To ensure that your meatloaf is fully cooked and safe to eat, you’ll want to use a meat thermometer to check its temperature. Considering everything from your oven model to the pan you use can affect a dish’s cook time, it’s best to first check the meatloaf’s temperature 10-15 minutes before the recipe you’re using says it will be done. You can always cook it longer if it hasn’t reached the meatloaf done temp yet, but you can’t rewind time to undo an overcooked meatloaf.

When using ground beef, the lowest a meatloaf internal temp should be before eating is at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit.

However, some choose to make their meatloaf out of ground turkey instead. If you decide to take this approach, the temperature at which the meatloaf is done is 165 degrees Fahrenheit, not 160.

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In a conventional oven, you’ll want to cook meatloaf for 35 to 45 minutes per pound at a temperature of 350°F, while checking the temperature toward the end of that time.

• 1-Pound Meatloaf: 35 to 45 minutes; start checking the temperature at 35 minutes
• 1.5-Pound Meatloaf: 50 minutes to an hour and 5 minutes; start checking the temperature at 50 minutes
• 2-Pound Meatloaf: 55 minutes to an hour and 10 minutes; start checking the temperature at 55 minutes
• 3-Pound Meatloaf: 90 minutes to 2 hours; start checking the temperature at 90 minutes

In a convection oven, you’ll want to cook meatloaf for 26 to 42 minutes per pound at a temperature of 325°F instead of 350°F.

• 1-Pound Meatloaf: 26 to 42 minutes; start checking the temperature at 26 minutes
• 1.5-Pound Meatloaf: 39 to 63 minutes; start checking the temperature at 39 minutes
• 2-Pound Meatloaf: 41 minutes to 53 minutes; start checking the temperature at 41 minutes
• 3-Pound Meatloaf: 1 hour and 10 minutes to 1½ hours; start checking the temperature at 1 hour and 10 minutes

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If you’ve ever had a crumbly meatloaf, you’ve probably asked yourself why meatloaf falls apart in the first place. The answer lies in the binding ingredient.

Binding ingredients are the items that, quite literally, pull your dish together. In meatloaf, this is most commonly the eggs and breadcrumbs. Your binding ingredient is only second to the meat itself in your recipe and the reason why meatloaf crumbles. When this happens, it’s because you didn’t use enough.

Next time, try adding in an extra egg and/or some more breadcrumbs. Alternatively, rice, barley, corn flakes, crackers, and dried soup mix can also stand in as binding ingredients as well. Including larger quantities of these items should help solve the problem.

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However, before deciding for yourself in the great battle of meatloaf vs. Salisbury steak, there are some key differences you should take note of. The biggest of which is the sauce.

The sauce applied to each individual offering is probably the most discernible difference between the two. Salisbury steak most often uses a mushroom gravy whereas meatloaf tends to use a tomato-based sauce, commonly ketchup. Meatloaf can be made using a variety of sauces, including a mushroom gravy, but a tomato sauce is the most traditional approach.

Another area in which the two differ is how they’re prepared. As Salisbury steak is made in a flat, rounded shape – similar to a hamburger patty – it’s generally cooked via grill or pan fry. Meatloaf, though, is most commonly baked in the oven.

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To avoid dropping your oven below 375°F when you open the door to place the meatloaf in, try preheating the oven to 425°F. Once you’ve put your meatloaf in the oven, immediately turn it back down to 375°F. This way, you’ll have some extra heat to spare that will inevitably escape when you open the oven door, allowing the loaf to start baking at the right temperature right away.

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• Combine ground meat, eggs, breadcrumbs, and other flavorful ingredients of your choice.
• Put this mixture in a lightly greased loaf pan and bake it until it’s cooked through.
• If you want, you can add a glaze by brushing on ketchup or a ketchup/brown sugar mixture partway through cooking.

That’s really all there is to how meatloaf is made! But if you’d prefer a more detailed recipe, we have you covered.

• 2 pounds ground beef, at least 85% lean
• 2 eggs
• 6 cloves of garlic, minced or put through a garlic press
• ¼ cup ketchup
• 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• ½ cup whole milk
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3/4 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1 tsp. basil
• 1 tsp. parsley
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. black pepper

For the ketchup topping:

• 1 cup ketchup
• 1 tsp. vinegar
• 2 tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 tbsp. onion powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper

Bake at 375° for a total of 40 minutes, then rest for 5 minutes before cutting.

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Percent daily values are based on a 2,000-calorie diet.

Note that this info varies depending on your exact recipe.

Here are the average nutrition facts and daily values for one 5-ounce slice of meatloaf made using ground turkey:

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If that still seems like too many meatloaf calories for you, there are a few strategies to bring that number down. You can start by swapping out 80% lean beef with 90% instead. Doing this alone will lower the calories in one 4-ounce slice to about 225 calories. You can also choose to use a healthier ground beef alternative, such as ground turkey: A 4-ounce slice of turkey meatloaf only has about 192 calories.

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If you’ve never had meatloaf made using onion soup mix before, it may sound a little odd at first. But onion soup mix is basically a dry seasoning and flavoring mix, and onions are a perfect addition to any meatloaf recipe. Onion soup mix can give your meatloaf an extra flavor boost that many prefer!

Ingredients

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp. garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 4 tbsp. ketchup
• 4 tbsp. chopped parsley
• ½ cup milk
• 1 packet onion soup mix
• 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 2 tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. pepper

Instructions

1. Set the oven to 375° Fahrenheit.
2. In a large bowl, mix all of the ingredients together until thoroughly combined.
3. Place the meat mixture in a loaf pan that’s been sprayed with non-stick spray.
4. Bake for 40 minutes at 375°. If desired, baste with ketchup about 15 minutes before it’s done cooking.
5. Let the meatloaf rest for 5 minutes before serving.

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When you think of classic culinary creations, plenty of dishes probably come to mind. Stews, roast pigs, even beer, are all well-known for having a long lineage in the cooking world. But did you know that meatloaf should be counted among them? It’s true. While many may think of meatloaf as a relatively modern meal, the truth couldn’t be farther from the case.

The first instance of a meatloaf recipe can be traced all the way back to the first century AD in the ancient Roman cookbook Apicius. However, as we’re still uncertain as to who exactly authored Apicius, let alone who penned the specific meatloaf recipe within, it’s impossible to pinpoint exactly who invented meatloaf. We could say that the Romans invented meatloaf; at least the earliest iteration thereof.

The recipe as it appears in Apicius isn’t exactly the same as the meatloaf you may be familiar with. A more concrete origin for the American version of meatloaf can be found in scrapple. Scrapple is a combination of pork scraps, cornmeal, and flour that came from German-Americans living in Pennsylvania during the colonial era.

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Meatloaf is made by seasoning ground meat and using breadcrumbs to hold the shape you mold them into.

Same basic concept…

So, what exactly is the difference between them? Are meatballs and meatloaf the same thing? Well, let’s start by taking a look at the ingredients commonly used to make these two seemingly similar dishes.

Meatballs and meatloaf share a lot of the same ingredients for their recipes. Each of them uses ground beef, breadcrumbs, salt, and pepper. Even their optional ingredients have crossover with the likes of parsley, garlic, and sometimes parmesan cheese.

However, while so far they’re looking like the same thing, there is one key difference to make note of in their ingredients – the binding agent. Meatloaf will more traditionally rely on a liquid binding ingredient like eggs or milk. This isn’t to say it’s unheard of for meatballs to use eggs in their recipe, but it’s far more common in meatloaf.

Additionally, you also have to examine how each dish is actually cooked. Meatballs are generally cooked on the stovetop whereas meatloaf is baked in the oven. But, much like the eggs situation, it’s not unheard of for meatballs to be prepared in the oven instead of on the stove.

In the end, meatballs and meatloaf are very, very similar. Their main differences really only come down to how you choose to season one or the other, the binder, and the shape you mold the ingredients into.

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When making meatloaf for a dog, the recipe may be a bit different than you’re used to, as dogs have more dietary restrictions than their human counterparts. Here’s how to go about whipping up a meatloaf dinner for your dog:

1. Choose a meat. Meatloaf is most commonly made with lean ground beef, but you may want to consider swapping it for turkey or chicken if your dog is slightly overweight.
2. Mix 2 pounds of ground meat with 3 eggs and 2 cups of chopped vegetables. Be sure not to include onions, as they can be harmful to dogs.
3. Add ¾ cup of fiber to the mix (flaxseed meal, wheat germ, cooked oats, etc.).
4. Pour 1 cup of beef or chicken broth in and mix well.
5. Put the loaf into a pan coated with nonstick spray and bake it for about an hour at 350°F.

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