When thinking about what to make for dinner, most people don’t jump at the chance to make meatloaf. I think it has the reputation close to that of fruitcake or black licorice. If we have guests that come over and claim “I don’t care for meatloaf” to that I reply “then you haven’t had mine”. The blend of flavors between the farm fresh ground beef and our homestead breakfast blend pork sausage is something that I have found no one dislikes. Seriously! Even the pickiest of nephews have asked for more. The other part of this meatloaf that makes it a kitchen favorite of mine personally is the versatility of the recipe. You can substitute so many different spices or ketchup based products to make it something of your own or just to be flexible enough to use what you have.

What if I don’t have tomato paste?

No problem! I have substituted with ketchup, chili sauce, any thick tomato based product will work. Thinking on it now I bet a great barbecue sauce would also work beautifully!

I’m out of bread crumbs. Now What?

Another easy substitution! We always have the heals of sourdough loaf laying around. I just throw those in the toaster and then into the food processor until they are crumbs. If you have some old crackers you can throw them into a ziplock and let the kids go to town smashing them into tiny pieces and use that instead of breadcrumbs.

Id rather not use brown sugar…

Again! An easy ingredient to substitute! You can use honey or maple syrup. If you are trying to keep it sugar free, try a packet of stevia!

The point of homestead cooking is to take a staple recipe such as this one amdreally make it your own out of just using what you have. So have fun with it and if you do sendup making the meatloaf let me know what substitutions you ended up using!

Happy cooking!

Homestead Meatloaf

An amazing blend of homegrown beef and pork come together with a few pantry staples to make the easiest comfort food.

Print Recipe

Servings 8 servings

Ingredients

Meatloaf

1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground seasoned pork we use our breakfast blend
1 medium chopped onion
3 cloves garlic
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
3 tbsp tomato paste can sub ketchup or chili sauce
3 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
3/4 cup bread crumbs

Meatloaf Glaze

3/4 cup ketchup
1 1/2 tsp white vinegar
2 1/2 tbsp packed brown sugar can sub maple syrup or honey
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Combine all meatloaf ingredients in a bowl and mix by spoon or by hand until well combined.
Add meat mixture to a parchment paper lined 9x5 bread pan and push the meat mixture down into the pan until it is flat and smooth on top. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes.
While meatloaf is cooking, mix all ingredient for the meatloaf glaze in a bowl. After meatloaf has cooked for 40 minutes, add glaze to the top with a spoon and cook for an additional 15 minutes or until the internal temperature has reached 165 degrees F.
Remove meatloaf from the pan, set on a plate, and slice to serve. There will be a good amount of grease in the bottom the bread pan that can be discarded.