Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Food, Cooking, and Game Preparation Need a Yummy MeatLoaf recipe !!

Thought I picked up 2#'s of a deal on hamburger, but realized it was a beef/ pork blend when I got it home ....looking for a way to turn a mistake into a winner !

Egg, cracker crumbs, season as you like, cheese on top.

Blah blah blah seasonings whatever. Free form mound on cooksheet with greased aluminum foil. BBQ sauce instead of katsup for glaze.

Bbq sauce, OR mix katsup with some balsamic vinegar to use for the glaze.

My go to recipe per pound:
1 pack onion soup mix
1 egg
enough Italian bread crumbs to get it to the consistency you want

Bake at 350 or even better smoke at the same temp until done (I'd think 165º would be enough). Top with BBQ sauce for last 10mins

For this preparation, we used three pounds of our good, local beef, a large onion, a large can of vegetable beef soup, bread crumbs (toasted and torn bread also works well, as does oatmeal or crushed crackers), 3 eggs, bacon and - the secret ingredient - Worcestershire sauce.

First, chop your onion: Big, small, in-between, chop it to a consistency that you like.

Next, you have a choice - you can simply make the meatloaf and top it with bacon strips (good), or you can cut up some bacon and put it in the meatloaf as well, reserving a few strips for topping if you like (really good). I chose to cut up some bacon:
And render out most of the fat:
In order to add a smokey goodness throughout the meatloaf.

Next, you have another choice - you can simply work the onions into the meatloaf (just fine) or you can carmelise them first and let them cool a bit before adding them to the meatloaf:
This step, in my opinion, takes it up another notch, but like the bacon step above, it is not necessary.

From here, it's a piece of cake - add the soup, eggs, salt and pepper (to taste) to the gound beef:
Also bread crumbs and Worcestershire sauce:
The amount of bread crumbs you add is rather subjective. I'd say at least a half-cup per pound; a lot of recipes i see call for a cup per pound, but when we try this, the meatloaf seems pretty dry - it could be because our good, local beef tends to be much leaner than most. Use enough so that it looks like your meatloaf is binding well, I'd say.

For the Worcestershire sauce, add an amount that is "to taste;" I'd prefer 2 tablespoons per pound, but start with 1 tablespoon per pound and go from there.

Mix it all together very thoroughly:.

Next, add in your onions and, if you choose, bacon:

Sometimes we add some catsup and/or shredded cheddar cheese at this point, say half a cup per pound of meat - but it is another one of those things that isn't necessary.

For this preparation, i chose to make the meatloaf in our cast-iron skillet, pressing the ground beef mixture into the bottom of a large "popcorn" bowl and turning it out onto the cast iron:
If you didn't add bacon into the actual meatloaf, then go ahead and lay a few strips on top now. Heck, even if you did add bacon to the actual meatloaf, you can go ahead and lay a few strips on top now, if you want. Also, a lot of times people like to cover the top with catsup and/or cheese. this is all ruled by personal preference or whim. For this preparation, I chose not to add bacon, catsup or cheese.

Now, just slip the pan into a pre-heated, 350-degree oven and bake the meatloaf to your preferred done-ness. There are a lot of factors here, but if you use 20 minutes per pound as a base, you will get a good estimate. As I recall, this particular meatloaf took about an hour and 15 mi

Baked ground beef prevents yummy.

Use whatever seasonings you want and mix well. Before you put in the pan, cover bottom with brown sugar then cover brown sugar with ketchup. Lay the formed meat loaf in and bake at 375 till done. Flip the whole thing over onto platter and serve

Look up Montana Meatloaf.

My mom's was always delicious. I always looked forward to it. She always served it with mashed potatoes and a tomato based gravy. She wrote her recipe down for me, but I never gave it a try till she was gone. My experience has been hit or miss, and mostly miss. Don't know quite what I'm doing wrong.

Mine us much like saddlesore said, but I'm a BBQ based fan instead of ketchup based. Nevertheless, once I started smoking it instead of baking it, I've never eaten it any other way.

A smoked fatty, is never the wrong answer !!

Man that looks awesome

Looks fantastic!

🤤 looks tasty

Dittos on BBQ based & smoked!

Happening now with Balsamic BBQ Sauce and will be smoked

Cook it in your smoker or grill if no smoker. Game changer!!! I personally do very little seasoning, basic S/P/G. I use crushed up BBQ pork rinds and an egg or 3. Brush with BBQ when its almost done. My 4 and 6 y/o sons probably eat a pound themselves....