Cheesy Meatloaf

Submitted by WiGal

"Easy, freezes well (raw), and can be tripled. If you sub in ground turkey, that is good too. While I was still working I would put meatloaf in oven (frozen) with baker potatoes (wrapped in foil) and baked carrots in the morning before I left the house, and set up my delay bake cycle on my oven and come home to a nice meal. If you do have leftovers, you can cube the leftovers up and add to spaghetti sauce or make yourself a sandwich."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 25mins
• Ingredients: 10
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 6 ounces tomato juice
• 1⁄4 cup onion, chopped
• 1 egg
• 4 olives, sliced
• 1⁄8 teaspoon pepper
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon italian seasoning
• 1⁄2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

directions

1. Mix first nine ingredients.
2. Put half of meat mixture into loaf pan.
3. Top with shredded mozzarella.
4. Then cover with rest of the meat mixture.
5. Bake at 350°F oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
6. If you freeze it (raw), double wrap in foil.
7. To make in crockpot (which I have not done yet)--put 3 heavy duty foil strips, each measuring 18 X 3 inches in a crisscross so they resemble spokes of a wheel in crock pot. Place meatloaf in the center of the strips. Pull the foil strips up and over the meatloaf. Cover. Use the foil as handles to lift out. Estimating time at 8 hours on LOW or 4 hours on HIGH. Also, read that you can cut up two potatoes, into finger size pieces and put that underneath the meatloaf in crock pot. Ummm.

Reviews

[joc4040]

I had found a recipe for meatloaf without Ketchup (or Catsup either) because I hate it, and I'm the cook. Found this one instead, and decided to try it. I cut the recipe in half because there is only the two of us, and it worked out perfectly. I left out the olives because I don't like them (Remember? I'm the cook!!!). I sliced 2 medium potatoes in half lengthwise, and then cut like french fries. These were on top of the foil in the small slow cooker and under the meat mixture. Some of the larger potato "fingers" were a little crunchy, but still ok. Next time I'll cut them a little smaller, and will also put more mozz in the middle. I never make meatloaf because of the ketchup thing, and Himself claims it's one of his favorite foods. We were both happy because he got to douse his whole plate, and I didn't have to taste it! I also put shredded parmesan on top--would have used more mozz, but used it all in the middle. Very happy with this recipe--the slow cooker and the potatoes made it great.

 

[I'mPat]

Did omit the olives but made as per recipe using very lean heart smart mince and meant to check at the one hour mark but forgot and at 1 hour 15 minutes was a tad over cooked with some burnt bits around the edges and very hard to get out of the pan and felt that it needed more cheese as we did not really get any of that but still an enjoyable meatloaf served with recipe #395545 and some barbecue sauce. Thank you WIGal, made for Everydat A Holiday tag game.

 

[carolynryanlv]

Excellent meatloaf to make for my family. We loved the cheese in the middle! I used Spicy V-8 juice in place of the tomato and it gave it a nice zing!

 

[Outta Here]

This is a great flavored meat loaf. I liked the cheese in the middle and may add even more next time. I used half beef and half ground turkey, and added some tomato sauce to the top during the last 15 minutes of baking. Will be making this again!

 

[bluemoon downunder]

Moist and flavoursome and very easy to make. Equally delicious at room temperature in a sandwich or roll. Loved the cheese in the middle of the meatloaf. The cheese melted into the meat and gave this a flavour reminiscent of dishes such as lasagna, so next time, for an even creamier effect, I'm going to try adding some feta to the mozzarella. We also loved the olives and Italian herbs in this. I used kalamata olives - YUM! - and doubled the quantity of olives. The only change I made was to add 3 cloves of garlic to the onions (personal taste preference). I sauteed these lightly in a small pan until they had just softened. I often do this as in one dish I made - years ago - even though one would not have imagined this possible in view of the cooking time, the onion still had some crunch in it which detracted from the overall dish! Great recipe, WiGal. Thanks for sharing it. I'll be making this again, in a double quantity so I have some for the freezer and I'll probably be using half beef and half veal/pork.