This meatless meatloaf has some serious magic going on thanks to caramelized brown onions! It has a really meaty texture and flavor despite not containing any beef. It’s slightly crumbly and barely held together by a binder, yet it’s still moist and soft enough to melt in your mouth. Serve with gravy, green beans, and mashed potatoes.
| Prep Time: | 35 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 35 mins |
| Additional Time: | 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 25 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 6 slices |
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 pounds brown mushrooms, sliced
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
- ½ cup diced yellow onion
- ¼ cup diced celery
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons beef base (such as Better than Bouillon®)
- ¼ cup water
- 1 cup cooked black lentils
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- ½ cup fine dry bread crumbs
- ⅔ cup rolled oats
- 1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Very generously grease a loaf pan.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add mushrooms and 1 teaspoon kosher salt and sauté until nicely browned and juices have evaporated, about 10 minutes. Stir in onion and cook until soft, another 5 to 7 minutes.
- Add celery, tomato paste, and beef base; cook and stir until tomato paste begins to toast on the bottom of the pan, about 3 minutes. Stir in water and turn off the heat; let sit for about 3 minutes.
- Transfer mushroom mixture into a food processor. Add cooked lentils and pulse until finely chopped but not pureed.
- Transfer to a mixing bowl and add eggs, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, oregano, thyme, cayenne, ketchup, bread crumbs, oats, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Mix until thoroughly combined.
- Transfer mixture into the prepared loaf pan, then wrap with foil and place on a sheet pan.
- Bake in the center of the preheated oven until firm to the touch, about 1 hour.
- Remove the loaf from the oven and place on a wire rack. Remove the foil and place it on the baking sheet. Grease the foil with 2 teaspoons olive oil. Let the loaf sit for 10 to 15 minutes, and increase the oven temperature to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
- While the loaf is resting, make the glaze: Whisk ketchup, Dijon mustard, and brown sugar together in a small bowl.
- Invert the loaf onto the foil and spread glaze all over the surface, mostly on the top but some on the sides.
- Return to the oven and bake until the glaze is cooked on, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Carefully transfer the loaf onto a cutting board. Cut into 6 slices and serve.
- You can use brown or white mushrooms.
- If you don’t have a food processor, you can just put the mushroom mixture and lentils on a cutting board and use a knife to cut and combine.
- You can refrigerate the loaf for 8 hours to overnight before baking.
- Instead of the glaze, you could use just barbecue sauce or a mixture of ketchup and brown sugar.
Reviews
Darn! I wish I had read the other reviews–it was quite overseasoned, and I like salt a lot! I toned down the salt on my mashed potatoes to even it out but it was still a bit much. Texture was nice–I added a couple teaspoons of ground flax for extra binding power. The edges were aresome and crunchy. My husband who hates veggie loafs said “good first pass”. I may try it again, may make patties with it instead so i can get more of that crunch.
Wonderful job Chef John! I couldn’t find black lentils so I used green, but the taste was fantastic. That Worcestershire sauce really helps boost that true meatloaf flavor. I despise tomato glazes on meatloaf so I skipped that and served it smothered in brown gravy with homemade mashed potatoes and garlic Parm roasted brussel sprouts. I definitely enjoyed and will be giving it another try soon. 🙂
I swapped out the oatmeal with brown rice and added it to the food processor with the lentils, and it was not as crumbly. Also, I agree with the others that there was too much salt in it and took their advice, so I omitted adding the beef base and any extra salt, and used coconut amino instead of soy sauce. I am on a low sodium diet so must alter recipes. It still came out very good.
Loved the texture– mine looked exactly like a beef meatloaf. My almost a vegetarian daughter and a little more picky husband loved it too. My only complaint was that it was really salty. We only had seasoned breadcrumbs which have alot of salt in them, I salted my lentils when cooking (do not do this), parmesan cheese, beef base, soy sauce, you salt the mushrooms to draw out the liquid (salt, salt and more salt). I would not suggest adding any extra to the recipe when you combine all of the ingredients before baking.