Old-Fashioned Meat Loaf- A.K.A 'Basic' Meat Loaf

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I don't even LIKE meatloaf, but I was trying to make a meal and I had the ingredients for this. So I made this meatloaf with the expectation of not being pleased with it. But this was surprisingly good. I love the sauce topping and can actually say that I like meatloaf now! Even my picky eater enjoyed it. Will definitely make it again.

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Made this meatloaf several times now and I sometimes add drained Rotel tomates which give it a kick and you can add red pepper flakes as well. I really don't think the bell pepper add anything to it except maybe color. Trick if your using a 80/20 blend of ground beef is to place 2 pieces of bread (or more, depending on size of your loaf underneath the meatloaf on bottom of your pan and the bread "soaks" up any grease. This is a great recipe and people.....the oats are better for you than bread crumbs.

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I've made this twice. My one-year-old, husband, and myself all agree that this is great. My hubsters isn't super fond of just any meatloaf; this is extra special.

Changes we made:

1. stewed tomatoes instead of diced, although the first time we did that because we didn't have diced in the house, and we roasted the tomatoes for ten minutes in the oven on high heat before adding into the meatloaf mixture. Adds nice flavor.

2. We added mushrooms the second time, but I don't know that it added anything or was noticeable.

3. For topping, we put only ketchup on top.

My guess, though, is that the recipe would be great as is, without changes.

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My husband loved it and so did my teenager!! Perfect combination of veggies, meat and spices. New family favorite - thank you Paula!!

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Surprisingly good. Used a meatloaf mix of beef, pork and veal. Sautéed 1 onion and 4 or 5 minced garlic gloves for a few minutes and added to meat. Left out bell pepper. Added some Worcestershire and franks hot sauce with the rest of the ingredients. Used about 1/2 can of fire roasted tomatoes. Love the addition of the oatmeal instead of bread crumbs. Cut the brown sugar down a bit. Baked for about an hour and 10 min. Came out moist, light and flavorful. Can't wait to try this with just turkey meat.

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Everyone loved it. I didn't have all the ingredients so I used what I had on hand. I Added equal amount Italian bread crumb instead of instant oats, yellow bell pepper instead of green. And diced fresh tomato instead of canned.

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This meatloaf was fantastic and so easy! The best of both worlds! I doubled this recipe and made two loaves, added 10 minutes to the cooking time and they came out perfectly. I followed the advice of some others on here and sauteed the vegetables in a little bit of butter before mixing them in with the meat and they were perfectly soft and flavorful. I highly recommend this recipe to new cooks and those looking for a classic meatloaf recipe.

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My fiance regularly requests this recipe and it has become part of our staple rotation. I use extra lean ground beef, which is okay because the canned tomatoes give it moisture.

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Literally, THE best meatloaf recipe I've ever tried. I've found that some of Paula Deen's recipes are a little bit..."off". But when they hit they are PERFECT. This one was perfect. The only thing I added was about a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, a little bit of Italian seasoning and a 1/2 teaspoon of Rosemary and a teaspoon of sugar. YUMMY!

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This recipe is a good place to start when you're making meatloaf. Think of it as an empty canvas just waiting for your creativity to bring it to life. It's OK the way it is - personally, I thought the sauce was cloyingly sweet, but that's just me. Next time, I'll add about half a head of minced garlic to the meat, will cut the amount of brown sugar in half and will add some Tobasco or Siracha to the sauce to get some sweet/hot flavor going. Another option will be to add some fresh herbs to the meat - maybe an Italian-themed mixture of herbs, or a Mexican-themed mixture. With a basic recipe like this you can modify to your heart's content, based on what you happen to have hanging around in your fridge.

One other point - I used grass-fed beef for this and formed it into a loaf on a sheet pan rather than cooking it in a baking dish. A lot less greasy that way.