A juicy meatloaf wrapped in bacon and smothered in a rich brown gravy!
Meatloaf is one of those dishes that brings instant comfort to me. It reminds me of my childhood and possibly yours too. It is safe to say that if you grew up in America this dish was in rotation at your home. Meatloaf is great for large families, inexpensive, filling, and easy to make. There are several variations of this dish, in fact many countries have their own meatloaf recipes.
Where did meatloaf come from?
Meatloaf is a traditional German, Scandanavian, and Belgian dish. When German immigrants made their way to Pennsylvania, they made a dish called scrapple, which is ground pork and cornmeal during colonial times. It was used as a fantastic way to stretch proteins before winter hit. Americans added vegetables, spice, egg, and soaked bread in milk to the recipe to make this fulfilling dish. This is very much still the ingredients used today.
The 1st recorded recipe was in the 1870’s! According to food historian Andrew Smith, meatloaf was originally served for breakfast. Jumping to the 1950’s you could find meatloaf on every table in America. Betty Crocker published a cookbook with over 70 recipes, though not all were keepers. You can peek at your own risk, 365 Ways to Cook Hamburger. Nowadays it sits beside some of the American greats like, hotdogs and hamburgers. It is here to stay in our kitchens and hearts. Excerpted from Wikipedia and Bon Appetit.
Now that we know what meatloaf is and where we got it from, let us make some! I think most complaints about loaf is it being bland or dry. Well, I promise that is not the case here. We will make a mash with onions, carrots, Dijon, beef broth, tomato paste, and spices. By cooking these ingredients down, it almost melts into the beef mix, and you get such a great bite without giant chunks of onion. I know my kid appreciates that.
Gravy
This rich brown gravy is simple and delicious I start it when the meatloaf is resting. Sometimes I add mushrooms to the gravy, if you want to do this, start by adding it to the melted butter and sautéing a couple minutes before adding the other ingredients.
Lastly, the potatoes. Now you do not have to serve with mashed potatoes, but I highly recommend it! Creamy potatoes with butter and garlic, I mean they were just made to be covered in savory beef and brown gravy.
Here is my recipe – The BEST Mashed Potatoes Ever!
Okay, let us get started!
Meatloaf with Brown Gravy and BACON!
Ingredients
- 1 pound grass-fed ground beef
- 6-7 strips bacon
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 large yellow or white onion
- 1 tbsp. carrot, finely shredded The smallest grate on a cheese grater works.
- 3 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp. beef broth
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tbsp. tomato paste
- 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp pepper
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs
- 1 large egg
- 2 tbsp. parsley, minced Garnish, optional.
Gravy
- 2 tbsp. butter
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 2 cups beef broth
- 2 tbsp. cornstarch
- 4 tbsp. water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°
- In a medium saute pan heat the extra olive oil on med high. Add garlic, onion, and carrot in oil and cook for 8-10 min or until soft.
- Add the Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and tomato paste. Now goes in the Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, and beef broth. Mix well and set aside to cool in a large bowl.
- In a large bowl mix the grass-fed beef, onion mixture, breadcrumbs, and egg. Lay out the bacon strips barley overlapping each other.
- Form the meat into a rectangle loaf to fit the bacon. I make it about 3 inches thick. Now wrap one side with the bacon then the other.
- Move to a cooking sheet with a rack. Place seam side down.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes up, turn the oven temp to 450°. Bake for 20 minutes more or until the internal temperature is 160 degrees.
- Let the loaf rest for 10 minutes.
- Now get the gravy going.
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the beef broth, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
- Simmer for 5 minutes, whisking occasionally.
- Make the slurry. Mix the cornstarch and water in a small bowl. Pour into the saucepan and whisk for 1 minute and until thickened. Set aside.
- Slice the meatloaf.
- Plate (preferably on mashed potatoes) then smother with gravy.
- Garnish with parsley and ENJOY!
