| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 2 hr 30 min |
| Prep: | 30 min |
| Inactive: | 10 min |
| Cook: | 1 hr 50 min |
| Yield: | 4 to 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 5 pounds chopped meat (2 1/2 pounds beef, 2 1/2 pounds pork)
- 15 ounces Italian bread crumbs
- 10 eggs
- 1 chicken bouillon cube, dissolved in 1/2 cup hot water
- 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan
- Chopped parsley
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 4 cloves smashed garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 2 (14-ounce) cans chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 (14-ounce) can whole tomatoes
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 3 large Spanish onions, peeled, cut in 1/2, and thinly sliced
- 1 quart milk
- 1 pound all-purpose flour
- 2 quarts canola oil
Instructions
- To make Meatloaf: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, mix chopped meat, bread crumbs, eggs, bouillon broth, Parmesan, and chopped parsley. Mix well with a wooden spoon until all the ingredients are well incorporated. Form into a loaf shape and place on a sheet pan coated with nonstick vegetable spray.
- Place in oven and cook for 45 minutes, or until meatloaf has an internal temperature of 160 degrees.
- To make Tomato Gravy: In a large saucepan, heat butter over medium-high heat. Allow butter to foam and begin to brown. Add smashed garlic and allow garlic to brown slightly. Sprinkle in flour and stir constantly, forming a roux to cook for approximately 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown. Add chicken stock and tomato paste and cook for 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add 1/4 cup red wine vinegar and all tomatoes. Simmer for 30 minutes and finish with salt, pepper and oregano. Serve atop the meatloaf.
- To make Fried Onions: Heat a large, deep pot of oil to 350 degrees. Soak onions in milk for a minimum of 10 minutes. When oil is hot, drain onions and dredge in flour, making sure to remove excess flour.
- Plunge onions a batch at a time (there should be 3 batches) into hot oil and fry until extremely golden brown and crispy. Remove from fryer and place on a paper towel to drain. Serve atop dressed meatloaf.
Reviews
The recipe made enough for three nice loaves. It was very good. The gravy however was a bit too vinegary and thin. Next time will cut the amount of vinegar and increase the flour in the gravy. Also the picture with the recipe (I took it from a book of Rocco’s recipes) showed nice strips of bacon on top of the meatloaf, but they weren’t in the recipe, so we forgot about them. Next time they will be fried up and added to the top of each loaf for sure.
We used store bought fried onions. They were fine on top.
The meat loaves browned beautifully but in our oven it took an hour and 20 minutes to reach the recommended temp of 160 degrees. The recipe said 45 minutes.
We used store bought fried onions. They were fine on top.
The meat loaves browned beautifully but in our oven it took an hour and 20 minutes to reach the recommended temp of 160 degrees. The recipe said 45 minutes.
I have a family of 6, and all but me have very big appetites. I’ve made this twice now and my kids love it. I usually have to double recipes and even still we might polish it all off with someone still wanting more, this is not the case with this meatloaf – it is enormous! I have a normal sized meatloaf left over. The tomato gravy is great, although the 10-12 minute time in the recipe after adding the flour seems wrong to me and I’ve both times only done about 2 minutes. We like to serve it on top of Texas toast!
The tomato gravy makes this meal. Goes great with mashed potatoes.
After many disappointments with Meat Loaf, This recipe brought back the faith. Its been a hit with all our friends.
It was very tasty and full of flavor. It was not dry or nasty tasting due to fat contents. Loved the fried onion and gravy.
I was not a huge meatloaf fan before this but now I am. The tomato gravy really made a difference and tasted fab.
did not follow the meatloaf recipe or onion recipe but the gravy was awesome! used 22 oz of chix stock because that’s all i had on hand and diced tomatoes with roasted garlic instead of whole tomatoes.
I had never done meatloaf because I thought it was too difficult but I tried this recepy and it was very simple as well as amazing. My husband loved it. We also loved the friend onions.
Everyone loved it, including my 3yr old which is very picky. I basically ended up making 2x meatloaf and placed one in the freezer for another time. If you’re going by the serving size of 4-6, then these have to be hearty eaters and you don’t have to cook tomorrow :-). Easy to make, tastes great.
My friends and family LOVE this meatloaf – even my friend who doesn’t like meatloaf. Love the gravy. Don’t over cook – also freezes well. The gravy doesn’t freeze well, however. Be sure to do the onions too. They make that last little bit of positive difference.