit for 5 minutes.
- Add remaining meatloaf ingredients. Mix evenly.
- Line the bottom of a 6-quart slow cooker with aluminum foil. Transfer the meatloaf mixture to the slow cooker and shape into a loaf.
- In a small bowl, stir together glaze ingredients.
- Spread half the glaze mixture on top of the meatloaf.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 5 hours.
- Open crock pot. Use paper towels to soak up any grease around the edges of the meatloaf. You can tip the crock pot to one side to help with this. Spread the remaining glaze mixture on the meatloaf and cover and cook on LOW for 30 more minutes.
- Turn slow cooker off and let sit for 10-15 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
