Easy Meatloaf Recipe in the Oven
This easy meatloaf recipe is everyone’s favorite comfort food. Get your family to enjoy the great taste of meatloaf with this easy-to-follow recipe.
Who doesn’t love a good homemade meatloaf recipe? It’s a great comfort food, it’s delicious, and with this recipe it is so easy to make. Also, leftover meatloaf means meatloaf sandwiches for lunch the next day! Although, with this easy classic meatloaf recipe, there is a good chance you won’t have any leftovers.
There are so many ways to make meatloaf like our keto meatloaf, big mac meatloaf (also keto!), air fryer meatloaf, and our instant pot meatloaf, but you just can’t beat a classic. Your family will beg you to make this meatloaf one of your regular weeknight meals!
Just don’t forget the mashed potatoes, because meatloaf just isn’t the same without them! Other side dishes you may want to try are stovetop creamed corn, Instant pot collard greens, and crock pot macaroni and cheese for a complete meal the whole family will love.
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Ingredients for Meatloaf
Meatloaf:
- Breadcrumbs – Plain and unseasoned. You can make your own or buy them. If you wish to buy them, they should be in the baking aisle of your grocery store.
- Ground beef – We prefer a higher fat content of 80/20 as it makes for a juicier dish, but use whatever beef you prefer. You can try ground turkey or ground pork if you want to shake up this classic dish.
- Onion – You can use white or yellow onion for this dish.
- Egg – It helps to bind the meat together so your loaf doesn’t fall apart while cooking.
- Seasoning – Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, black pepper, salt
Meatloaf Sauce:
Just three ingredients – Ketchup, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
Step 1 – Preheat – Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Step 2 – Mix it up – In a large bowl combine the ground beef, grated onion, egg, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and salt to the breadcrumb mixture. Mix together until everything is fully combined, but make sure not to overmix.
Step 4 – Shape loaf – Shape the meat mixture into a loaf approximately 2 inches thick. Place on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet or loaf pan.
Step 5 – Bake – Put the meatloaf in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
Step 6 – Make glaze – While the meatloaf cooks, make the sauce. In a small bowl whisk together the ketchup, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce to make the meatloaf glaze.
Step 8 – Add glaze and cook again – After cooking for 30 minutes remove the meatloaf from the oven and spread the sauce over the meatloaf. Return it to the oven and resume cooking for the remaining 15 minutes.
Step 9 – Check temperature – When the timer goes off, check the meatloaf with an instant read thermometer. The meatloaf is done when the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F. If the meatloaf needs more time, put it back in the oven for an additional 5 minutes.
Step 10 – Rest and serve – Once it has cooked completely remove from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes. Then slice and serve.
In general, 350 degrees is the perfect temperature to cook your meatloaf. This low temperature will allow the inside of the meatloaf to cook through without drying out the outside.
If you cook it on a higher temperature, you run the risk of the outside burning while the inside is still raw. The cook time of your meatloaf will vary depending on the thickness of your loaf.
Meatloaf is made with ground beef, so you want the internal temperature to be 160-165 degrees F to ensure it is fully cooked.
We suggest using a meat thermometer, such as an instant read thermometer, to check the temperature in the center of the meatloaf to make sure it reaches a safe temperature.
There is no need to cover your meatloaf as it bakes. Having it uncovered allows the outside to crisp slightly as it bakes.
Leaving it uncovered also allows your sauce to caramelize once you add it, giving it that classic glaze everyone loves on a meatloaf!
There are two secrets to an amazing, moist meatloaf: the ground beef and bread crumbs.
The ground beef should have a higher fat ratio, preferably 80/20 but 85/15 will work too. The increased fat in the meat ensures your meatloaf stays nice and moist as it bakes. A leaner ground beef runs the risk of drying out as it bakes.
The bread crumbs also help keep the meat moist. It mixes with the ground beef and absorbs some of the moisture as it cooks. This helps to keep the meatloaf moist and tender as it bakes.
Eggs and breadcrumbs help to bind the meatloaf together so it doesn’t crumble as it bakes.
Over mixing your meatloaf mixture can result in a dense meatloaf. You should mix the ground beef and other ingredients only as much as needed to bring everything together. If you mix for too long and too thoroughly, the ground beef will be packed tightly together and you’ll lose that light, moist texture that makes meatloaf special.
If you don’t have plain bread crumbs there are several ingredients you can use instead. Rolled oats, crushed saltine crackers, or crushed Ritz crackers make a great substitution for bread crumbs.
You can also buy plain bread crumbs at your local grocery store. Check the baking aisle near the cornmeal and you should find several brands to choose from.
Looking for More Ground Beef Recipes?
- Bacon BBQ meatloaf burger
- Salisbury steak
- Beef enchilada casserole
- Easy Swedish meatballs
- Pale ale chili
- Instant Pot Meatballs
- Instant Pot Spaghetti
- Instant Pot Stuffed Peppers
- More Ground Beef Recipes…
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Easy Meatloaf Recipe
Ingredients
Meatloaf:
- 1 cup Plain breadcrumbs
- 2 pounds Ground beef, we prefer a higher fat content 80/20
- 1 medium Onion, grated
- 1 large Egg
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon Garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Black pepper
Meatloaf Sauce:
- 1/4 cup Ketchup
- 1 tablespoon Packed brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large bowl combine the ground beef, grated onion, egg, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and salt to the breadcrumb mixture. Mix together until everything is fully combined.
- Shape the meat mixture into a loaf approximately 2 inches thick. Place on a foil-lined baking sheet.
- Put the meatloaf in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
- While the meatloaf cooks make the sauce. In a small bowl whisk together the ketchup, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce to make the meatloaf glaze.
- After cooking for 30 minutes remove the meatloaf from the oven and spread the sauce over the meatloaf. Return it to the oven and resume cooking for the remaining 15 minutes.
- When the timer goes off, check the meatloaf with an instant read thermometer. The meatloaf is done when the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F. If the meatloaf needs more time put it back in the oven for an additional 5 minutes.
- Once it has cooked completely remove from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes. Then slice and serve.
Nutrition
I previously made this, and found it to be a tasty & beloved (by many) old fashioned Meatloaf. Personally, I like to add a bit of diced bell pepper into my Meatloaf (any color) because it adds more flavor. Green peppers are a little savory, while red & yellow peppers are very mildly sweet. Since my family doesn’t care for the sweet glaze most folks use on Meatloaf, so I spread ours with a couple tablespoons of Heinz 57 Sauce, which is a little savory & a little sweet. This suits my family’s palats well (kiddoes & grown-ups alike) since we’re a ‘savory’ family.
Hello, what am I doing wrong for my meatloaf isn’t a loaf. When I cut into it tends to fall APART!! PLEASE JELP!!!!
Hi, if your meatloaf is crumbling when you cut it perhaps try packing it together a little tighter before baking.
My meatloaf had become a bit tired from years of doing it the same way. This recipe is moist and flavorful! A bout to make it the second time. Thanks you
This recipe is amazing! I made it for dinner last night, and the family loved it. The ingredients were basic, but it all came together to make an awesome meatloaf. This’ll be my go to meatloaf recipe. Thanks for sharing.
I’m so glad you liked it as much as we do!
Is there anyway to make this with 1 lb hamburger meat? Wasn’t sure about the egg unless you just use a smaller egg ?? I know you can 1/2 the rest of the ingredients. Typically my meatloaf is never done in the middle so I like cooking smaller loaf.
Hi Carol, I haven’t done it myself but I believe you can halve the recipe and still use 1 whole egg without changing the flavor and texture of the meatloaf.
I made this for my family. They said it was very good. The only problem that I am encountering is that it doesn’t brown all the way through. What should I do to make sure that it is brown all the way through?
If it hasn’t browned all the way through you can just add a little more time to the baking time. I would start with 5 minutes and go from there. I do recommend an instant read thermometer that you can stick into the center to ensure it has reached 160 – 165 degrees F (well done for beef)
I haven’t made meatloaf for years. After buying frozen meatloaf, which, no matter how good it is, still has chemicals, etc., I decided to stop being lazy and make my own again. I was looking for a simple recipe to get back into the game and found this one.
It’s very good! I wasn’t sure about the sauce, because I was used to plain ketchup, but even the sauce was good. I used Splenda’s blend of Splenda and brown sugar, and onion powder instead of onion, and the whole thing is just very tasty (I’m eating some now).
Family loved it so much we’re going for round two! Doubling up on the glaze as it’s delish. Thank you!!!
I made this for dinner today so good I would leave a pic but no link for that sorry
45 minutes of cooking time was not even close to accurate for me. The center was still at 140 after a full hour.
Hi Megan, did you make sure the meatloaf was only about 2 inches thick? That thickness has a direct effect on cook time. If it was 2 inches thick and only 140 degrees F after an hour at 350 degrees the only thing I could think to check would be your oven.
Well .. I tried to make the mix based on the Pinterest preview and put the ketchup and brown sugar into the meatloaf
We just finished making your Meat Loaf recipe. Made it exactly as it was written. Turned out great! Love the sauce!! Will be our go to from now on. Funny note. We always use instant read thermometer. It keep reading 55. We thought it was because the meat was so cold from frig. LOL, it was on Celsius. Left it in longer, but came out great!!!
Hi Kat and Melinda, thanks so much for sharing this easy recipe! I love meatloaf, but some of the recipes I’ve tried in the past haven’t quite delivered. This one was tender, moist, and I loved the glaze on top. I can’t wait to make it again!
So the first picture of ingredients shows 3 eggs. But actual recipe called for 1 egg. I made a double batch and added 6 eggs, because the picture showed 3 eggs. Do I added 4 more eggs than recipe called for. Turns out it didn’t matter that much in the end but maybe the picture of ingredients showing three eggs should be changed to show the actual amount the recipe calls for so as not to confuse others. It still was delicious though.
Hi Marie, sorry for the confusion. You should definitely follow the printed instructions when making the recipe ingredient photos are not necessarily portioned out. I’m so glad it still turned out delicious though!
Since finding this recipe a few months ago, I’ve made it for my family of four multiple times. I make no changes to the ingredients. My entire family devours it and my teenage son makes sure there are never any leftovers. He loves it so much, he even volunteers to help make it. In our oven we cook it about 30 more minutes after the sauce and it comes out perfectly every time. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Thank you for sharing your experience, and I’m delighted that the recipe has become a cherished part of your family meals!