Our weather turned chilly after our balmy Easter weekend and I found myself craving comfort food for dinner. Our week was busy with sports and an overnight field trip, but I was determined to make meatloaf happen one evening. Thanks to the “delay start” feature on our oven, we came home from Emery’s soccer game Friday evening to perfectly cooked meatloaf.

No surprise that I used Spend With Pennies’s recipe. I’ll link here and share below: https://www.spendwithpennies.com/best-meatloaf-recipe/

Meatloaf Recipe

Ingredients  

• ½ medium onion diced
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 2 eggs
• ¾ cup milk
• ¾ cup Italian breadcrumbs or seasoned breadcrumbs
• 2 pounds lean ground beef 80/20
• 1 tablespoon ketchup or chili sauce
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped, or 2 teaspoons dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt & ½ teaspoon black pepper more to taste

Meatloaf Sauce

• ½ cup chili sauce *see note **I subbed BBQ sauce**
• ½ cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar optional **I skipped**

Instructions 

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a rimmed baking pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.
• In a small pan, cook onions in butter over medium low heat until tender. Let them cool completely.
• In a medium bowl, combine eggs, milk, and breadcrumbs. Let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes. 
• Add the ground beef, cooked onions, ketchup or chili sauce, Italian seasoning, parsley, and salt & pepper to the bowl. Mix until just combined.
• Form a 8″x4″ loaf on the prepared baking pan and bake for 40 minutes. 
• While the meatloaf is cooking, combine the chili sauce and ketchup (and brown sugar if using). Spread mixture over the meatloaf and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until cooked through and the meatloaf reaches an internal temperature of 160°F. Broil for 1-2 minutes if desired.
• Let the meatloaf rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving. 

Meatloaf Prep

I served with mashed potatoes (the Bob Evans kind) and green beans (canned) because I needed quick and easy sides. The best part about serving meatloaf for dinner is the meatloaf sandwich for lunch the next day! I ALWAYS put horseradish sauce on my sandwich.

Meatloaf Dinner

I encourage you to add this to your meal plan this week. We’ve still got a few chilly days before I embrace all the summer meals.