I grew up in a household where ground beef was a staple. It was a protein that seemed to stretch well on our limited budget. If we weren’t having a casserole, we were having one of my favorite meals…meatloaf. Like me, Mom rarely used a recipe. And when the day came that I was cooking for myself, there were many calls to my mom to find out how to make my favorites. Meatloaf is one of them. 
It’s funny when conversation strikes up about meatloaf – people seem to either love it or hate it. Conversation inevitably turns to how it’s made; the variations are endless! Who knew plain old ground beef could be such a creative outlet?
Ketchup…Gravy?
For the record, we are a ketchup family. I don’t know if that’s a regional thing or what. I’d never had meatloaf with anything but ketchup until I went to public high school. There, I saw for the first the travesty of meatloaf being smothered with brown gravy. It’s quite possible the gravy was intended to mask the nastiness of cafeteria meatloaf….who knows? All I know is that if there’s meatloaf on the menu, my first question is whether it’s with ketchup or brown gravy….I think you can guess what happens next!
It’s funny how you remember family meals. I remember always having potato of some sort with meatloaf, and that’s the way I serve it today. We ate a lot of potatoes growing up, for no other reason, I think, than that there’s so much you can do with them! Baked, mashed, fried chunks, boiled chunks, homemade hashbrowns, home-made potato chips, fries, potato salad. My dad was the fry master, though. That man could work hot oil magic like no one else. When I was real little, I remember him rendering suet for frying. I’ve never done this, but apparently I need to learn. That was the secret to his amazing fried donuts…but that’s a story for another day.
Mom’s Meatloaf has become a staple in our home as well. I watch for sales on bulk packaged ground beef or ground chuck, mix up a big batch, and freeze in meal-size portions. I’ve also frozen them in cupcake-size, so we have a quick “meal for one” on hand. I’ve done a little tweaking over the years to my mom’s recipe. She didn’t use herbs too often, and just relied on the peppers and onions to provide the flavor. I’ve found herbs jazz up the flavor just a bit more. I don’t saute the peppers and onions before adding to the meat. They’ll cook just fine in the meatloaf, and they’ll hold their structure better.
I use this loaf pan that’s specially made for meatloaf. It has an insert that lifts the loaf off the bottom so the grease can pool underneath. If you use a pan like this, just be sure you’re only cooking until it’s done. It’s pretty easy to go from moist done to dry as dust in a heartbeat. Here’s my version of Mom’s Meatloaf.
Mom’s Meatloaf
Ingredients
- 2 # ground beef or ground chuck
- 3/4 C ketchup plus an extra 1/2 cup
- 1/4 C bread crumbs
- 1 small onion diced small
- 1/2 C red pepper diced small
- 1/4 C grated parmesan
- 1/2 T dried basil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350*. Liberally grease/spray a loaf pan and set aside. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients, except the extra 1/2C of ketchup. Mix only until all ingredients are incorporated. Do not overmix, or the meatloaf will be dense and tough. Press into the loaf pan and spread the extra 1/2C of ketchup over top. Bake 50-60 minutes. Remove from oven when done, and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
