Meatloaf help please!

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
It's nice to have all these recipes in one place. I will pull some of these. I can't make a good meatloaf to save my life. It's always either dry or tasteless. It's such a shame because meatloaf is one of my favorite things!

Don't despair DebLynn. I make such a mess of meatloaf that even a starving junkyard dog won't eat it. So now Spike makes it and he makes me a small one. Meatloaf is also my favorite. My daughter made me one for Mother's Day. Next year is my 75th birthday and my daughter wants to throw me a bash. She asked me what was my favorite meal. When I said 'meatloaf' she told me, "Ma I can't serve meatloaf to more than 100 people." It sounded like a good idea to me. Who doesn't like meatloaf? :angel:
 
This is one meal I will not allow to be made in my house. Why, you ask? I'll tell you my horrible story!

My mother was a horrible cook. I didn't even know that I liked steak until I was 18 years old because her cooking was so bad.

She use to make BOILED meatloaf, yes, I said BOILED. She'd take hamburger, mix in eggs, onions, green pepper & crushed up saltine crackers then brown it on both sides in a frying pan. Once it was browned she would fill that frying pan up with water & boil it until the water evaporated. The smell of meatloaf still gags me to this day.

She would make mashed potatoes with it & she made them at every meal, every night of the week. To this day I still don't like them too much either. I'll eat potato filling a few times a year and maybe mashed once a year, that's it.

She would also serve canned asparagus with it. YUCK. I never even realized veggies came any way but from a can until I grew up.
 
I like to use dry onion soup mix for flavor in meatloaf. Combine soup mix, an egg, and some water, to toasted breadcrumbs from the oven .[Panko or regular]. Also garlic powder, black pepper,and ketchup, mix all this with ground turkey[or what have you]. Egg binds everything together, and it comes out tasty and moist.Sometimes I use dry mushroom soup mix mysterychef
 
Last edited:
This is one meal I will not allow to be made in my house. Why, you ask? I'll tell you my horrible story!

My mother was a horrible cook. I didn't even know that I liked steak until I was 18 years old because her cooking was so bad.

She use to make BOILED meatloaf, yes, I said BOILED. She'd take hamburger, mix in eggs, onions, green pepper & crushed up saltine crackers then brown it on both sides in a frying pan. Once it was browned she would fill that frying pan up with water & boil it until the water evaporated. The smell of meatloaf still gags me to this day.

She would make mashed potatoes with it & she made them at every meal, every night of the week. To this day I still don't like them too much either. I'll eat potato filling a few times a year and maybe mashed once a year, that's it.

She would also serve canned asparagus with it. YUCK. I never even realized veggies came any way but from a can until I grew up.

Do you eat meatballs?
 
It's nice to have all these recipes in one place. I will pull some of these. I can't make a good meatloaf to save my life. It's always either dry or tasteless. It's such a shame because meatloaf is one of my favorite things!

One important detail to remember is to use a higher fat beef for meatloaf - at least 15% fat. Otherwise, it will be dry. And if it's tasteless, add more seasoning next time :)
 
Addie, I'm glad I'm not the only one. Misery loves company.

Boiled meatloaf doesn't sound good at all. It might just be almost as bad as my meatloaf!

GotGarlic, I do always buy very lean ground beef. I should try a higher fat content- never thought of that, thanks.

Its really odd, because my meatballs are really good. I like it when it gets the crusty outside. My mom used to make a good meatloaf with horseradish and dijon mustard as the main flavorings and that was really good. I missed out on the meatloaf gene I guess. I'm so jealous of all of you who can whip up a good meatloaf on a whim with whatever you ingredients you have. I have to wait until we go out to eat to enjoy it.
 
I don't really have a recipe for meatloaf. I just mix up what I have usually with ground beef. It always turns out different, but always gone at the end of the meal. One of my favorite experiments was when I used salsa in my meat loaf. It really gave it a good flavor and I didn't cut up any veggies because the salsa had onions, tomatoes, peppers, etc. already. I always have some sort of ground meat, some sort of filler ( bread crumbs, cracker crumbs, rice, or even oatmeal), eggs as a binder, various spices, something tomato based ( ketchup, salsa, bbq sauce, tomato sauce, tomato soup, or whatever is available), and veggies. No recipes handed down from parents or grandparents even though meatloaf was served often. ;)
 
Last edited:
I'm glad you liked it. Did you do the second recipe I posted?

Yes I did. Since I'm a virtual neophyte at meatloaf I'm building up a repertoire. I never even tasted it until I was 23. My usual meatloaf was Ol Blue's recipe, or I'd toss a package of onion soup mix into some ground beef and bread crumbs. Not so tasty. This one was a definite keeper.
 
Wow lots of great looking recipes. One little trick. When you have it all mixed make yourself a little patty and fry it and eat it. Then you can check seasoning (or if it tastes like it was boiled- yikes)
 
Yes I did. Since I'm a virtual neophyte at meatloaf I'm building up a repertoire. I never even tasted it until I was 23. My usual meatloaf was Ol Blue's recipe, or I'd toss a package of onion soup mix into some ground beef and bread crumbs. Not so tasty. This one was a definite keeper.


This thread got me looking and I found an Ol-Blue recipe for meatloaf with beefy onion soup mix and packaged stuffing mix. I haven't tried it yet.
 
I was really embarrassed when I read this thread--I don't have a recipe for meatloaf, I just do it. Sometimes it has grated carrot in it, sometimes it has salsa and chard in it, sometimes it is "cabbage roll" meatloaf, but I must confess, I don't have a recipe. I do it be "guess and by golly." Amazing that so many folks have meatloaf recipes. And it is so embarrassing not to have one.
 
Don't be embarrassed. Lots of folks throw together their meatloaf. Around here it's called garbage loaf. I think a more appropriate term might be mustgo loaf.
No need to feel embarrassed...
 
I don't make meatloaf. I have been banned from making it. Spike makes it for me. For Mother's Day, my daughter made me one. I have to make the world's worst one.

Hey anyone care to come for supper? Meatloaf is on the menu, made by me. :angel:
 
Last edited:
I was really embarrassed when I read this thread--I don't have a recipe for meatloaf, I just do it. Sometimes it has grated carrot in it, sometimes it has salsa and chard in it, sometimes it is "cabbage roll" meatloaf, but I must confess, I don't have a recipe. I do it be "guess and by golly." Amazing that so many folks have meatloaf recipes. And it is so embarrassing not to have one.

Welcome back.

I have recipes for ML because I like to be able to recreate a tasty dish. Nothing worse than having someone say they loved the last one and make it the same way and you can't.
 
I was really embarrassed when I read this thread--I don't have a recipe for meatloaf, I just do it. Sometimes it has grated carrot in it, sometimes it has salsa and chard in it, sometimes it is "cabbage roll" meatloaf, but I must confess, I don't have a recipe. I do it be "guess and by golly." Amazing that so many folks have meatloaf recipes. And it is so embarrassing not to have one.

Well...I thought that was you! We are so happy you came home. We have been missing you. In my family, you are not supposed to have a meatloaf recipe. You are just expected to know how to make it with whatever you have on hand.
 
Welcome back.

I have recipes for ML because I like to be able to recreate a tasty dish. Nothing worse than having someone say they loved the last one and make it the same way and you can't.

I've learned to do that for some chicken wing recipes I've thrown together. I just want to recreate it for ME :LOL:
 
I was really embarrassed when I read this thread--I don't have a recipe for meatloaf, I just do it. Sometimes it has grated carrot in it, sometimes it has salsa and chard in it, sometimes it is "cabbage roll" meatloaf, but I must confess, I don't have a recipe. I do it be "guess and by golly." Amazing that so many folks have meatloaf recipes. And it is so embarrassing not to have one.

It is a testament to your cooking skill. Cheers!
 
Back
Top Bottom