The third installment of our Ground Beef Recipes from Cooking Light magazine is Classic Meat Loaf.
I have to admit that meat loaf is not a dish that I get too excited about cooking. I seldom make it for my family. When glancing through cookbooks or cooking magazines, rarely do I flag a meat loaf recipe.
My Mom always made meat loaf and it was always yummy. Her meat loaf and scalloped potatoes is a meal I remember fondly. The few times I have made it for my family the kids have loved it. But, for whatever reason, I haven’t added it to my menu repertoire.
I made this meat loaf for my family last night and I was quite surprised at how delicious it was! It is a basic meat loaf recipe with a couple of tweaks. First, it calls for panko instead of the traditional bread crumbs. Panko is Japanese bread crumbs and is widely available in most grocery stores. The second tweak is sautéing the onions before adding them to the meat loaf mixture.
I truly enjoyed this meat loaf. My kids licked the platter clean. My husband was working late last night and I had to beg the kids to leave some for him!
The only alteration I made to this recipe was to place the meat loaf on my broiler pan to bake. This allowed the drippings to fall to the bottom of the pan. You could also use a cooling rack placed on a rimmed baking sheet.
Give this meat loaf a try!
Classic Meat Loaf
Cooking spray ½ C. chopped onion
1. Preheat oven to 350°. 2. Heat small skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion to pan; cook 6 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; cool slightly. Combine onion, 3 tablespoons ketchup, and remaining ingredients in a bowl, and gently stir just until combined.
3. Place meat mixture on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; shape into an 8 x 4-inch loaf. Brush top of loaf with remaining 3 tablespoons ketchup. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until thermometer registers 160°. Let stand 10 minutes; cut into 8 slices.
Beef Matters 
