One of my favorite dinners growing up was meatloaf. I do love me some meatloaf. I never really knew everything grandma did to it but I know it was amazing. Over the years i dabbled around and tried to figure out her recipe. I believe I came close – really close – but never quite got it. Maybe it was just that grandma love or special touch. Either way, I decided to make the recipe my own and tweaked it and, in my humble opinion, made it not so much better, but different.
Now, where I’m from (Catskill Mountains of NY) we always had ketchup on our meatloaf. When I moved to South Carolina I learned of ketchup sauce that everyone had on their meatloaf. Basically this was simply ketchup mixed with some sugar. As time went on I began to use brown sugar. Really good idea! Then the creator in me took over and i made a whole new topping. It’s very much like ketchup sauce – just better. MUCH BETTER.
Okay, so now that you know the history and cultural background let’s get to the recipe.
My Special Meatloaf:
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 lbs of ground beef. (80/20 or even 85/15)
- 1 1/2 cups of Italian bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup of chopped garlic
- 1/2 medium onion diced
- 1 tbsp of onion powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 packets of brown gravy mix
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup of milk (will depend on the ground beef fat content – pour slowly and judge as you mix)
DIRECTIONS:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- place ground beef in a large mixing bowl
- add all dry ingredients
- add eggs
- mix together with your hands
- add milk slowly until desired consistency reached
- place meatloaf in baking dish and use finger to poke 1/4 inch holes in the top
- top with sauce (recipe below)
- cover and bake at 375 degrees for approximately 50 to 60 minutes.
- when there are 10 minutes left, remove cover and continue baking.
- remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes.
- Slice and serve
Meatloaf Sauce:
INGREDIENTS:
- 3 cups of salsa
- 1 cup of raw, natural honey
- mix well and pour on top of meatloaf
There ya have it! My special meatloaf recipe. Now it’s not my grandma’s, but I bet she’d love it.
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