This recipe started as a Southern Living recipe, but has been tweaked a bit through the years to make it a little bit more figure-friendly and flavorful. This is the meatloaf my mom has always made and I am proud to carry on the tradition. The topping is the best part – that’s what makes it “tangy.”

Meat Loaf Ingredients:

1 ½ pounds ground beef (My mom and I use the 96% lean Maverick beef)

2 slices dried out/day old whole wheat or multi-grain bread, crumbled (use can use white bread as well)

¾ cup milk (I use skim)

¼ cup finely chopped onion

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper (I put in about 5 “grinds” of my pepper mill. I have no idea how much that is.)

1 clove garlic, finely chopped (this is my addition – my mom doesn’t use garlic)

Topping Ingredients:

¼ cup brown sugar (light or dark, whatever you have on hand)

1 ½ teaspoon dry mustard powder

1/3 cup ketchup

Instructions:

1. To dry out your bread, preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Place bread slices on baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes. Turn slices over half-way through. If they aren’t firm after 15 minutes, bake a little bit longer. Set the timer so you don’t forget about them. (I learned that the hard way!)
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
3. Crumble to bread and pour the milk over it. Let the bread soak in the milk for about 5 minutes.
4. Chop your onion and garlic. Make sure you chop it really finely, especially if you have kids. You don’ want big chunks running through your meatloaf.
5. Combine the beef, onion, garlic, egg, salt, pepper, and bread together. The only good way to do it is by using your hands. If you use a spoon, your ingredients, especially the egg, will never get fully mixed into the ground beef.
6. If your mixture seems really wet (it should be a tad moist), you can add some bread crumbs.
7. Form into a loaf and place into a greased loaf pan or baking dish.
8. Bake for 40-45 minutes.
9. Prepare topping mixture.
10. After 40 minutes, remove meat loaf, spread topping over it, and place it back into the oven for another 15 minutes.

Notes:

• When I make this for Greg and I, I make two mini meat loafs. I bake one for us to eat and freeze the other (prior to baking). When we are ready to eat meat loaf again, I just have to thaw it out, make some more topping, and bake it. You will want to reduce the cooking time a bit if you make a smaller meat loaf.
• This recipe serves 4 adults.
• For those who have never made meat loaf before, don’t get too concerned about the strange looking “juicy stuff” that sometimes comes out of the meatloaf while it’s cooking. You will take the loaf out of the pan to serve it, so no one will see that.