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.
Super try also using reduced red wine in the meatloaf!!
Delicious!!!! Love the taste, will be making this often.
The meatloaf is baking right now and it smells amazing! I did however make a couple of substitutions since I did not have all of the ingredients on hand. I sautéed onions, fresh thyme, minced garlic, 2 diced and deseeded jalepenos, and half of an orange bell pepper in butter and olive oil before adding it to the meat mixture. I added freshly grated Parmesan cheese to the mixture, as well as an extra egg and a third cup chicken broth since I did not have any milk. I also did not have any ketchup, so instead, I used Heinz 57 sauce for the meatloaf mixture and Heinz chili sauce with spicy brown mustard, brown sugar and a dash of red wine vinegar for the glaze. I’m a little nervous about all of the substitutions but it smells amazing in the oven!
This is my recipe exactly with one exception. (well two really) I’ve been “eye balling” the amounts. Also my glaze contains Ketchup, mustard and brown sugar – no vinegar.
Amanda-
I had not prepared Meatloaf in quite sometime (more than 5 years).
This recipe produced a VERY family pleasing main course.
As I had a large group to feed, I found the “scaling” function useful.
I have made a few suggestion regarding “values” in the Instructions, (please see below-(*)
I selected 50 servings. (Note: the followings quantities are based on this selection)
Using my “Chefs Privilege”, I made the following substitutions/changes:
80/20% ground beef– vs 90%, what I had on hand (*)
2 cups diced Walla Walla sweet onions (*)- vs (2.5) Yellow onions
1 cup diced celery (addition)
2 cups milk (reduction of .5 cups- to reduce total moisture
5 Tbsp. dried parsley– vs 5 tbsp.
For the Topping
5 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar– vs 5 tbsp. red wine vinegar (*)
It would be very helpful, and less confusing, if the values shown in the , 2
Could also be scaled.
“Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. 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.*
3. Add the meat mixture to a loaf pan. Pat the meat down into an even layer.
4. In a small bowl, add 1/4 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.
5. Bake uncovered for 55 minutes- {1}.
6. Let the meatloaf rest for 8-10 minutes [more for larger loafs] before serving (or it may fall apart).**”
{1} Additionally as a “food safety” reminder, there should be some guidance to check the internal temperature at the point.
Overall, this is a GREAT recipe, and I HIGHLY recommend it to all.
Thanks for the help!
If I double the amount of meat and everything
Else. How long does it take to bake
Googled that myself…about 60 to 65 minutes, but double check with meat thermometer which should read 165 to 170 degrees.
I made your recipe exactly as you wrote, except for doubling the sauce and cooking it in a regular pan instead of a loaf pan. Your recipe was Fantastic! I pinned it and this will be one I will fix often! Thank you for Sharing, it was Delicious!
55 mins is not long enough for the meatloaf to cook threw, preping was easy , just the timing was way off, now I just hope it taste good 😒
some people just dont know how to cook then 🙁 🙂
Some people are just rude and petty people
Agreed
Please don’t listen to them. There was nothing you said in your comment that was petty. All you said is it takes longer. It is a fact that every oven is different. Ours always takes 10 to 15 minutes longer to cook things than what the recipe says. I can’t believe adults are somewhat bullying on a freaking recipe site, LOL. But namaste.😊
I think the reply to being petty was meant for Bouldin, not Evonne. I agree Bouldin was rude.
Indeed, this is the best recipe for everyone’s taste. Even the pickiest of eaters would gobble this up like peanut butter on a spoon. No need to change anything. You can add other ingredients such as sime chopped parsley, and celery. But really it si not necessary. I am in love with this dish and will be making it weekly for the husband. The directions are clear and did work for me. It brought a smile to my husbands face. Thank you.
I haven’t made meatloaf in years because it always came out dry and not very tasty. I followed this recipe and WOW, it’s the best Meatloaf I have ever tasted. It is so moist and flavorful, I was amazed. The glaze added to the wonderful flavor. After eating a generous portion I immediately wrote the recipe down for many future Meatloaf meals.
One of the best I’ve ever made, and simple.
It was a great recipie. I added mixed vegetables into the meatloaf. It was delicious!
When you put in mixed veggies did you use can or frozen and if you used can did you use the juices as well
I used a handful of freshly grated organic carrots and zucchini and it was delicious. My husband who’s a meatloaf “snob” loved it!
This sounds like my mom’s recipe except for the brown sugar and vinegar added to the ketchup glaze. I’m trying this recipe tonight, but I’m on a gluten free diet and am considering using oats, possibly roughly ground or crushed gluten free crackers. What do you think?
I’d like to hear how that tasted. The roughly ground or crushed gluten free crackers may work, but I wasn’t sure about the oats. Did you try it? How was it?
the quaker oats are gluten free and work awesome in this recipe.
I’d go with rice. Either cooled steamed rice, or crushed rice bread/crackers should do the trick. Steamed rice that has been cooled is used as the starch binder for most stuffed pepper recipes, I imagine it would do the same thing in a meatloaf, just use a smaller rice-to-meat ratio as you see in stuffed peppers so it’s not crumbly.
Either will work fine.
My mom used oats and crackers at different times. If you have young kids love well as I didn’t mind it tasted some of my brothers and sisters like the idea ofOf course we also ate it because it is 750 and that is what was for dinner it was eat will go without.
I always use 1/2 to 3/4 cup cooked rice. The meatloaf always turns out great. My husband has celiacs and I always adjust recipes to work for him.
Thank you so much for the rice idea! My daughters are both celiac and I have been searching for a good substitute! Meatloaf is in the oven now and I cannot wait! If this works I may try meatballs with rice next!!! Thanks again!
I’d do that! I’m making tonite and can’t wait to try it. I like oats in my meatloaf.
Love the checklist ingredients. Nice touch 🙂
Excellent recipe. The meatloaf was very good and everyone liked it. It was easy to make.
❤️❤️❤️❤️
“Mix it together REALLY well.” over working ground beef tends to make it tough.
It’s got a lot of liquid in there with it, though. You can still overmix it, but it’ll be hard to. For something like this, a little toughness in the meat is much better than having it fall apart when you try to remove it from the loaf pan. If you’re worried about overmixing still, use a slightly fatter grade of meat, like an 85/15 if you can.
Simple, wholesome, delicious!! Made it last night for an avid meatloaf fan and he loved it!! Followed the recipe execpt I used Ritz crackers crumbled up (didn’t have breadcrumbs) and still super yummy!! Try it tonight 😊
After carefully reviewing several meatloaf recipes I kept coming back to this one. Wow! This is a keeper. I followed recipe exactly with adding a little more worchestire sauce and freshly grated pecorino Romano cheese. Delicious! Meat stayed very moist. Melted in your mouth. For the glaze I generously used Dark Brown Sugar and Apple Cider Vinegar with the Ketchup. My family loved it. Excellent!
Never made meatloaf before. I just ordered it in a semi-high end local restaurant. This dish rivals it easily. I used parchment paper on the pan for easy removal after 10 minutes. Saving this recipe.
Great 👍 I made 2 one for later . Very good Perfect Meat Loaf I love this
Great recepie. Amazing results. I followed recepie except instead of milk I used chicken broth
I have not made meatloaf in a long time because I didn’t have a good recipe but my husband wanted some tonight. I looked on line for a good recipe this one looked to good to pass up I’m so so glad I stopped looking when I got to this one. I wont have to look again because this one will be saved for the next time and next time etc etc………..
I follow the recipe exactly because my husband of 35 years, who loves my cooking, including my own version of meatloaf, says this is as good as his mother’s. That is high praise, as she was a master chef.