not your grandma's meatloaf
That’s right, folks. This is not your grandma’s meatloaf.
That’s because it’s our grandma’s meatloaf.
And I don’t think I’m prejudiced when I say it’s the best.
Okay, maybe just a little bit prejudiced…but that’s to be expected. When I think “childhood,” this is the food that comes to mind. When I think “comfort,” this is the dinner I crave. And every year growing up without fail when asked what I wanted for my birthday dinner, the answer was always the same: Grandma’s Meatloaf.
There are other meatloafs out there that are good—I’ve ordered a bacon-wrapped meatloaf at a pub, and my MIL makes a mean veggie-full meatloaf. But I’ve never had another meatloaf quite like grandma’s: tender, juicy, bursting with flavor and smothered in its signature sauce.
This recipe is near and dear to our hearts, not only because it really is just that good, but also because it reminds us of our grandma—one of the most warm and generous women we know.
Although nobody can make it quite like Grandma can, following the recipe below will bring you pretty darn close.
not your grandma’s meatloaf
serves a large family or a crowd of friends
Ingredients:
2 lbs good-quality ground beef*
1 lb ground pork
2 cups flavored bread crumbs*
3 eggs
2 packets of Meatloaf Seasoning*
1 small can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1/2 cup milk, give or take
[for the sauce:]
4 small cans (32 oz) tomato sauce
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup molasses
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13x9 baking pan with parchment paper or heavy-duty foil.
In a large bowl (or a stand mixer) combine ground meat, bread crumbs, eggs, seasoning, tomato sauce and milk. (For the milk: grandma always filled up the small can of tomato sauce about half way and started with that; it’s about 1/2 cup milk.) Mix until thoroughly combined, adding additional milk as needed—the loaf should be homogenous and firm but not too gooey. Dump the mixture into the prepared baking pan and shape into a loaf. Place into preheated oven and set the timer for 2 hours.
While the meatloaf begins to cook, whisk up the sauce. In a 4-cup glass measuring cup, whisk together tomato sauce, vinegar, molasses and yellow mustard. Use water to rinse out the insides of the cans, and add some of that water to the glass measuring cup until it is full to the very brim. Whisk gently to combine. (This is not an exact science, but I’m telling you: this is how you make grandma’s meatloaf. I usually place the measuring cup on a plate to catch any drips and spills.)
Open the oven and pour/ladle some of the sauce on top of the cooking meatloaf. While the meatloaf continues to cook, every 20 minutes or so open the oven and pour on additional sauce to keep the loaf nice and juicy and prevent it from drying out. You can either use up all of the sauce while it’s cooking, or you can reserve some to serve on the side.
Serving suggestions: meatloaf and mashed potatoes, always; roasted or sautéed vegetables are a solid side.
notes:
ground beef/pork: Grandma’s original shared recipe, which was written in a letter and is now torn and stained and much-beloved, simply listed “3 lbs chop meat (leaner the better).” One day while at a family dinner when grandma prepared meatloaf, we exclaimed, “Grandma! We don’t know what you do! We follow your recipe but it never tastes as good as yours.” And grandma demurred, saying she doesn’t do anything special, and then began running through the steps of the recipe as she makes it—which is when we made the surprising discovery that contrary to the written recipe we had, she uses a mixture of ground beef and ground pork! For years we made it with 3 lbs of ground beef, and this is still a really really good way to go. But lately we’ve been doing a 2:1 mixture of beef and pork, and it’s only that much closer to grandma’s (though I suspect without her special touch it never will be exactly the same).
make your own seasoned bread crumbs: a 1-pound loaf of rustic bread (Italian, French, Sourdough, Artisan) should yield roughly 2 cups of bread crumbs. To make: cut the bread into 1-inch cubes. Spread on a baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees, stirring occasionally, until golden brown. Let cool completely, and then blitz into crumbs in a food processor. Stir in 2 tablespoons of Italian Seasoning.
make your own meatloaf seasoning: McCormick’s is the brand of choice that my grandma always used, but lately Maria, Sophie and I have all shifted to whisking up our own homemade meatloaf seasoning. You can look it up online and find many options; the one I used lately with good results is as follows (measurements given here are doubled to replicate 2 packets): 4 teaspoons mustard powder, 4 teaspoons paprika, 2 teaspoons salt, 2 teaspoons ground black pepper, 2 teaspoons onion powder, 2 teaspoons garlic powder, 2 teaspoons dried basil, 1 teaspoon dried thyme.