The BEST homemade meatloaf is simple, quick, and DELICIOUS. This tender and juicy meatloaf is a recipe you will have to make every week! This recipe is made with HEALTHY ingredients that will leave you feeling good about feeding yourself and your family this meal!
Rather you are cooking for just you, your significate other, or a family; this is the one meal you can guarantee everyone will gobble down. This Juicy, Homemade meatloaf will be a fan favorite for all and something you must make several times a month.
The meatloaf is made with typical meatloaf ingredients: ground beef, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, dried oregano, onion powder, egg, bbq sauce, ketchup, bread crumbs, and chopped parsley. THAT IS IT! Probably all these ingredients you have on hand right now!
The classic meatloaf tastes delicious served with mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, fried potatoes, or roasted potatoes. Don’t forget to fill a portion of your plate with your favorite vegetables like peas, green beans, cooked carrots, or a salad!
In this post, you will learn how to make the best juicy homemade meatloaf and how to meal prep the meatloaf and store it in the freezer!
Loaf Pan or Baking Sheet?!
You can use either or for this. Depending on how moist you like your meatloaf, I usually cook mine in a loaf pan. The only downfall of the loaf pan is that all the grease sits at the bottom of the pan. Typically, once the meatloaf is cooked, I have to dump the grease before serving it to my family. However, the grease makes the meatloaf so juicy and tender that it is absolutely to die for!
As for a baking sheet, the moisture will evaporate, causing the meatloaf not to be as moist. However, you do not need to worry about dumping grease out. Also, with a baking sheet, you have to worry about the shape of the meatloaf falling apart.
Preserving the Meatloaf
Once the meatloaf is cooked through, you are allowed to keep it in your refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. When storing the meatloaf in the fridge, ensure it is tightly wrapped with plastic. Make sure it is tightly wrapped because the refrigerator slows down bacterial growth; it does not entirely stop it. Therefore, we want to seal off the meatloaf so we have no bad bacteria growing on your food.
Tightly wrapping the meatloaf in plastic will also help prevent drying your food.
Another thing you can invest in is loaf pans with lids. The one that I love to use for meatloaf is attached here.
For One Meatloaf
If you only want to cook this once a month, here is the recipe for one serving of meatloaf.
This is a serving size of 6 people
- 1 1/2 LB. Ground Beef.
- 1 Onion
- 2 TBSP of Minced Garlic
- 1 TSP Salt
- 1 TSP Pepper
- 1 TSP Dried Oregano
- 1 TSP Onion Powder
- 1 Egg
- 2 TBSP BBQ Sauce
- 2 TBSP Ketchup
- 1/2 Cup of Breadcrumbs
- 1/2 Cup Chopped Parsley
Mix all the ingredients and bake for one hour at 375 F.
Drip the grease out of the pan and let it sit for five minutes before serving.
THAT IS IT!
Super simple and super quick!
How can I make a meatloaf healthier?
Wanting to make this recipe a little healthier? Here are some swap outs that you can use!
- Ground Beef- Ground turkey or ground chicken
- Organic Onion
- Organic Minced Garlic
- Eggs – Flax egg
- Organic Onion
- Salt
- Pepper
- Dried Oregano
- Onion Powder
- Organic BBQ Sauce
- Organic Ketchup
- Breadcrumbs- Almond Flour
- Chopped Parsley
How to make the meatloaf
This recipe is keeping things very simple for you. Essentially, all you have to do is combine all the ingredients in a bowl. I find using a hand mixer to mix up my ingredients is easiest. Place the combination into the loaf pan and top with tomato sauce! Below I will place the full instructions on how to make this very simple meal:
- Pre-heat the oven to 375 F
- Combine the ground beef, Tomato juice/ tomato sauce, oatmeal, egg, onion, salt, and pepper.
- Place the combined ingredients into a loaf pan or form the combined ingredients into a loaf shape on a baking sheet.
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake for one hour.
- Remove the loaf from the oven. Ensure that the meat temperature is 160 F to ensure that it is cooked and safe to eat. The meat thermometer that I use is this one!
- Drain the grease/pat dry, and serve!
Can meatloaf be stored in the freezer?
Wanting to meal prep a whole bunch of meatloaves that will last a couple of months?! GREAT NEWS! You can meal prep several meatloaves and store them in your freezer for up to SIX months! The meatloaf does not have to be cooked. You can simply prep the loaf and then store it in your freezer raw.
How to properly freeze a meatloaf
Once the meatloaf is in the loaf pan, wrap the meatloaf in plastic wrap. Make sure you do several layers of plastic wrap (vertical and horizontal). Seal it tight, then place the meatloaf in a freezer bag. If you would like to use a reusable freezer bag Greenzla Reusable Gallon Bags on amazon is a great brand!
How long can a meatloaf stay in the freezer?
As I said in the above paragraph, meatloaf can be stored in the freezer for up to six months!
How to thaw out a meatloaf
The best way to thaw out the meatloaf is by placing it in the refrigerator for one full day.
Meal prepping meatloaf for a couple of months
This is something that I often do. I love having meals in the freezer for me to pull out. It makes it simple when you are a full-time working woman, dealing with little kids and trying to take care of house chores. This will be your go-to. You can have four meatloaves prepped in a matter of 15 minutes!
Meal Prepping for 4 Meatloaves
- 4 1/2 LB. Ground Beef.
- 4 Onion
- 8 TBSP of Minced Garlic
- 1 TBSP, 1 TSP Salt
- 1 TBSP, 1 TSP Pepper
- 1 TBSP, 1 TSP Dried Oregano
- 1 TBSP, 1 TSP Onion Powder
- 4 Egg
- 8 TBSP BBQ Sauce
- 8 TBSP Ketchup
- 2 Cup of Breadcrumbs
- 2 Cup Chopped Parsley
Tools you may need
- Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls
- Glass Loaf Pans
- Hand Mixer
- Vegetable Chopper
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
What type of quick recipe is your favorite?
Do you have a simple, quick, and delicious recipe you use weekly? Let me know down below in the comments some of your favorite recipes!
