How can I make a meat loaf tasty?!
Answers: It's always soggy in the middle & turns opaque & I always follow the recipe exactly like I should
This happens to me every so often and it's all in the feel of the meat mix before you plop it in the oven. Try not adding as many eggs, or by adding more of what ever your dry ingrediant is. Also maybe try a leaner burger. I think lean hamburger is better for meatlaof, and meat balls. Remeber to test your meat loaf, if it looks kinda "runny" it will be runny, if it's firm it will end up more of a firm meat loaf.
it must be your recipe. I am a really bad cook and a vegetarian, but I make a mean meatloaf. haha... (I know this becuase I used to eat them before I stopped eating meat.) maybe you are using too much milk or not enough bread. or dont put the ketchup on top of it until its almost done. that holds moisture in, which it sounds like you have too much of if its soggy...
I make one that includes brown sugar, barbeque sauce, and sage. You can tinker with it how you want, but those 3 ingredients work. My family begs me to make it, and I even have a niece that used to hate meatloaf, who likes mine.
But it sounds like you need more bread crumbs, and egg. The egg acts like a glue, and the breadcrumbs will thicken it.
Good luck. Damn you! Now I want meatloaf.
Use Lipton's Onion Soup Mix to make it with, follow directions
follow the direction on lipton onion soup mix it makes a great meat loaf
Maybe you have a sucky recipe.
Bacon-Wrapped Meat Loaf with Brown Sugar - Ketchup Glaze
If you like, you can omit the bacon topping from the loaf. In this case, brush on half the glaze before baking and the other half during the last fifteen minutes of baking. Serves 6 to 8
Brown Sugar - Ketchup Glaze
1/2 cup ketchup or chili sauce
4 Tbsp.s brown sugar
4 Tbsp.s cider vinegar or white vinegar
Meat Loaf
2 tsp. vegetable oil
1 medium onion , chopped medium
2 medium cloves of garlic , minced
2 large eggs
? tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. table salt
? tsp. ground black pepper
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. hot pepper sauce
? cup whole milk or plain yogurt
1 pound ground chuck
? pound ground pork
? pound ground veal
2/3 cup Saltine crackers , crushed (about 16), or quick oatmeal, or 1 1/3 cups fresh bread crumbs
1/3 cup fresh parsley leaf , minced
8-12 slices bacon
1. For the glaze: Mix all ingredients in small saucepan; set aside.
2. For the meat loaf: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil in medium skillet. Add onion and garlic; sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool while preparing remaining ingredients.
3. Mix eggs with thyme, salt, pepper, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, pepper sauce, and milk or yogurt. Add egg mixture to meat in large bowl along with crackers, parsley, and cooked onion and garlic; mix with fork until evenly blended and meat mixture does not stick to bowl. (If mixture sticks, add additional milk or yogurt, a couple Tbsp.s at a time until mix no longer sticks.)
4. Turn meat mixture onto work surface. With wet hands, pat mixture into approximately 9-by-5-inch loaf shape. Place on foil-lined (for easy cleanup) shallow baking pan. Brush with half the glaze, then arrange bacon slices, crosswise, over loaf, overlapping slightly and tucking only bacon tip ends under loaf .
5. Bake loaf until bacon is crisp and loaf registers 160 degrees, about 1 hour. Cool at least 20 minutes. Simmer remaining glaze over medium heat until thickened slightly. Slice meat loaf and serve with extra glaze passed separately.
--Cooks Illustrated, Sept.1996
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Mama's Cheesy Meatloaf
1 lb. ground chuck
1 egg, beaten
2 tbls. worcestershire sauce
1 cup ketchup
1/2 tsp. onion salt
3/4 stack Town House Crackers, crushed
2 cups grated cheese (I like sharp)
Mix all ingredients, except cheese. Press meat out onto plastic wrap about 1/2 inch thick. Sprinkle cheese over meat evenly. Roll up the meatloaf, jelly roll style. Tuck in the ends, and secure with LOTS of toothpicks. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 min.
Sauce:
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup mustard
1/2 cup brown sugar
Combine, and heat thoroughly. About 15 min. or 20 min. before meatloaf is done, pour on some of the sauce, and finish baking. Keep the rest to pour onto the meatloaf slices at the table.
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Meatloaf Muffins w/ BBQ Sauce
1 2/3 to 1 3/4 pounds ground sirloin
1 medium onion, cut into chunks
2 ribs celery from the heart of the stalk, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 green bell pepper
1 large egg plus a splash of milk, beaten
1 cup plain bread crumbs
2 tablespoons grill seasoning (recommended: Montreal Steak Seasoning by McCormick)
1 cup smoky barbecue sauce
1/2 cup tomato salsa
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Vegetable oil or extra-virgin olive oil
Preheat oven to 450oF. Put ground beef into a big bowl. Put onion and celery into a food processor. Cut the bell pepper in half, rip out the seeds and throw them into your garbage bowl. Cut the pepper into a few pieces and add to the food processor. Pulse the processor blades to finely chop the vegetables into very small pieces then add them to the meat bowl. Add egg, beaten with milk, bread crumbs and grill seasoning to the bowl. Next, mix together the smoky barbecue sauce, the salsa and the Worcestershire sauce. Pour half the sauce mixture into the bowl with the meatloaf mix. Mix the meatloaf together with your hands. Wash up. Brush a 12-muffin tin (1/2-cup each) with vegetable oil or extra-virgin olive oil, including top surface. Use an ice cream scoop to help you fill meat into a each tin. Top each meat loaf with a spoonful of extra sauce. Bake about 20 minutes. Cut open 1 muffin to test that the middle is cooked through. While meatloaf muffins bake, make green beans in the microwave. Serve meatloaf with Smashed Potatoes and Cream Cheese on the side, too.
--Rachael Ray, FoodTV
my mom puts brown sugar on the top and it tastes really good..
Mix your 2 pounds of lean ground beef with a package of dry onion soup mix and an egg.
Flop it into a bread pan and bake it at 325 degrees F. for 2 hours.
Drizzle with BBQ sauce and bake another half hour.
Great when hot with mashed spuds and cream corn.
YUMMMMM sliced cold between 2 slices of toast .
My grandpa puts chopped up pickles in his. I know it sounds yucky, but it is so good.
Here's how I make a meatloaf (and remember recipes are just suggestions!)
ground beef
ground pork (and sometimes venison sausage if I have it)
a couple handfuls of bread crumbs or stale bread torn into cubes
1 egg
good healthy squirt of ketchup
onions, chopped
salt
pepper
sage or thyme
Put all in a bowl and combine using your hands. Make freehand loaves and put on a cooling rack in a cookie sheet with sides.
Cook in a 350 degree oven one hour or until internal temperature reaches 160.
Hope that works for you.
Goto 'Americas Test Kitchen' website & look at that recipe (http://www.americastestkitchen.com/searc... Superb!
why would you want to eat meat.....ewww i'd say have something less disgusting and cruel
Try this recipe
1 lb lean ground beef
1/4 lb lean ground pork
1/4 lb ground veal
2 eggs, beaten well
2/3 C dry bread crumbs (unflavored)
2 C milk
1/4 C finely chopped onion
1 tspsalt
pepper to taste
Soak bread in milk, add egg and onion and mix well. Gently
mix in the ground meats but do not over handle. Place in a greased loaf pan. You could use a special pan that allows for excessive grease to drain but I find that you lose too much of the meat juices as well.
Top the raw loaf with a piquant sauce.
Piquant Sauce
3 Tbls brown sugar
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 C ketchup
1 tsp dry mustard
Mix all ingredients together and spread over the loaf.
Bake at 350 F degrees for 45 min to 1 hour. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.
Just add in 4 seasons salad dressing mix.
you can use different meat and spices, or stuff them with other things. i've made a meatloaf with pork that tasted like mild italian sausage, and a beef one that was stuffed with bleu cheese.
ADD SOME CHEESE IN THE MIDDLE OF IT
Amish Swiss Meat Loaf Recipe
1 egg
1/2 c. evaporated milk
1/2 tsp. rubbed sage
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 1/2 lb. lean ground beef
1 c. Ritz cracker crumbs
3/4 c. grated Swiss cheese
1/4 c. finely chopped onion
2-3 strips bacon, cut in 1" pieces
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat the egg in a large bowl. Add evaporated milk, sage, salt and pepper, and mix. Add beef, crumbs, 1/2 cup of the cheese and the onion; blend. Form into a loaf and place in a 2 quart rectangular baking dish. Arrange bacon pieces on top of loaf. Bake 40 minutes. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and bake 10 minutes longer.
Here's my meatloaf recipe, it's pretty good:
2 lbs ground beef (or half beef and half pork would probably be good too)
One onion, chopped
One large egg
1/4 cup milk
1 can tomato soup
6-8 slices of bread torn into cubes
salt and pepper to taste
Topping and sauce:
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar
worstershire sauce to taste (doesn't need a lot, but I don't measure this, i just kind of shake it in until I'm happy with the consistency of the sauce)
Preheat oven to 350 deg. F
Combine meatloaf ingredients until well mixed. Form into one loaf or 6-8 mini loaves. and place in 9x13 pan. (it's actually easier to form one large loaf in the pan rather than before you put it in the pan)
Bake for 1 hour, spreading 1/3 cup of the sauce on the top of the loaf after 15 min. Reserve the remainder of the sauce to pour over the meatloaf after it's done.
Hope it works out for you.
Heres mine so change it how you want to suit your tastes and make it your own.
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork or turkey
1 small red onion diced and cooked in a bit of garlic oil
1 c bread crumbs italian seasoned is perfect
1 egg
1/2 c bbq sauce, ketchup, and yellow mustard
Combine all in to a bowl and free form your meatloaf or use a loaf pan. But I find with the beef being of 80/20 fat content a cake pan works great and is done quicker and more throughly. To prepare your topping for the loaf, 1 med red onion sliced in to rings and separeted, 1/4 c ea bbq, ketchup and steak sauce" any will do use your fav" mix well and spread over the top of the loaf so it covers about half way down each side it will be a great crust on top. Add your sliced onions all over the loaf, bake at 350 for 1 hr depending on how your oven runs, let rest for 15 mins to let jusices sink back in the meat and serve as you will
I think the very best meat loaf is the following. I don't use measurements, so I hope you can figure it out.
good ground beef
ground pork
finely chopped carrots, celery, onion
egg
bread crumbs
milk
garlic
fresh ground salt & pepper
mustard
ketchup
worchestire sauce
Saute the vegetables in butter and add to the remaining ingredients. Plop in the middle of a cookie sheet and form into an oval shape, cover with ketchup and bake at 350 for about an hour. Check for doneness after 30 minutes depending on how much meat you use. I make enough for 12 people, so I'm using a larger quantity.
No kidding, this recipe is amazing. I tastes absolutely fabulous. We serve it with mashed potatoes and fresh corn or asparagus.