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My mom's meatloaf recipe is here. There are also others here on Serious Eats for last year's National Meatloaf Appreciation Day, here, here and here. Hope you find one you like!

Gosh, as a kid I loved ketchup in meatloaf!

My mom's recipe (she wasn't much of a cook, but I loved her meatloaf) which always made with her was ketchup (it has that intense extra kick as opposed to tomato paste even if you're not a ketchup person), slightly stale bread or Ritz crackers (bread crumbs tend to be too mealy, crackers have more crunch and flavor) and garlic powder (again, intense and retro, but tasted good).

OOPS! Sorry, thanks alot LunaPierCook. I'll look at those too. How do you do that? How do you match up a site to the word "here"?

Read the HTML hints at the bottom of the page. Copy the first one. Where it says URL you substitute the URL of the site you want to point to (don't replace the quote marks ... you need those) and where it says LINK you put the work HERE (or whatever else you want it to say.)

The other two will make whatever text is between the tags bold or italics.

This is my old stand by. A favorite in my house fo sho.

Meatloaf with Brown Sugar Topping

v 1 ½ lb ground beef, 15% in fat or higher
v ¼ lb ground pork or veal (optional)
v 2 tbsp onion soup mix
v 1/3 cup catsup
v 1 egg
v 1 cup Progresso garlic herb bread crumbs
v ½ tsp liquid smoke
v 1 ½ tsp worcestershire sauce
v ½ tsp garlic powder
v ¼ cup chopped onion
v kosher salt
v freshly cracked black pepper
v 1 recipe brown sugar topping (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 375°. In a large mixing bowl use your hands to combine all ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Transfer to a loaf pan. Top with topping and bake 45 to 55 minutes.

Brown sugar topping:

In a small bowl combine ½ cup catsup and ¼ cup brown sugar.

This is how my mother made meatloaf but there was no recipe she "eye balled it". She would take ground beef, pork and veal add minced garlic, diced onions, celery, carrots, green pepper and minced parsley. Added salt/pepper, paprika, thyme, and Mrs. Dash. Then added Ketchup (she didn't skimp), Worcestershire sauce, a dash of A-1, a few drops of Tabasco 2-3 eggs, seasoned bread crumbs and a little parmesan. Then she wuld roll her sleeves up and get down to the nitty gritty, meading it like dough, then she would taste it for added seasoning ketchup ect.,roll it into a big ball and into the fridge it went for a few hours. She would put it into lightly greased loave pans and pop it in the oven for 1 hr @ 375 degrees. Once done she let sit for about 20 min before eating.

I make a pretty traditional meatloaf out of a Betty Crocker book (New Cookbook seems to be its only title). Ground beef (1.5 pounds and I use medium - I find lean makes it too dry), minced onion, garlic powder, dry mustard, worchestershire sauce, sage, salt and pepper, 1 egg, three slices of white bread made into crumbs, a cup of milk. But instead of ketchup, I top it with BBQ sauce - nothing fancy, the old Kraft bottle will do. I rarely have leftovers with this one, but if I do, they make a mean sandwich......

@huneybumper - I agree about using powders rather than "the original". I rarely haul out the garlic powder, but in this application, it works far better than regular chopped garlic. Ditto for meatballs......

My family likes a moist meatloaf and one way I found to accomplish this is to soak slightly stale crumbled bread in milk and add that instead of crushed crackers. I also grate sweet onion and a bit of fresh garlic in a small food processor and add that with a generous amount of fine chopped parsley. If desired, bacon and ketchup on top of the loaf during baking provide flavor. It also helps hold in the natural moistness of the loaf.

Okay: Mom's Meatloaf from out of the Depression.

1 1/2 lbs of the cheapest hamburger you can find (but I use chuck)
1 c. milk
4 slices ordinary white bread, torn in inch-or-so pieces
2 eggs
1 large onion, chopped
! Tbs. Worcestershire sauce (optional)
1-2 tsp salt.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. (And if you're smart, you'll put baking potatoes in the oven now, to go with the meatloaf.) Mush everything together with your hands until it's well mixed. Mixture is quite wet; don't be alarmed. Put it into a casserole - a 2-quart size is good. No need to grease it unless your meat is very lean.

Bake for an hour and 15 minutes. (And check to see if the potatoes are done; it's impossible to overcook baked potatoes in my book, but you sure can undercook them.

@ beth i agree with turning the loaf out on a sheet pan! havent trien the good eats version yet but i think its time. Ya'll have me craving meatloaf now!

i like making turkey loaf, with oats as the filler. yum!

This one is pretty simple and easy:

Ingredients

2 lb. ground beef
1/2 C. green pepper chopped
1/2 C. onions chopped
3 green onions chopped
2 eggs beaten
1/2 C. ketchup
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
8-10 slices of bread or biscuits pulled into small pieces

Directions

Put ground beef, onion, green onion and green pepper in a large bowl and mix. Set aside. In a small bowl, place 2 eggs (beaten), ketchup, garlic, salt and pepper and mix well. Add egg mixture to ground beef mixture and mix. Add bread crumbs and mix well. Grease a 13x9-inch pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Divide the mixture in half then form into oblong shapes and set in the greased pan. Cover and bake for 1 hour. Take out of oven and cover the top with ketchup. Put back in oven for 20-30 minutes until nicely brown.

Hillary
Chew on That

We grew up on the typical meatloaf mix, simular to those described above, with one or two additions. We always added some diced tomatoes to our veggie mix, first softening the onions etc in a fry pan. Also we always formed the loaf around peeled hard cooked eggs. Makes a pretty loaf, and the eggs seem to keep the laof moist.