Meat Loaf with Barbecue Sauce (the ultimate comfort food)

Meatloaf with Homemade BBQ Sauce

When fall settles in to stay, with its foggy mornings, crisp days, and drippy nights, the first thing I think about, naturally, is food. That, and the fact that maybe this is the year to finally purchase an umbrella. Anyway, back to the food. Comfort food, to be exact, which is the perfect label for it.

There’s something seriously comforting in a steamy pot of soup or melty bowl of mac and cheese. The comfort food at the very top of my list, though, is definitely humble meat loaf. It was always the meal I most missed when away at college, and the one I first requested when home on breaks. It is still the first thing I make when the weather turns cooler. Meat loaf is simple, inexpensive, and flavorful.

Poor meat loaf gets a bad rap sometimes. It calls to mind orange-tinted cookbook pictures from the 70’s and dry, cardboard bricks that slice into perfect rectangles. Don’t fall for that. This is my favorite recipe for meat loaf. It calls for basic ingredients and creates a loose, slightly sweet and crumbly loaf.

It is delicious for dinner and amazing as leftovers. My advice? Go with the meatloaf sandwich on day 2. Along with mayo, BBQ sauce, iceberg lettuce, and dill pickles. Oh man, I bet you anything I could open a food cart serving nothing but meatloaf sandwiches. My cart would have a huge following, and I would have a brick-and-mortar restaurant within a year.

Speaking of barbecue sauce, I am trying to keep as few condiment bottles as possible in my refrigerator doors these days. I stopped buying BBQ sauce a couple years ago and haven’t missed it a bit. Below you’ll find my super simple 3-ingredient recipe. It is similar to a basic bottled sauce, without any added craziness. The recipe can be adjusted to suit your tastes and works perfectly in this recipe.

Fall is here. Make a meat loaf!

Meat Loaf with Barbecue Sauce

Ingredients

1/2 c. barbecue sauce (see simple recipe below)
1/2 c. quick cooking oats (old-fashioned also works or grab gluten-free)
1/4 c. minced onion
2 T. chopped fresh parsley
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
2 egg whites
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef

1. Combine the barbecue sauce through egg whites in a large bowl. Add meat. Stir or combine with your hands just until blended.
2. Shape the meat mixture into 1-2 loaves on a rimmed pan or in loaf pans. Brush with extra barbecue sauce.
3. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes – 1 hour, depending on the size of the loaves. The internal temperature should be 160-degrees when done. Let the meat loaf rest  for 10 minutes before slicing.

3-Ingredient Barbecue Sauce

1 c. ketchup
1/4 c. honey
2 T. Worcestershire sauce

1. Combine all ingredients.
2. That’s it!

If you’re on Pinterest and want to pin just the BBQ sauce recipe for later, click here.

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Pure Beef: An Essential Guide to Artisan Meat with Recipes for Every Cut by Lynne Curry (Amazon) is an excellent resource on how to select and prepare different cuts of beef. A local NW author, Lynne Curry has written an incredibly thorough book on this topic. I would highly recommend it!

Looking for more comfort food recipes?

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