This twist on the classic meatloaf is a great main dish that can stretch well with accompaniment of sides. It takes its flavor cues from my Parmesan Meatballs and then some. I’ve added some vegetables for fillers and seasoned it with classic Italian seasonings. The binding agents in this are egg and Italian-style bread crumbs and as usual I’ll be accompanying it with a variation of my sweet roasted marinara sauce. As Mr. Cooking Jar succinctly put it: “It’s basically your meatballs, in meatloaf form’.
This should yield 12 servings which translates to perhaps six servings for my household, what with us being the greedy food beasts we are. Serve with a side of vegetables sauteed in butter and mashed potatoes to bring a well rounded meal to the table.
Italian-Style Meatloaf
- Yield: 12 1x
Ingredients
- 2 lb. ground beef
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 tablespoons garlic, minced
- 1 large tomato, diced
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 2 cups Italian breadcrumbs
- 1 1/2 cups dry Parmesan
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
- Salt and pepper to taste
Marinara Sauce
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 beef bouillon cube
- 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoon sugar
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Over medium high heat, saute onions and garlic until fragrant
- Add red pepper, tomato and Italian seasoning, sweating the vegetables until liquid evaporates, about 5 minutes. Set aside
- In a separate pan over medium high heat, saute garlic until fragrant then add in tomato sauce. Crumble in the beef bouillon cube and mix well
- Season with Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, Worcestershire sauce, sugar and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 5 minutes
- Combine ground beef, breadcrumbs, Parmesan, 1 cup mozzarella, eggs, 1/2 cup marinara sauce, vegetables, Worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper to taste. Form into a loaf using your hands, mixing all the ingredients thoroughly
- Coat the top of the loaf with the remaining marinara sauce and spread evenly using the back of a spoon and top with 1 cup mozzarella cheese
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes or until the meat thermometer reads 160 degrees F in the middle of the meatloaf. Let it stand for 10 minutes before cutting
- Dish and serve hot
62 Comments
Katherine
September 13, 2014 at 8:28 PMThe only meatloaf I’ve eaten for over 20 years is mine, but this sounded so good I had to try it. Scored! I liked that it has marinara sauce, not ketchup (yew!) on the top. I covered it with foil and baked it on the barbecue (works like an oven and keeps the house cool in the summer). This is a definite repeat!
The Cooking Jar
September 14, 2014 at 12:11 AMThis comment made my day. I’m so glad you liked it and have another meatloaf recipe for your kitchen, Katherine! I really do love hearing back from people who have made my stuff 🙂
Abby
September 29, 2014 at 7:43 PMThis may be a silly question, but this will be my first meatloaf; do you use a loaf pan or do you put it on something flat like a baking stone? Thanks!
The Cooking Jar
September 29, 2014 at 9:28 PMNever a silly question! I used a lasagna pan, it was 14×11″ I think. The extra space made it easier to get it all out. Here’s a pic! http://instagram.com/p/gbQtKBAib1/?modal=true
Abby
October 13, 2014 at 1:48 PMWill it also work to use a basic 9X13? I hope so! I am trying your recipe out tonight.
The Cooking Jar
October 13, 2014 at 2:56 PMIt should! If you look at the pic, I had plenty of space along the 11 inch part of it. If anything you can shape your meatloaf to fit your pan, that’s the beauty of meatloaf! Just make sure you can pry it out later!
Abby
November 15, 2014 at 9:27 AMThanks for your help. I’ve never made a meatloaf before, and it turned out beautifully!
Josee
November 14, 2014 at 7:40 AMNot impressed with this recipe at all.
Worst recipe that ive tried by far.
The Cooking Jar
November 14, 2014 at 11:55 AMI’m sorry to hear you didn’t like it 🙁 But I’ll be realistic that everyone has different tastes. Do you have any suggestions for improvements?
John
December 14, 2015 at 8:25 PMNot impressed with your “review”. At least try some constructive criticism or informational input. Otherwise your opinion is basically irrelevant.
Ree
January 18, 2017 at 6:17 AMLet’$ keep it tasteful,
John was referring 12/14/15 to Josee’s comment 11/14/14. While Josee is entitled to an opinion as well as a comment, presentation is always of revelance. I commend John for his “constructive criticism” with hopes it reached it’s target audience and can promote a “tasteful” platform this day fotrward. Great job Cooking Jar!
Abby
November 15, 2014 at 9:31 AMAs a person who normally detests meatloaf, with all of it’s overly sweet ketchupy sauce… I think my opinion is well worth listening to when I say that this recipe is phenomenal! It’s not a traditional meatloaf – much more of an Italian flavor with Parmesan, and it is delicious! It was the first meatloaf that I ever had the will to try. Thank you so much for restoring my faith in this common ground beef fallback! 🙂
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
November 15, 2014 at 1:16 PMThanks, Abby!!! You are most welcome and thank you for making my day this weekend. I’ve just been smiling for the past five minutes 🙂 Enjoy the weekend!
Abby
November 17, 2014 at 12:23 PMIn the next couple of weeks, I’m trying another two or three of your recipes! And, Italian meatloaf is headed for the table again! Seriously, thanks so much for your quick responses, helpfulness, and fantastic recipes! I can’t wait!
The Cooking Jar
November 17, 2014 at 4:23 PMThank you for being so sweet and coming back to leave a review, Abby. I really appreciate it! Feel free to ask me questions about anything else you plan to cook, anytime.
Stephen
January 29, 2015 at 7:49 PMMy loaf is in the oven now it should be ready in about 30 minutes. It took a while to prep but it looks like it’s going to be delicious. If substituting beef broth for bouillon cube one cube is equal to half a cube not one cup.
The Cooking Jar
February 1, 2015 at 11:47 PMHow did it turn out? This seems to be a hit or miss for some people. They either love it or hate it!
CC
February 28, 2015 at 12:38 PMFor the tomato are you talking about a salad tomato? for the dry parmesan are you talking about the Grated Parmesan in a jar?
The Cooking Jar
February 28, 2015 at 3:01 PMJust regular roma tomatoes will do and yes, the dried Parmesan that often comes in a jar.
CC
February 28, 2015 at 5:02 PMThank you!! Fixing this tomorrow for Sunday dinner !!!! Wil let let you know how it turns out!!!
The Cooking Jar
February 28, 2015 at 7:24 PMGood luck and happy cooking!
Steve
March 15, 2015 at 9:19 AMI don’t understand those who didn’t like this recipe. I think it is very delicious and healthy, true Italian style 🙂
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
March 16, 2015 at 5:25 PMI guess people just have different tastes! It’s one of those things where you just can’t make everyone happy!
Josie
March 26, 2015 at 1:19 PMI agree, this turned out beautifully and the meatloaf sandwiches the next day were out of this world 🙂 as you can see from all my comments, I have made the Bolognese, the shrimp tempura (yum) and the meatloaf.
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
March 27, 2015 at 12:09 AMIt’s good to know some people enjoyed it! I never thought to use the meatloaf for sandwiches, that’s new! Loved all your comments too Josie, you’re hitting all my favorite recipes 🙂
Shirley
April 26, 2015 at 7:56 AMYay it turned out just like yours and everyone was so impressed. Thank you for a great, quick and delicious meal.
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
April 27, 2015 at 4:04 PMYaaaaay! Thanks for making my meatloaf 🙂
Vivian
July 20, 2015 at 3:08 PMHi, I tried the recipe and it turned out marvelous! I used ground turkey instead of beef. Really flavorful, so moist and soft- I couldn’t tell if it was cooked! I did leave it in for an extra 15 minutes because of this. Overall I really enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing.
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
July 20, 2015 at 4:07 PMI’m so glad to hear it, Vivian! Thanks for trying it out 🙂
Rachael
July 24, 2015 at 10:22 PMThis is delicious! My husband said it was the first meatloaf EVER that he didn’t need to put ketchup on. I don’t know what that says about his tastes….but anyhow, this meatloaf is awesome! I will be making many more of your recipes, this was just the first.
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
July 25, 2015 at 2:54 PMIf he doesn’t need ketchup then it’s a win! Thanks for chiming in and letting me know you guys liked it. I hope you’ll find other recipes here you’ll like!
Moe
January 3, 2016 at 9:06 PMJust made it thank u my family loves it
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
January 11, 2016 at 1:02 PMYou’re most welcome, Moe! Glad your family enjoyed it and thanks for trying it out.
Maximillian Roemer
February 1, 2016 at 7:11 PMI was preparing to make my special meatloaf and I get to gathering my ingredients and I didn’t have ketchup and wasn’t up for going to the store, but I had marinara sauce. I came across your recipe through a Google search and couldn’t be any more happy that I did! The only thing I did different was bake it with bacon on top.. My true meatloaf indulgence! 🙂 Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe! Absolutely delicious! You made my night by all means!
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
February 8, 2016 at 5:51 PMLove it! Thanks for coming back with all the details! I’m honored to have saved the day (in a way) 😉 Now I’m wondering how it’ll taste with bacon!
Sarah
March 8, 2016 at 9:14 AMLoved this recipe! Only made a few adjustments to accommodate what we had on hand. Used ground turkey & hamburger together. Instead of a tomato I used a can of Rotel. Super impressed. Thanks so much! Can’t wait to have a cold meatloaf sandwich today. Yum!
The Cooking Jar
March 20, 2016 at 4:56 PMThat’s wonderful to hear, Sarah. Still haven’t tried it with a sandwich yet. Cold you say? I should try this one day!