Bacon-Wrapped Meatloaf with Brown Sugar-Ketchup Glaze
If you like, you can double the glaze and may omit the bacon topping from the loaf. Brush on half the glaze before baking, and the other half during the last 15 minutes of baking time.
by: Three Many Cooks
Serves: 6 to 8
Ingredients
Brown Sugar-Ketchup Glaze
- ¼ cup ketchup or chili sauce
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cider or white vinegar
Meat loaf
- 2 teaspoons oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ teaspoon hot red pepper sauce
- ½ cup milk or plain yogurt
- 2 pounds meat loaf mix or ground turkey
- ⅔ cup crushed saltine crackers (about 16), quick oatmeal or 11/3 cups fresh bread crumbs
- ⅓ cup minced fresh parsley leaves
- 6 ounces thin-sliced bacon (8 or 9 slices)
Instructions
For the glaze
- mix all ingredients in a small bowl; set aside.
For the meat loaf
- heat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil in a medium skillet. Add onions and garlic; sauté until softened, about 5 minutes; set aside to cool while preparing remaining ingredients.
- Mix eggs with thyme, salt, pepper mustard, Worcestershire, pepper sauce, and milk or yogurt. Add egg mixture to the meat in a large bowl, along with crackers, parsley, and cooked onions and garlic; mix with a fork until evenly blended and meat mixture does not stick to bowl. (If mixture does stick, add additional milk or yogurt, a couple tablespoons at a time, and continue until mix doesn't stick to bowl.)
- Turn meat mixture onto a work surface. With wet hands, pat meat mixture into an approximate 9-by 5-inches loaf shape. Cover a wire rack with foil; prick foil several times with a fork. Place on a foil-lined shallow roasting (for easy clean-up). Set formed loaf on rack. Brush loaf with all the glaze, then arrange bacon slices, crosswise, over loaf, overlapping them slightly.
- Bake loaf until bacon is crisp and loaf registers 160 degrees, about 1 hour. Cool for at least 20 minutes. Slice and serve.
- To bake in a loaf pan, follow instructions for Bacon-Wrapped Meat Loaf With Brown Sugar-Ketchup Glaze, omitting the bacon and doubling the glaze. Turn meat mixture into a meat loaf pan with a perforated bottom, fitted with a drip pan. Use a fork to pull mixture away from pan side. Brush mixture with half the glaze. Bake until glaze is set, about 45 minutes. Brush with remaining glaze and continue to bake until second coat has set and loaf registers 150 to 155 degrees, about 15 minutes longer.
I never would have thought of wrapping a meatloaf in bacon, but now I can’t STOP thinking about it! YUM. I think you just took comfort food to a whole new level!
OK, I can tell this will be a favorite with the family.
Yummmm! Thanks!
My mother always laid bacon on top of her meatloaf. I have never heard of anyone else who did. I’ll be trying it again.
I’ve made this meatloaf many times & it is a family favorite. I don’t put the bacon on top every time. I frequently double the recipe, to have leftovers. I roll the slices in plastic wrap & freeze for quick meatloaf sandwiches. Love them.
I’ve made this recipe over 100 times. It’s Pam Anderson’s recipe and was featured on the food network and it’s in America’s test kitchen cookbook and she never lets me down with a bad dish. I never had a better meatloaf than this one.