This the quickest, easiest and best meatloaf recipe you will find. It is simple with only 3 steps and 40 minutes from start to finish. I usually make a double batch and freeze it for a quick and delicious meal for a busy week.
This meatloaf recipe uses 80/20 ground beef, which makes a delicious and moist meatloaf. But if you opt for 90/10 ration, that is 90 percent lean ground beef to 10 percent fat you will have to add a little bit of fat or liquid to make it moist.
So how do you keep meatloaf moist?
The best way I keep my meatloaf moist is by adding fat. This can be fat from the meat you are using, like 80/20 ground beef ratio. If you opt for a leaner choice in ground meat you can add olive oil to keep the meatloaf moist.
In addition to fat you can also add milk or cream to make your meatloaf moist. You can opt to add both fat and milk or cream to make it more rich and moist.
But from my experience adding one or the other was sufficient to make the best meatloaf recipe.
Why does meatloaf fall apart?
You go through all the trouble of making a delicious meatloaf, only to cut into it and have it fall apart. There are two reasons your meatloaf falls apart.
The first reason meatloaf falls apart is very simple, it hasn’t cooled down enough. After your meatloaf is done baking, you need to leave it to cool for at least 30 minutes.
Giving your meatloaf 30 minutes to rest after baking will make your meatloaf moist and will make firm up and easy to cut without falling apart.
The second reason your meatloaf could be falling apart is you haven’t added enough eggs and breadcrumbs as a binder. You will need to add eggs and some breadcrumbs so your meatloaf won’t fall apart.
The ratio that has worked for me time-over-time again is for every pound of meat I add 1 egg and 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs. This keeps my meatloaf from falling apart.
Anther question is that is often asked is should you cover your meatloaf?
The answer is, depends. Do you glaze our meatloaf immediately or do you glaze the meatloaf halfway through the baking process.
If you glaze your meatloaf from the beginning I would suggest to cover it with foil to prevent the glaze from burning.
The glaze for a meatloaf often has sugars in it and there is a fine line between caramelize glaze and burned glaze, which can happened fast. You don’t want your meat to taste as burned sugar.
I would suggest to glaze your meatloaf halfway through the baking process.
Ingredients
- 3 lbs. of ground beef 20/80
- 3 tbs. of olive oil
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 3/4 cup of carrots
- 3/4 cup of onion
- 2 tbs. tomato paste
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup of panko breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup of shredded parmesan cheese
- 3 tbs. parsley (dried or fresh)
- 3 tbs. paprika
- 1/4 cup of ketchup
- 1 tsp. of sugar
- 2 tsp. of Worcestershire sauce (optional)
Directions
In cast iron pan add olive oil, heat to medium high heat, add carrots, onion, and garlic, sauté till carrots are soft and onions are translucent.
Turn heat down to low, add tomato paste and sweet paprika, cook for 3 minutes.
In a large mixing bowl add the ground beef, eggs, Panko breadcrumbs, shredded Parmesan cheese, parsley, cooked vegetables and ketchup
Mix until all ingredients are incorporated and the mixtures is a little bit sticky.
Add the mixture to one large loaf pan or divided in to two smaller loaf pans
Bake for 25-30 minutes at 360 F degrees, or until the internal temperature reaches 170 degrees F. Let the meatloaf cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.
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