The Secret to This Family Favorite Meatloaf Recipe? Italian Sausage! (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to good meatloaf? ›

Use high-fat meat.

The leaner the meat, the dryer and grainier the meatloaf. For an all-beef meatloaf, always use a higher-fat cut, at least 15 percent. For a meatloaf made with a leaner beef or turkey, consider mixing in some ground pork and/or veal in order to achieve a moist, tender meatloaf.

Luckily, some of the same things that keep our meatloaf moist also keep it together: binders. The name should make it clear, obviously, but binders like breadcrumbs and eggs cook together to give your meatloaf structure. There is one more thing that helps to hold a meatloaf together, and that is mixing.

When this happens, it's because you didn't use enough. Next time, try adding in an extra egg and/or some more breadcrumbs. Alternatively, rice, barley, corn flakes, crackers, and dried soup mix can also stand in as binding ingredients as well. Including larger quantities of these items should help solve the problem.

Milk and other dairy products, like heavy cream and buttermilk, contain both water and fat, adding two types of moisture to our meatloaf. There's a long-held theory that milk can tenderize ground meat, and this is the reason often cited for cooking ground meat in milk to make a Bolognese-style ragù.

The Basic Meatloaf Formula

All recipes for meatloaf start with the same basic formula: 2 pounds of ground meat and a “panade” made of bread or crackers soaked in milk. Along with a few eggs, this panade helps to hold the ground meat together and adds some essential moisture to the mix.

Should I cook my meatloaf covered or uncovered? The meatloaf can be cooked uncovered. However, if you are concerned about it burning, you can cover the meatloaf with foil for the first 45 minutes and uncover it for the final 15 minutes to allow the meatloaf to brown on top.

Eggs bind the mixture, add flavor and increase browning, but too much egg will make a meat loaf tough and rubbery. Use about one egg per pound of meat. If using pork sausage, skip the egg. Milk adds flavor and moisture and helps distribute the seasoning throughout the mass.

Herbs: Fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme, and parsley can bring a burst of flavor to your meatloaf.

The oven temperature is typically set at 350 degrees F for making meatloaf. That's the temperature you want to be sure to use so the meatloaf cooks and doesn't dry out. Too high, and the outer crust will burn before the interior is cooked all the way, too low and you don't get that delicious crust.

What can I use instead of breadcrumbs in meatloaf? ›

Adding more to your mixture is always easier than taking some out. Another common reason meatloaf is mushy is too much filler, like breadcrumbs, bread, and oatmeal. Too much filler will stop it from baking correctly and becoming a fully formed meatloaf.

The most traditional meatloaf binder is probably torn up bread soaked in milk, but you can also use bread crumbs, Panko, dehydrated potato (instant mashed potatoes), or just about any other grain.

If the meatloaf is over 160°F, or 165°F if you used chicken or turkey, it's fully cooked and safe to consume even if it's still pink inside. The reason your meatloaf may still be pink in the middle when fully cooked is nitrates.

While both are great options for cooking your meatloaf, each has its own advantages and you will get slightly different results. Sheet pans have more surface area which exposes more of the dish's surface area to the oven's direct heat to create a crunchier crust that's nicely browned.

A neat trick to soak up the grease under your meatloaf is to line the bottom of the pan with bread slices. The bread soaks up the grease as the loaf bakes. When the meatloaf is done, you can either throw out the bread or bake it to make some truly indulgent toast.