Servings: 8 Prep: 30 min Cook: 1 hr Total: 1 hr 45 min
This meatloaf recipe is awesome. Just awesome. The end result is a fantastically moist meatloaf with a wonderful texture and flavor. It also keeps really well, it freezes well and the leftovers last for days!
It’s also a really versatile recipe. You can use pork, veal or turkey, instead of beef. You can use different kinds of mushrooms, or add chili flakes to give some heat. You can add nuts for a little textural contrast (pecans would be delicious!). You could throw some spinach in it, or a spinach puree to hide it from the kids! (boil a big pot of salty water, then add a massive handful of spinach and cook for 30 seconds. Strain spinach and immediately plunge into ice water for 1 minute. Then, squeeze out excess liquid and puree with the chicken stock. Add to the recipe for added nutrients, without sacrificing deliciousness!)
Finally, the recipe suggests making a single loaf. This is common. However, I personally tend to make 4 smaller loafs, bake them and chill them. Then, I vacuum pack and freeze the uneaten loafs. Those are easy to defrost and warm up for a quick easy homemade dinner on a night where I don’t have extra time.
Sweet n' Glazey Totally Beefy Meatloaf
Print RateIngredients
- 1 lb cremini or button mushrooms finely chopped
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 4 each garlic clove minced
- 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup reduced sugar ketchup
- 2 tbsp Blackstrap molasses (or other brown sugar substitute - optional)
- 2 lbs ground beef (80 lean/20 fat)
- 2 small roasted bell peppers peeled, seeded and diced
- 1 tbsp fresh rosemary chopped
- 1 1/2 cups pork rinds (fried skin) crushed
- 1 tbsp vital wheat gluten (optional)
- 2 large whole eggs
- 1/2 cup chicken stock or broth
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Assuming all veggies are sliced, diced and chopped, you want to finely chop the mushrooms. You can do this with a knife or a food processor. A cheese grater works really nicely, too.
- Once the mushrooms have been chopped, sauté with half of the olive oil and a little salt and pepper. Sauté until the water cooks out is removed and you're left with a paste-like consistency.
- In a separate pan, soften on low heat the onions and garlic with a little salt, pepper and the remaining olive oil. Sweat until translucent.
- Set both veggies and mushrooms in the cooler to chill.
- While veggies cool, mix together the glaze: In a separate bowl, blend the mustard, ketchup and molasses. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the beef, peppers, rosemary, egg, chicken stock, pork rinds, wheat gluten and eggs; adding the onions, garlic and mushrooms last.
- Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Mix well. Should be a doughy consistency and not watery.
- Place a lightly greased sheet of parchment paper on a cookie tray.
- Form a nice loaf with the meat. It should be roughly 18 inches long, by 4 to 6 inches wide.
- Pour the glaze over the meatloaf and cover evenly with spoon or brush.
- Bake for about 1 hour or until an internal temperature of 160°F.
- Make sure to let rest about 15 minutes prior to slicing.
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This looks super easy to make and delicious!
Thank you, Kimberly! It IS! 🙂
This looks awesome DJ! Question … is there anything that can be substituted for the pork rinds? I’m probably in the minority of low-carbers, but I just can’t seem to get past the ‘ick’ factor with pork rinds! 🙁
Hi Stephanie, you can’t really taste them. They’re more just to help absorb some of the fat and moisture that this creates when cooking. You could leave it out and still have a tasty meatloaf. It’ll be a little smaller and slightly crumbly, but … not necessarily less delicious! Other than that, you could potentially add about 2 tbsp of coconut flour. I’ve never tried this, but … I have a feeling it might help. Coconut flour is notoriously thirsty and a little goes a long way. It’s my belief that it’ll absorb and hold a good portion of any extra moisture that might otherwise eek out while baking. Ultimately my big suggestion is simply … the taste gets lost when you eat it. Give it a shot!
I’m eating this right now with some warm sweet and sour broccoli slaw! Made it late last night but didn’t get to try it then, so I toasted a couple of slices in a pan with a dab of butter – YUM! The coconut flour substitution worked perfectly – thanks! (Sorry, the thought of fried pig skin still grosses me out! I pick up a package every week at the grocery store, and then put it back. Maybe one day I’ll get there!)
Awesome! Thank you for checking back with me on the coconut flour. Now, I officially know I can recommend that! 🙂 In other news … fried pig skin is DELICIOUS! Don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise! 😉
How do you roast the red peppers? I’ve never roasted anything before! 🙁
Hi Shelly! Good question! That said … the answer is a bit of a cheat. 9 out of 10 times, I just buy them already roasted! You can get some great roasted peppers in the store, in either cans or jars. They’re usually with the tomato sauces and/or with the pickles. However, you can also roast them by pre-heating your oven as hot as it will go. Then, rub a thin layer of oil on the outside of the peppers. Then, place them in the oven and let them roast until the outside begins to blacken and bubble a little bit. Immediately take them out and place them into a bowl, with a tight layer of saran wrap above them, to let them steam for about 10 minutes. Then, with your fingers, just peel the outer layer off. An even more "official" method for doing this, but is a bit more dangerous and challenging … rub the outside with oil, then place them directly under the broiler, which will BLAST them with charring hot heat. Every 2 or 3 minutes (as one side begins to blacken), rotate them to expose a new side to the heat. Keep doing this until the peppers are roughly 50% blackened. Then, cover them in a saran wrapped bowl to steam. Or, if you have access to direct flame, like a gas stove top or a BBQ … you can also roast them this way. These are more official methods … even though the first oven method will work. It’ll just yield a softer pepper … I hope this helps!
Hi DJ, I love your recipes. I don’t do mushrooms, may be mildly allergic. Do you think that the recipe would work if I just left them out? Or can you suggest a substitute? Thanks!
Hi Karen, you can really just skip ’em. They’re there largely to bulk it out and add a different set of nutrients. They’re not really integral to the structure of the recipe. Enjoy it! 🙂
In your Keto Freezer Meatballs, you used ground white chia seeds. Could this be used in place of the pork rinds & wheat gluten? If so, how much would you add?
Hi Lisa. Sorry for the late response. I hope you see this! Yes, absolutely. This is an older recipe, long before I discovered the fantastic qualities of chia. Chia will absorb up to 10 times its weight in moisture, so it serves very well to hold moisture in a meatloaf. I’d say to use about 1 tbsp. per 8 oz (227 g) of ground meat. So … in this case, about 1/4 cup of ground chia. I hope this helps!
I am going to try this as it sounds easy and delicious!!