Mammaw's Meatloaf
Print the recipe for Mammaw's Meatloaf here!
Happy Monday & Memorial Day, dear friends! I hope you're off from work and spending time with your loved ones while celebrating & remembering the loved ones who gave their lives serving our country.
I am wrapping up a week in Tennessee and flying home from Nashville today. I'm ready to get home to the hubby and our sweet bunny puppy, Lorenzo. I wonder how I'm going to have to change that when he's no longer a puppy? Lorenzo the bunny doggy. =)
After spending some time with my Mammaw this past week, I thought I'd go ahead and share her recipe for meatloaf. This is a very unconventional way to share a recipe in that I have no true measurements to give you. This is how ALL of Mammaw's recipe's work though. She tells me/us it's a handful of this and a pinch of that. She says to trust my instinct because I like to cook and it will turn out alright.
Now...anyone whose ever eaten Mammaw's food knows she can cook ANYTHING and it make your mouth water, craving more. It's inspiring, perplexing, and down right delightful. I have been VERY lucky that the things I have attempted from her verbal "recipes" have actually turned out great and I'd say are about 90-95% close. Nothing can ever be exact because her handful sizes are different than mine! We're talking: lasagna, meatballs, pasta sauce, meatloaf, cornbread stuffing, rosemary chicken, and her strawberry cake recipe I only attempted once many moons ago. It's an honor to even try to replicate them and an even larger honor when my family approves of the outcome.
So...please excuse the picture I have which doesn't look aesthetically appealing but rest assured that I have been given the two thumbs up on this each time I've made it. Plus, I'm working off of this same recipe without actual measurements...
Shopping List
- 1 to 1.5 lbs ground sirloin (can substitute ground turkey)
- ketchup
- Heinz chili sauce (use more chili sauce than ketchup)
- yellow mustard (not too much)
- 1-2 green bell pepper
- 1 onion
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- cayenne powder
- 2 large eggs per pound of meat
- almond flour, regular flour, breadcrumbs, oatmeal or crackers
- 1 - 6oz can tomato sauce
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350* F. Add the 6oz can of tomato sauce to the bottom of a 9x13" baking dish. You can add sliced onion rings to the bottom of the pan (optional).
Using a food processor, pulverize the green bell pepper and onions. Drain off extra liquid as much as possible. You may need to use a spoon.
In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly mix together the remaining ingredients including the pulverized bell pepper and onions. Add a generous amount of garlic and onion powder and a small amount of cayenne pepper. Use more chili sauce than ketchup, and more ketchup than mustard. Add in the breadcrumbs (flour, crushed crackers, or ground oatmeal) in batches until you get a semi firm consistently like when making meatballs. You will want to be able to shape the meat loaf. If you run out of whichever you decide to use (like breadcrumbs), you can add in alternative options. I have used crushed Ritz crackers and Wheat Thins and both worked great in addition to the bread crumbs.
Pour the ingredients onto a cutting board or other clean surface to shape the meat into a loaf shape before transferring into the 9x13" baking dish.
Once the meat loaf is assembled and in the baking dish, cover the top and sides of the meatloaf with chili sauce and mustard. If you need more sauce to spread you can add some ketchup to the mixture. Optional: add slices of green bell pepper to the top of the meat load for decoration.
Bake in the oven at 350* F for an hour or until the center is brown/internal temperature reads 165*.
Mammaw's Meatloaf
Have you ever made meatloaf before? I've Pinned Paleo meatloaves for a while yet have never tried them. I am so glad I was able to prepare this for my family and closely replicate the flavor of my Mammaw's. Because of that, I don't know if I will ever attempt a Paleo version but never say never, right?!
Wishing you all a fun day and a great week ahead!
XOXO
