When I was growing up one of our favorite main dishes was meatloaf, and I remember my dad always looked forward to cold meatloaf sandwiches. You can imagine my astonishment when my husband told me he didn’t like meatloaf. He said this was due to the fact that for many years he was served meatloaf (that didn’t taste very good) every week.
For the first 10+ years of our marriage I never made a meatloaf. A couple of years ago my husband said that he would try meatloaf if I made it. I called my mom and asked her how she made hers and gave it a try. My husband really liked it, so now we have meatloaf every month or two, definitely not weekly. 😉
I always used to make meatloaf with potatoes, carrots, and onions in the same pan.
(The picture below isn’t blurry, I just took it when there was a lot of steam coming off the food. This was taken before I knew much about food photography. I will have to update it sometime. 🙂 )
Recently, I have been baking it on a broiler pan so the grease doesn’t sit in the pan with the meatloaf. When I bake it that way I serve it with baked or mashed potatoes, a vegetable, and fruit.
No matter what side dishes I serve with it, this meatloaf recipe is a family favorite.
- 2 lbs. Ground Beef
- 3 Eggs
- ¾ Cup Tomato Juice or 1 Cup Ketchup
- 1 Tbsp. Sage
- 1 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
- 2 Tbsp. Dried Onion Flakes
- 1 tsp. Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Salt
- ½ tsp. Pepper
- ½ tsp Celery Salt
- 1 Cup Oatmeal or Bread Crumbs or Crushed Crackers
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix ground beef and oatmeal (or bread/crackers) in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl mix all other ingredients together with a fork or whisk.
- Add this mixture to the ground beef mixture.
- Stir well or use hands to incorporate all ingredients.
- Form into a loaf shape and place in a roasting pan (lined with foil for ease of clean-up) and put the lid on.
- Bake in 350 degree oven for ½ hour.
- Take pan out of oven and add cut up and peeled potatoes, carrots and onions.
- A little water added at this step will help the vegetables be tender.
- Pour a little ketchup or Country Bob's on the top.
- Put the lid back on and bake for another hour, or until everything is cooked.
- Take the lid off for just a few minutes to brown the top of the meatloaf.
Recently, I have been using a broiler pan to bake the meatloaf with no vegetables. This allows the grease to not sit in the pan with the meatloaf.
Do you have a tried and true meatloaf recipe?
