When I was a kid, the woman who raised me made meatloaf a lot. It was always horrible and had a dingy gray color to it. I dreaded meatloaf night. I have been on a meatloaf journey for most of my life striving to create the loaf of my dreams. A few years ago, I found Martha Stewart’s meatloaf recipe, made a few changes, and from the first time I made it, I knew I had found my forever meatloaf.
The three types of meat, veggies, and the magical sauce, harmoniously combine to create a loaf that has a great depth of flavor and a wonderful velvety texture. The recipe will make a 3-pound meatloaf, which seems huge, which it is, but remember, meatloaf freezes wonderfully! Now you can have slices of meatloaf in your freezer, ready for when those comfort food cravings arise.
Don’t skip the “test patty” step or you may have an under-seasoned meatloaf, and nobody wants that!
For the breads, crumbs, I make my own from my sandwich bread recipe and baguette recipe (coming soon). Soon, I will release the recipe and video for making bread crumbs, but until then, there are quite a few options available in grocery stores and Amazon and I have listed links to them below. You will want to use plain, not seasoned, bread crumbs.
Serve with Luscious and Creamy Mashed Potatoes and Green Bean Bundles for a truly magical meal.
discover. cook. enjoy.
GF DF Velvety Meatloaf with Magical Sauce
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The Ingredients
For the Loaf
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 lb ground veal
- 1 1/2 cup bread crumbs, gluten-free of course!
- 1 onion, large, small dice
- 2 celery stalks, fine chop
- 2 carrot, fine chop
- 3/4 cup Italian parsley, fine chop
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
For the Magical Sauce
- 3/4 cup ketchup
- 2 tbsp brown sugar, light
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
The Process
Mise en Place
- Gather all your ingredients. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Measure out the bread crumbs, Dijon, and Worcestershire for the loaf.
- Finely chop the carrot, parsley, and celery. Finely mince the garlic. Finely dice the onion.
- Measure out the ketchup, brown sugar, Dijon and Worcestershire for the sauce. Set aside.
Mix the Loaf
- Add the three meats to a large mixing bowl. Add the carrot, onion, celery, parsley, bread crumbs, egg, Dijon, Worcestershire, kosher salt, and pepper to the bowl. Use your hands to mix the ingredients well. You want an even distribution of all the ingredients.
Test the Loaf Salt Level
- Grab a small saute pan and heat a smidgen of oil on medium-high heat. Make a small patty out of the meatloaf mixture and when the pan is hot, add and cook until done. Taste the patty to determine if more salt is needed. If more salt is needed add it and remake another patty if you like, or add more and move on.
Mix the Magical Sauce
- While the test patty is cooking, mix together in a small bowl, all the sauce ingredients you measured out earlier. Set aside.
Form the Loaf
- This meatloaf is "freeformed" on a sheet pan and not placed in a loaf pan. Transfer the meat mixture to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper that has been sprayed with a non-stick spray.
- Form the meat mixture into an rounded rectangle shape, somewhat oval. See photo below.
Marry the Loaf and the Magical Sauce
- Pour the sauce over the loaf and spread with a spoon or your fingers (my preferred method). You may want to reserve some of the sauce for serving but that is optional.
Bake the Loaf
- Insert a probe thermometer into the side of the loaf, pushed in all the way to get as far into the center as possible. Bake at 375 for about an 65 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees.
Slice and Serve
- When the loaf is done, remove from the oven and let rest for about 10 minutes. Garnish the loaf with parsley or scallions. Slice the loaf as thick or thin as you like. Enjoy!!
- Wrap leftover slices individually and store in the freezer for up to three months.
