Meatloaf

Author: Family Recipe

Ingredients

• Beef, ground, 2 lb
• Egg, 2 ea.
• Vegetable soup, canned, 2 ea.
• Onion, yellow or white, diced
• Celery, sliced or diced, 2-3 stalks
• Bell pepper, any color, diced
• Italian Breadcrumbs, TT
• Worcestershire sauce, TT
• Ketchup, whole bottle, lot of ketchup

Seasonings

Required

• Garlic powder, surface dusting
• Salt, 4 tsp.
• Pepper 1.5 tbsp.
• Italian Blend 1 tbsp.

Optional

• Any blends you like

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
2. In a large bowl, mix in meat, seasoning, vegetables, soup, Worcestershire sauce, and egg with one hand, keeping one hand clean. Grab and squish the ground meat to fully incorporate the ingredients.
3. Using your free hand, add breadcrumbs about a cup at a tine and fully incorporate. You'll feel the texture of the meat change when it's enough, it'll be smoother and less sticky. Ballpark guess would be maybe 1-2 cups, depending on the amount of beef fat.
4. Transfer to a baking dish of some kind. Metal is preferred, but glass will do. Glass just makes the meatloaf shrink from the edges and it won't get a crisp edge, but it will still be delicious.
5. Flatten the meat dough in the pan until its level. Sprinkle additional seasonings now if you are not confident it is seasoned enough (try to go by smell and spider sense). Smother it in as much ketchup as you want.
6. Bake for at least 45 minutes before checking the internal temp. I recommend using a Probe Thermometer set to 160 degrees so you know when it is ready.
7. Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes before cutting up and serving. Great with Mashed Potatoes.