I loved my mom’s meatloaf as a kid. It wasn’t until later that I had terrible meatloaf and understood why so many people hate it. I haven’t been eating it lately because it’s not the healthiest, so I decided to change that. I’ll show you how to make both the original recipe and the adjusted, healthier version.
Meatloaf. Some love it. Some hate it. But nobody can deny its hearty simplicity.
It’s just some ground meat with a few binding agents that you cook in the oven.
Sure, some meatloaf is terrible. Absolutely terrible. It’s dry and bland and everything you don’t want in food.
But my dad and I always loved my mom’s meatloaf. And the meatloaf sandwiches the day after. I have good memories of meatloaf. So I figured I’d share the recipe in an effort to spread the good word.
Making the Meatloaf
My family has loved this meatloaf recipe for a long time. But it’s definitely not the healthiest. So I decided to do some work and make it a bit healthier. I’m going to share both recipes with you.
Healthy Meatloaf?
You might think it would be easy to make meatloaf healthier.
It’s wasn’t.
Actually, it was sort of a pain in the ass. Meatloaf usually has a lot of breadcrumbs (refined carbs), ketchup (refined sugar), and milk (dairy). None of these things are inherently bad. But they’re usually pretty unhealthy. So I replaced a few of these things in an effort to make it healthier.
The process is completely the same, so you don’t have to change much if you’re trying to eat healthier. You just have to substitute some ingredients.
Let’s Talk Ingredients
Grass-fed Ground Beef: It’s better for you and the world. And the cows. It also tastes better. It has a better fat profile and grazing cows are good for the land and the soil. So spend the extra money on good meat. I prefer a higher-fat ground beef for meatloaf because it keeps it moist. Ideally, you’d find 80/20 beef/fat ground beef, but you might have to settle for 85/15.
Almond Flour: Most bread crumbs are pretty bad. You can make your own from high-quality, organic, sourdough bread. This is ideal. But you can also replace the breadcrumbs with almond flour.
Thankfully, it turns out it’s a 1:1 replacement by weight. If you have a kitchen scale, this is easy. If you don’t, you should get one. If that’s not in the cards right now, then it’s a fairly easy volume adjustment.
Ketchup: Ketchup is a pretty key ingredient to most meatloaf. Unfortunately, most ketchup is crap. It’s loaded with sugar and other preservatives. You could buy a sugar-free ketchup, but most of them taste terrible. Or they’re filled with awful fake sugars.
So I make my own ketchup. I found an incredibly easy recipe online. It takes less than 5 minutes. I replaced the stevia with Swerve because I hate stevia.
Coconut Milk: I try to minimize dairy because it has negative effects on my blood lipids. So instead of milk, I use coconut or almond milk. I prefer coconut milk. It’s a 1:1 replacement with normal milk.
Starting the Meatloaf
Once you have all your ingredients, meatloaf is pretty straightforward. Start by putting all the ingredients into a bowl.
Once you get all the stuff in a bowl, mix it together with your hands until it looks like disgusting pink slime.
It should be incredibly moist, almost sloppy. It should barely stick together.
Time for Baking
Once you get it combined, let it fall into a roasting pan or a baking dish.
Form it into an oval, about 1.5 inches high.
You could do a circle or some other shape. I just don’t have a big enough dish. Some people use a loaf pan, but I think you get a better texture with a roasting pan.
Slide it into the middle of the oven and cook for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, you need to drain the excess liquid and fat out of the pan. To do this, remove the meatloaf and shut the oven. If you leave it open, you’ll let all the heat out.
If you have one of those fancy meatloaf pans, you can use that and skip this step. The texture will be different, but it will save you this admittedly annoying step.
Scoop all the excess liquid out of a pan with a spoon or a ladle.
You can either save this liquid to make gravy, or you can throw it away.
Once your pan is fairly dry, put the meatloaf back in the oven.
Cook for another 30 minutes.
After it’s cooked for 60 minutes total, remove the meatloaf from the oven and drain the liquid again.
Let it sit for 5-10 minutes.
Then slice and serve it alongside some mashed turnips and a green thing
Mashed Turnips
We always ate fresh meatloaf with fresh mashed potatoes.
I love mashed potatoes. A lot. So I had to find some sort of substitute for a ketogenic diet.
Mashed cauliflower is the standard, but I wanted something different. So I decided to try turnips.
I really discovered turnips while experimenting with the ketogenic diet. They’re a tasty, low-starch alternative to potatoes. Even though I’m no longer on the ketogenic diet, I still keep turnips in my life pretty regularly.
Making Mashed Turnips
Mashed turnips are as simple as mashed potatoes.
Start by putting the turnips, coconut milk, garlic, salt, and pepper into a pot.
Put a lid on the pot and bring it to a boil. Then reduce the heat to a simmer and let it cook for about 30 minutes.
Once the turnips are soft, it’s time for mashing.
Mashing the Turnips
Remove the turnips from the heat and mash them with a potato masher. If you don’t have a potato masher, you can use a fork or a spoon. It will just take a bit more time.
Return the turnips to the heat and cook at medium for another 10 minutes or so. You just want to get rid of some of the excess water.
Stir every couple minutes to prevent the bottom from burning.
Now just add the butter. If you’re lactose intolerant, use coconut fat instead.
Give it a good stir to melt the butter and mix it around.
Done.
If you want a smoother texture, you could use a potato ricer or a food processor. If you want a milder flavor, then you could do a 50/50 mixture with cauliflower. Cook it the same way, just remove a turnip and add half a head of cauliflower.
Serving
To serve, just take a slice of meatloaf and serve it next to some mashed turnips. You should also include a green thing because green things are healthy and tasty.
I chose green beans. While researching another recipe, I came across this really easy recipe for green beans. I added some extra virgin olive oil, but otherwise found the recipe good as is. You can double the recipe and have enough green beans to feed you for a couple days.
They were a perfect side for meatloaf.
I’m really happy to have meatloaf back in my life.
Leftovers
Even more than fresh meatloaf, I love meatloaf sandwiches.
They’re super simple to make. Just toast some bread and spread some mayo and mustard on the bread. Top with meatloaf, tomato, and lettuce. You can also add sliced pickles or just serve them on the side. Boom. Sandwich.
This is a great dinner choice for an active person. Serve it with some extra veggies and you’re golden. Use good, organic, sourdough bread. A couple slices are a great way to help restore your glycogen stores for the next day.
But you can also skip the bread entirely. Enter meatloaf wraps.
Just spread some mayo and mustard on a big piece of romaine lettuce. Top with meatloaf and sliced tomatoes. Serve with pickles or put sliced pickles in the wrap.
Boom. Wrap.
Meatloaf is really simple and I’m glad to be making it again. It brings back good memories.
It takes a little more time than some of my other recipes. But most of that is just cook time. You can go do something else for 30 minutes while it cooks. Watch a TV show or play a game with your family.
It also makes at least 8 servings. That’s a ton of food. You’ll have sandwiches for days. Or you can reheat it with the turnips.
Put in an hour on Sunday and you’ve taken care of your meal prep for half the week.
No matter what, enjoy the meatloaf. It’s good. And good for you.
Meatloaf with Mashed Turnips
Ingredients
Meatloaf
- 2 pounds grass-fed ground beef Higher fat content ground beef, like 80/20 beef/fat, will result in better meatloaf
- 2 eggs
- 90 grams bread crumbs see note*
- 1/4 medium onion grated
- 3/4 cup ketchup see note **
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3/4 cup whole milk see note ***
Mashed Turnips
- 2 turnips cubed
- 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 Tablespoon salt more to taste
- black pepper to taste
- 1 Tablespoon grass-fed butter
Instructions
Meatloaf
- Preheat oven to 350F and set a rack just below the middle.
- Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl with your hands until it's smooth. Lay the meat into a large roasting pan. Spread it out until it's about 1.5 inches high.
- Bake on a rack in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes. Open the oven, take out the meatloaf, and close the oven. Use a ladle or a spoon to drain some of the grease from the bottom of the pan into a bowl. This is important to keep a good texture. Then put the meatloaf back in the oven and cook for another 30 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and drain the rest of the liquid from the pan. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes.
Mashed Turnips
- While the meatloaf is in the oven, place the turnip cubes, coconut milk, garlic, salt, and pepper into a pot. Put a lid on the pot and bring it to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and let it cook for about 30 minutes, or until turnips are very soft.
- Once the turnips are tender, mash them with a potato masher. Increase the heat to medium and cook for another 10 minutes to evaporate some of the water. Stir occasionally to prevent the bottom from burning.
- Serve a slice of meatloaf alongside some mashed turnips. Eat something green with it. Green beans or a simple salad work great.
Notes
I use the following recipe. I usually replace the stevia with Swerve because I dislike stevia.
Sugar Free Ketchup Recipe from Whole New Mom *** I replace the milk with coconut milk or almond milk to make this healthier. They both work fine. I prefer coconut.