During times of economic difficulty, cooking meatloaf was a way to stretch a family’s food budget by combining inexpensive mince meat, with other ingredients such as as leftover vegetables and bread. Meatloaf is typically eaten with some kind of sauce or relish, e.g. Tomato & Onion Sauce or Tomato Salsa (recipes below). The sauce can be poured over the loaf to form a crust during baking or served with it. Tomato-based sauces may be replaced with simple brown gravy or onion gravy, but the meatloaf is prepared in a similar manner. American meatloaf may be garnished by frosting it with mashed potatoes, drizzling it with a small amount of butter, and browning in the oven. Meatloaf is normally served warm as part of the main course, but can also be served cold. Meatloaf can also be considered a typical comfort food and is served in many diners and restaurants today.
- For a vegetarian option, try the recipe for Lentil & Nut “Meat Loaf”.
5 ml sunflower oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 medium green pepper, seeded and finely diced
5 ml crushed garlic
500 g minced beef, chicken, lamb, pork or turkey
250 ml fresh white breadcrumbs
1 large egg
4 to 6 sun dried tomatoes in oil, chopped (optional) or
peppadews, (mild or hot) chopped (optional)
100 ml milk
2 ml dried rosemary or 10 ml fresh rosemary, finely chopped
2 ml dried origanum or 10 ml fresh origanum, finely chopped
2 ml salt
2 ml chicken or beef stock powder, e.g. Ina Paarman
freshly ground black pepper
- Preheat the oven to 190 ℃ and line a baking tray lined with a Wizbake baking sheet. Alternatively, grease a medium loaf tin (1 liter capacity) with non-stick cooking spray.
- Heat the oil in a saucepan and gently sauté the onion, garlic and green pepper, stirring frequently until softened. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
- Place the meat and all the remaining ingredients into a mixing bowl. Add the cooled onion mixture and mix together lightly until evenly combined.
- Transfer the mixture to the baking tray and form it into a neat loaf shape. Or, transfer the mixture to a loaf tin and pack down firmly.
- Bake about 45 minutes until golden brown.
- Transfer to a serving dish and serve hot with Barbeque sauce or Home-made Tomato Salsa and warm side dishes such as Potato Mash, brown or white rice, couscous, etc.
6 to 8 servings.
Recipe by Carolié de Koster.