Meatloaf by Austin

 

Backstory:

My eldest son, Austin, and I have been making this meatloaf for probably over a decade at the time time of this posting. It is by far our favorite meatloaf recipe and anyone who tries it is usually on board with this as their new favorite meatloaf as well. It is adapted from a recipe we found on AllRecipes.com and the link will be below.

Ingredients:

  • 1 red bell pepper, seeded and roughly cubed

  • 1 medium onion, roughly chopped

  • 3 small stalks celery

  • 1 ¼ pounds ground beef

  • 1 pound sage pork sausage (Jimmy Dean, etc)

  • 1 ½ cups saltine cracker crumbs

  • 1 (1 ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix (Lipton)

  • ¼ teaspoon salt

  • ¼ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper (more to taste, I use a lot more than this)

  • ½ teaspoon dried sage

  • 1 ½ cups milk

  • ½ cup ketchup (Optional)

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

  2. In a food processor or blender, combine the bell pepper, onion, and celery. Process until finely chopped, but not liquid. This can also be accomplished by finely mincing the vegetables. Optionally: You can cook this mixture down some in a saute pan to reduce the liquid a bit. We have made the recipe with and without the additional step and both ways are excellent but if you have the time the cooked-down method is a touch better.

  3. Transfer the vegetables to a large bowl. Allow to cool if you used the cook down method. Add the ground beef, ground pork, cracker crumbs, onion soup mix, salt, pepper, sage, and milk. Mix well using your hands, or if you have a stand mixer, mix using the paddle attachment. Transfer to a 9x5 inch loaf pan and form into a loaf, mounding in the center.

  4. OPTIONAL: Cover with a generous layer of ketchup or your favorite glaze.

  5. Bake for 1 1/2 hours in the preheated oven or until an internal temperature of 160f is achieved. I have cooked this well past 160 and it still turns out moist and delicious so don’t sweat it too much. Serve hot. Refrigerate leftovers, slice, and serve cold in sandwiches.

  6. NOTE: You can make gravy from the drippings in the pans after baking.

Attributions:

  • https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/79749/meatloaf-that-doesnt-crumble/

 
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