This is the best meatloaf recipe ever! This traditional meatloaf recipe is just like mom used to make, made with ground beef and a sweet and tangy glaze topping.
What Makes A Really Good Meatloaf
I think the trick to good meatloaf is using lean ground beef. The problem with a lot of meatloaf recipes is that they call for ground beef with a high fat content. As the meatloaf cooks, the fat cooks out and makes a greasy mess. Not this recipe!
How To Keep It Moist
You may be thinking, but won’t lean ground beef make the meatloaf dry? Not at all! The milk, egg, ketchup, and diced onion in the meat mixture are all working to keep the meatloaf moist and delicious.
Loaf Pan Versus Baking Sheet
I prefer to use a loaf pan because it keeps all the glaze in place perfectly and the meat is juicier. But, you could line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Shape the meatloaf into a loaf shape. Top with the glaze. And, bake as normal.
How To Make The Best Meatloaf
*Note: This is a summary. The full printable recipe card is at the bottom of this post.
Make the Meatloaf:
- Add 90% lean ground beef to a large bowl.
- Add dried bread crumbs and some diced onion.
- Add milk, an egg, ketchup, and worcestershire sauce.
- Add dried parsley, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
- Mix it together REALLY well.
- Pour the meat mixture into a loaf pan.
- Spread it into a flat even layer.
Make the Ketchup Glaze
- Add ketchup, brown sugar, and red wine vinegar to a bowl.
- Whisk until combined.
- Pour the glaze over the meatloaf.
- Bake it!
- Let it cool before slicing.
Can This Be Made Ahead Of Time
Absolutely! Just cover the loaf pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate it until you’re ready for it. Then, uncover it and let it come to room temperature as you’re preheating the oven.
Can This Be Frozen
Yes! Prepare the meatloaf, put it in a loaf pan, and top with glaze according to the recipe directions. Cover the pan and freeze.
Place the frozen meatloaf in the refrigerator to thaw about 24 hours before you want to bake it. Then, uncover it and let it come to room temperature as you’re preheating the oven.
I’ve been playing around with this recipe for the past few months, making it many times. And, I didn’t mind the repetition at all because I do believe I ended up with the best classic meatloaf recipe ever. 🙂
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The Best Classic Meatloaf Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 1 lb. 90% lean ground beef
- 1 cup dried bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup diced yellow onion
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 large egg beaten
- 2 tbsp. ketchup
- 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp. dried parsley leaves
- 3/4 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
- For the Topping:
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 2 tbsp. packed light brown sugar
- 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit.
- In a large bowl, add the beef, bread crumbs, onion, milk, egg, 2 tablespoons ketchup, worcestershire sauce, parsley, salt, garlic powder, and pepper. Use your hands to mush and mix these ingredients together until well combined.*
- Add the meat mixture to a loaf pan. Pat the meat down into an even layer.
- In a small bowl, add ¼ cup ketchup, the brown sugar, and vinegar. Stir to combine. Pour the sauce on top of the meatloaf and spread it into an even layer.
- Bake uncovered for 55 minutes.
- Let the meatloaf rest for 8-10 minutes before serving (or it may fall apart).**
Notes
Nutrition
Check out all of my great ground beef recipes.
Great meatloaf. For the topping I tripped the ingredients, my hubby likes more sauce!! I used tomato sauce instead of ketchup. I added more brown sugar. I added some granulated garlic and some ground ginger in there and poured it on top about 20 minutes before taking it out of the oven and I increased the baking time about 15 minutes I live in a high altitude so I’ve learned that whatever the recipe calls for I have to add an additional 15 minutes to the baking process
My meatloaf never comes out the same twice, I get creative sometimes Italalian, stuffed patted out flat with mozzarella and spinach and rolled up and use pizza sauce. Sometimes taco with salsa meat loaf is actually a canvas, use your imagination.
This is my family’s new favorite meal!! Made it twice in one week !! It’s the best!!
Made this for dinner today. It was awesome. So easy and delicious. We even had everything already. Didn’t have to go to the store for any ingredients.
I tried this recipe tonight. It was delicious! However, I do have an issue with the prep time. It was more like 70 minutes for me. Mixing the ingredients alone took nearly 10 minutes. In addition, I don’t drink milk, so I don’t have any. I used wine instead (same amount as milk). I don’t know what it tastes like using milk, but as I said, it was delicious. I also didn’t have garlic powder, so I just minced a couple of cloves very fine. I used both beef and pork which made it 1 lb, 9 oz, so I added 10 minutes to the cooking time and verified the result with a thermometer. I greased the pan with shortening so it wouldn’t stick, and it didn’t. Not wanting to slice it in the pan with a metal knife, I removed a couple of slices using a silicone spatula which made the remainder much easier to extract. fwiw, the wine was also quite useful during the prep by keeping me relaxed. All in all, a great recipe! The consistency and moistness were perfect. The best meatloaf I’ve ever had!
It took you 70 minutes to beat an egg and dice a half of a onion? The prep time was accurate….do you mean total time? I don’t want others to get discouraged thinking it takes 70 minutes to make this delicious recipe.
Well he did say he drank some wine while preparing to keep him relaxed so I’m thinking maybe he was TOO relaxed and lost track of time 🤔😂 I made this and it only took me 15 minutes tops to prepare but then again I wasn’t drinking wine 🤪 (It’s in the oven now-can’t wait to try it!)
Second time making this. Absolutely love it! Only thing I do different is swap the brown sugar for honey .
DELICIOUS!! LOVE THE SAUCE
Fantastic
I made this last night 4/ 4/19.
It was sooooo good! Moist and had a wonderful flavor. I really liked the tangy topping, so much better then just ketchup. I didn’t change a thing on this recipe, it was perfect!
Everyone loved it! I double the recipe and cooked it in a baking dish which I divided lengthwise so the mixture wasn’t spread too thin. I added about 15 minutes to the cook time.
This is a great receipt. I used crumble Cheetos instead of bread crumbs because no one seemed to want to eat them in my household. I also used ground turkey instead. I think the ketchup and Worcestershire sauce bring out the umami flavor of the dish. If you haven’t found any tasteful meat loaf receipt. This one will not disappoint you.
Made this tonight and loved it! Followed recipe exactly except for substituting panko for the bread crumbs. Turned out so good, will definitely be making it again soon!
I’ve tried this recipe yesterday, it tasted amazing, especially that sweet tangy topping. It is moist and I just loved it.
Thank you for sharing, will always do this recipe.
It’s perfect! Delicious.
Love this meatloaf, i just added Lipton Onion Soup mix and eliminated the Worceshershire sauce, delicious. My family loved this. i also made this receipt in a muffin pan “meatloaf meatball”. soooo good. thank you
Loved this recipe! Very flavorful and yummy!
Made this meatloaf last night following the recipe exactly. It was delish. We loved it. Totally non greasy. Thanks for the recipe.
what can i subsitute for the bread crumbs??
Tear up fresh bread into very small pieces
If you have a gluten allergies, some of my family has them there is a gluten free bread crumbs, at Fred Meyer I live in Oregon so if your not in this area it would be Kroger’s store. But I have family that uses rice crackers crushed even rice crisps worked good. A lot of people with gluten allergies can eat sour dough bread because according to a Dr I was talking to the sour dough yeast eats all of the gluten. But that’s something you will have to decide if you want to try I don’t know how allergic your family is and if it’s worth it, I didn’t try it with my sister in law when I made it just got the gluten free bread crumbs from the store. Hopefully this helped.
bread slices crumbled
I experimented on guests with this recipe. My father-in-law is a meat and potatoes guy and his Mid-west brother and wife were in town. When they tasted this meatloaf (which I made for the first time that night, boldly doubling a first time recipe!), they raved about it being so good and were really surprised when I told them it was my first time making it. They thought it was a traditional family recipe handed down through the generations!
Absolutely fantastic! I followed the recipe exactly and it was perfect! Thank you for sharing.