Chef Johns Meatloaf Recipes

CHEF JOHN'S GRILLED BACON MEATLOAF BURGERS

Steps:

• Whisk egg, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, salt, brown sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, thyme, and cayenne pepper together in a bowl. Add breadcrumbs and chopped cooked bacon. Crumble in the ground beef. Mix with your fingers until bacon and breadcrumbs are distributed evenly.
• Form mixture into 4 burgers with your wet hands. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled thoroughly, about 3 hours.
• Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat and lightly oil the grate.
• Place burgers on the grate and cook, turing occasionally, until firm and cooked to your desired doneness. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read between 145 and 150 degrees F (63 degrees C). Let burgers rest for a few minutes before serving.

CHEF JOHN'S ZOMBIE MEATLOAF

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Melt butter in a pan over medium-high heat. Saute diced onion, celery, mushrooms, and 1 teaspoon salt until the mixture dries out and starts to turn golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in garlic, black pepper, thyme, and cayenne pepper. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature, about 10 minutes.
• Combine remaining 2 teaspoons salt, ground beef, bread crumbs, egg, buttermilk, 2 tablespoons ketchup, and Worcestershire sauce in a large bowl. Add cooled vegetable mixture. Mix with your hands until thoroughly combined. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator.
• Slice 2 round sides, about 1/2-inch-thick, off the second onion for the zombie eyes. Push 1 clove into the center of each slice. Cut a 1-inch-wide section off the remaining onion and dice into chunks to form zombie teeth.
• Transfer meatloaf mixture to the prepared baking sheet and use damp hands to shape into a zombie skull shape that is 3 to 4 inches tall. Form indents to represent the eyes, nose, and mouth. Drape bacon over the face, covering most of the meatloaf. Add onion eyes and teeth. Tuck in loose ends of bacon under the sides with a spatula. Cover the onion eyes with aluminum foil to prevent browning.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the meatloaf reaches an internal temperature of 155 degrees F (68 degrees C), about 1 hour.
• Stir barbeque sauce, 1/4 cup ketchup, and hot sauce together in a bowl to make the blood sauce.

CHEF JOHN'S MEATBALL-INSPIRED MEATLOAF

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
• Heat olive oil and butter together in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute onion with a pinch of salt in hot oil and butter until onion is golden brown and soft, 5 to 10 minutes. Add garlic and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove skillet from heat and cool onion mixture to room temperature.
• Place bread crumbs in a large bowl. Add milk and stir with a fork until combined. Let sit until all of the milk is absorbed into the breadcrumbs, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Combine ground chuck, cooled onion mixture, parsley, Parmesan cheese, eggs, 2 teaspoons salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper in a bowl. Grab a handful of breadcrumbs and squeeze very gently to remove excess milk. Repeat with remaining breadcrumbs, transfer breadcrumbs to ground chuck mixture, and discard excess milk. Stir ground chuck mixture until evenly combined.
• Turn chuck mixture out into prepared baking dish, and shape meat into a 3x4x10-inch meatloaf. Pour tomato sauce over the loaf and into the bottom of the dish.
• Bake in the preheated oven until no longer pink in the center, about 1 hour 10 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 160 degrees F (70 degrees C). Let meatloaf rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

CLASSIC MEATLOAF

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Place the carrot, celery, onion, red bell pepper, mushrooms, and garlic in a food processor, and pulse until very finely chopped, almost to a puree. Place the minced vegetables into a large mixing bowl, and mix in ground chuck, Worcestershire sauce, and egg. Add Italian herbs, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Mix gently with a wooden spoon to incorporate vegetables and egg into the meat. Pour in bread crumbs. With your hand, gently mix in the crumbs with your fingertips just until combined, about 1 minute.
• Form the meatloaf into a ball. Pour olive oil into a baking dish and place the ball of meat into the dish. Shape the ball into a loaf, about 4 inches high by 6 inches across.
• Bake in the preheated oven just until the meatloaf is hot, about 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, ketchup, Dijon mustard, and hot sauce. Stir until the brown sugar has dissolved.
• Remove the meatloaf from the oven. With the back of a spoon, smooth the glaze onto the top of the meatloaf, then pull a little bit of glaze down the sides of the meatloaf with the back of the spoon.
• Return meatloaf to oven, and bake until the loaf is no longer pink inside and the glaze has baked onto the loaf, 30 to 40 more minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the loaf should read at least 160 degrees F (70 degrees C). Cooking time will depend on shape and thickness of the meatloaf.

BACON-WRAPPED BUFFALO MEATLOAF

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
• Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-heat. Cook and stir chopped bacon in hot butter until almost crisp, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Pulse onion, carrot, celery, red bell pepper, poblano pepper, mushrooms, and garlic in a food processor until finely chopped. Add vegetable mixture and rosemary to bacon in the skillet; cook and stir until vegetables soften and sweeten, about 5 minutes.
• Mix vegetable mixture, bread crumbs, and milk together in a bowl. Let cool to room temperature. Stir egg, salt, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper, and cayenne pepper into vegetable mixture. Add buffalo meat to vegetable mixture and mix with your hands until well-blended.
• Turn meat mixture out into prepared baking dish and shape into a 9x5x3-inch meatloaf. Lay bacon strips crosswise over the top of the meatloaf, tucking in ends of bacon under the loaf.
• Whisk rice vinegar, brown sugar, and mustard together in a bowl until glaze is smooth.
• Bake meatloaf in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Brush glaze over loaf and continue baking until no longer pink in the center, about 30 minutes more. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 155 degrees F (68 degrees C). Cool for 10 minutes before slicing.

JOHN'S MEAT LOAF

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients together, keeping mixture light and chunky. Don't overmix.
• Place mixture in ungreased loaf pan. Dent top of loaf and baste with extra Honey BBQ sauce.
• Place loaf in oven and bake at 400-425 for approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes for a single loaf. (Mixture can be divided into two loaf pans. Use 350 degree oven and shorten cooking time to 40 minutes.).
• Let loaf rest for 10 minutes before removing to serving plate for slicing. (If leaving in loaf pan, drain excess oil and juices from pan after meat rests.).

"BETTER THAN BEEF" MEATLESS MEATLOAF

Steps:

• 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.