Quick and Easy Meatloaf

This is from my cookbook Quick and Easy, Comfort From the Kitchen, but with a change – I have found that it has an even better texture if the amounts of milk and breadcrumbs or panko is 3/4 cup each instead of 1/2 cup each. And, panko does work really well! I will be uploading a version of the book with this and other updates, so hold off on buying the book if you have not already! And, if you have purchased it already, I will put all the updates here!

Here’s the recipe. (Thanks for asking for it Eric! you’ll have to let me know how it works for you.)

• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup milk
• 3/4 cup breadcrumbs or panko
• 1/4 cup (or smore) chopped onion
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 3/4 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 lb ground beef, lean if possible

Preheat oven to 350.

In a smallish bowl, lightly beat the egg and milk, stir in the breadcrumbs, and set aside for 5-10 minutes.

In a bigger bowl, mix the chopped onion, Worcestershire sauce, dry seasonings, and milk/egg/breadcrumb mix.

Add the ground beef and gently mix all the ingredients together. Overmixing can make your meatloaf dry and dense. You don’t want that.

Put/pat mixture into a small bread pan, a 1-quart casserole dish (I use a square Corning Ware casserole dish) or the like, or just put some parchment paper on a small tray and shape the loaf on it.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until it reaches 160 degrees at its thickest spot.

Remove from the oven and let rest for at least 15 minutes before slicing into it.

Notes:  As with the previous recipe, this can be doubled, tripled, quadrupled, etc. Feel free to use half ground pork, too! But this one-pound size is perfect for a two-person household, with enough for each to also have a meatloaf sandwich the next day.