A few weeks ago, I shared a basic recipe for chili, just recently my mom asked me to make meatloaf for dinner.
I haven’t made meatloaf in a long time, so I was ready to make an easy basic bacon wrapped meatloaf.
I used:
- One pound of ground beef
- 1 Pack of bacon
- ½ cup of Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ cup of diced sweet onions
- 1 teaspoon of onion powder
- 1 teaspoon of cumin
- 1 teaspoon of black pepper
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 Tablespoon of Italian seasoning
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the ground beef in a large bowl and mix in the seasonings, egg and breadcrumbs and form the ground beef into the shape of a bread loaf.
Place tinfoil down on a pan and line the pan with the strips of bacon, setting side a few strips. Place the ground beef on top of the bacon and pull the ends of the bacon up and over the top. Use the remaining strips to cover any exposed portion of the meatloaf.
Cook in the oven for 40-50 minutes until you get to an internal temperature of 155. Pull it out of the oven and let it rest. This will bring the carryover temperature to 160 and keep the meatloaf moist inside.
While the meatloaf was cooking, I used my rice cooker to steam a bag of broccoli for the side dish. I added 2 cups of water into the cooker and placed the steam grill down. I tossed in the broccoli and added salt, pepper and Italian season. I turned on the rice cooker and in 15 minutes it was ready.
This is a basic recipe you can tweak. For example, if the meatloaf was just for me or me and some of my friends, I would mix in ½ cup of jalapenos and ½ cup of shredded cheddar cheese with the ground beef. My mom doesn’t like spicy food but sometimes I’ll make her a meatloaf with the ½ cup of cheese and ½ cup of drained canned corn or diced carrots or both.
When I don’t use bacon to wrap the meatloaf, I use a bread loaf pan and pour an 8 ounce can of Italian seasoned tomato sauce over the ground beef about 15 minutes before pulling it out to rest. Once, I didn’t have tomato sauce and covered the meatloaf with barbeque sauce before resting it. I prefer this so the sauce gets hot but not dry. Of course, some people use ketchup, the choice is yours.
Honestly the possibilities are endless if you have ground beef, or turkey, or chicken, an egg and some form of binder like breadcrumbs or crushed crackers, you can make meatloaf any way you want to. Pick your own herbs and spices. Experiment and you may end up making the best meatloaf for your household.
Do you have a favorite recipe? Let me know. Email me at: PattyL@brewermediagroup.com