Always, moist and flavorful, our old-fashioned meatloaf recipe uses ground beef and pork flavored with onion, celery, and fresh parsley.
Despite its mundane reputation, a moist, well-seasoned meatloaf makes a delicious dinner that’s easy to make and always well received. Our old-fashioned recipe is simplicity at its best.
We use a combination of lean ground beef and ground pork to produce a moist, tender texture and add just a few simple ingredients to bring out the natural flavors of the meat.
Old-Fashioned Meatloaf
Always, moist and flavorful, our old-fashioned meatloaf recipe uses ground beef and pork flavored with onion, celery, and fresh parsley.
Ingredients
- 1 lb lean ground beef, 10% fat (see notes)
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 clove garlic, very finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons onion, finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons celery, finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2/3 cup fresh breadcrumbs, (may substitute with unseasoned, dry breadcrumbs)
- 2 teaspoons homemade all-purpose seasoning, (see notes)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, (see notes)
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Place the beef and pork in a large mixing bowl. Add the garlic, onion, celery and parsley, but don’t mix with the meat yet.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the egg and milk together until blended. Add the breadcrumbs, seasoning blend, and pepper. Stir to combine.
- The mixture should blend easily and have a smooth consistency similar to a thick batter. If you feel it’s too pasty, add an extra tablespoon or two of milk.
- Add the egg mixture to the meat and combine gently with a wooden spoon or spatula. For best results, don’t overdo the mixing.
- Coat a 9-1/2 x 5-1/2-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray and add the meatloaf mixture, tamping it down gently and smoothing the top.
- You can bake your meatloaf in the pan if you like, but we prefer to just use the pan as a mold.
- Line a shallow baking pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil and coat it with nonstick spray. Turn the meatloaf out of the pan and, using your hands, firm and smooth it into shape.
- Bake for 40 minutes, then remove the meatloaf from the oven to glaze the top.
- Combine the ketchup and Worcestershire in a small bowl and brush to cover both the top and sides.
- Bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, or until the glaze is set and the meatloaf reaches an internal temperature of 155°F. Allow to rest 5 minutes before slicing.
Notes
About the meat: We use a combination of lean ground beef and ground pork to produce a moist, tender texture for this meatloaf. You can use all ground beef, but make sure it has at least 15% fat content to make up for the extra fat in the ground pork. The 10% lean would likely make a rather dry meatloaf on its own.
About the all-purpose seasoning and salt: This recipe calls for a combination of our homemade all-purpose seasoning (which is relatively low in sodium) combined with an additional 1/2 teaspoon of salt. If you don’t have our all-purpose blend on hand, you’ll need about 1-1/4 teaspoons of salt to properly season the meat.
Note: These instructions are for our homemade blend only. Store-bought brands can vary widely in their sodium content, so we advise using the plain salt version.
Nutrition
Calories: 364, Total Fat: 20g, Cholesterol: 128mg, Sodium: 781mg, Carbohydrates: 10g, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 3g, Protein: 33g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Absolutely fabulous! This is the meatloaf I’ve always hoped for. Talk about a perfect comfort food. I substituted 1 1/2 tsp of Lawry’s Seasoned Salt for the all-purpose seasoning blend to save time. It turned out amazing!
Hi Susanne,
Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. I’m so glad to hear you liked this old-time family favorite.
Good, but I leave out the milk and add 8 oz tomato sauce and about 1/8th cup (4 tbsp) of bourbon.
If I’m baking it with venison, as I often do, which is very lean, I will use about 15 oz tomato sauce. Never had an overly dry one yet.
Hi Gary,
Your variations sound great. Thank you for sharing.
The best meat loaf! My entire family loved it and devoured it. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
So glad you liked the meatloaf. Thanks for commenting.