Italian Meatloaf
Every now and then I get a big craving for meatloaf. Maybe it’s because I ate it a lot as a kid…especially in a TV dinner. I wanted to share this Italian Meatloaf on the site, which in my humble opinion, is the best meatloaf out there. It’s like a giant meatball cooked in marinara and topped with mozzarella cheese. Serve it with creamy polenta and some crusty bread for sopping up the sauce and dinner is done. I like this much better than the meatloaf that has ketchup on top. I think it’s more grown up if you will.
If you’re not a fan of beef, or want to lighten this up a tad, you can totally make this with either ground chicken or ground turkey instead. It would be just a good whichever route you take. This would also be great as meatballs. Shape the mixture into balls and place in the dish as directed. Bake for half the top and then top with sauce and cheese as instructed below. Cook for another 10 minutes and you’ll be good to go!
Italian Meatloaf
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- 9×13-inch baking dish
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef 85/15%
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 1 cup Panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 small yellow onion minced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse black pepper
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 1 24- ounce jar marinara sauce
- 3/4 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
- 2 tablespoons torn fresh basil leaves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, milk, bread crumbs, parmesan, eggs, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, dried basil, red pepper flakes, and parsley until well-combined. Make sure not to over-mix or else you’ll end up with a dry meatloaf. Mix by hand until everything is just evenly distributed.
- Pour half of the marinara sauce into a 9×13 baking dish, spreading it out into an even layer. Shape the meat mixture into an oval loaf and place it into the pan on top of the sauce. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.
- Carefully remove from the oven, uncover and top the meatloaf with the remaining marinara sauce. Top with the mozzarella cheese and return to the oven, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before garnishing with fresh basil and then slice and serve. Enjoy!
