Sometimes, there’s a pound of ground beef in the fridge, and the plan that you originally had is no longer interesting, and it’s late in the day, and you don’t know what to do.
Do you try something completely new, or do you go old school, and search for a recipe that incorporates ingredients that you have on hand? Obviously the second…
Classic Meatloaf
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground sirloin
- 1 cup stovetop stuffing
- ½ cup diced onion
- ½ cup milk
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 2 TBSP ketchup
- 1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
- ¾ tsp salt
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
Glaze (or use your favorite barbecue sauce)
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 2 TBSP packed light brown sugar
- 1 TBSP balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9×4 inch loaf pan with parchment paper, using a length of paper that lines the bottom of the pan, and extends up the two short sides, which will then provide you a way to lift the loaf out when it is done.
- Place all the ingredients (except those for the glaze) in a large bowl. Starting with a large spoon, begin breaking up the ground beef and combining the ingredients, then, using your hands, mix and mash the ingredients together. (Make sure they're well combined, otherwise the loaf may fall apart after it bakes.)
- In a small bowl, mix the glaze ingredients until sugar has dissolved, and the mixture thickens a bit.
- Add the beef mixture to the loaf pan, patting it down into an even layer. Pour the glaze mixture (or barbecue sauce) over the top of the loaf, making sure it's in an even layer.
- Bake, uncovered for 55-65 minutes (this will be dependent on the size of the pan and thickness of the loaf – it should have an internal temperature of 160 degrees F). Let stand for 10 minutes before lifting the loaf out of the pan.
- Slide the paper off of the loaf, and slice.
For a ridiculed recipe like meatloaf, this one is really tasty. It definitely has that homey quality to it, and with simple sides, like mashed potatoes and an easy green veggie, it’s a pretty good comfort food option. It’s pretty good reheated, as well!
Full disclosure – when I first found this recipe, I thought I had all the ingredients. I did not – I was missing the bread crumbs, and later, the red wine vinegar that the recipe originally calls for. I went looking for something in my house that would be able to stand in for bread crumbs with the least amount of work (yeah, I have bread in my house, but I wasn’t about to get off my butt and create bread crumbs out of that… 🙂 ). I ended up finding a half used box of Stove-top Stuffing that was so far beyond the best buy date, and decided that it was worth a try (without the seasoning packet, of course).
As a substitute for the red wine vinegar, I used balsamic instead.
The substitutions worked like a charm! I’ve made this more than a few times since the first time, reverting back to the original recipe, then trying again with the substitutions I used. The Stove-top Stuffing works much better than standard breadcrumbs. While the balsamic worked for me as well in place of the red wine vinegar, I’ve since shifted completely to barbecue sauce. It’s very tasty!