Best 2 Depression Meatloaf Recipes

CHEF JOHN'S MEATBALL-INSPIRED MEATLOAF

Chef John's Meatball-Inspired Meatloaf image

The main point of this Italian meatball-inspired meatloaf is to show you what happens when you make meatloaf like your grandparents did. During the Great Depression, this type of dish was a popular strategy for stretching what little meat you had into as filling a meal as possible.

Provided by Chef John

Categories Main Dish Recipes Meatloaf Recipes

Time 2h

Yield 10

Number Of Ingredients 15

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 onion, diced
salt to taste
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ cups very dry white bread crumbs
1 ½ cups milk
2 pounds ground chuck
½ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 ounces grated Parmesan cheese
2 large eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
3 cups tomato sauce, or to taste

Steps:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
Heat olive oil and butter together in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute onion with a pinch of salt in hot oil and butter until onion is golden brown and soft, 5 to 10 minutes. Add garlic and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove skillet from heat and cool onion mixture to room temperature.
Place bread crumbs in a large bowl. Add milk and stir with a fork until combined. Let sit until all of the milk is absorbed into the breadcrumbs, 15 to 20 minutes.
Combine ground chuck, cooled onion mixture, parsley, Parmesan cheese, eggs, 2 teaspoons salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper in a bowl. Grab a handful of breadcrumbs and squeeze very gently to remove excess milk. Repeat with remaining breadcrumbs, transfer breadcrumbs to ground chuck mixture, and discard excess milk. Stir ground chuck mixture until evenly combined.
Turn chuck mixture out into prepared baking dish, and shape meat into a 3x4x10-inch meatloaf. Pour tomato sauce over the loaf and into the bottom of the dish.
Bake in the preheated oven until no longer pink in the center, about 1 hour 10 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 160 degrees F (70 degrees C). Let meatloaf rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 286.3 calories, Carbohydrate 19.4 g, Cholesterol 85.8 mg, Fat 14.5 g, Fiber 2.1 g, Protein 19.6 g, SaturatedFat 5.9 g, Sodium 1129.3 mg, Sugar 6.3 g

DEPRESSION MEATLOAF

Depression Meatloaf image

While (attempting to) clean out my recipe drawer, I came across this recipe, which I had copied several years ago. I don't remember if the original recipe was in a cookbook - magazine - website - or where! It is one of MANY recipes I have saved, but have not gotten around to trying -yet! It uses basic ingredients, but sounds...

Provided by Martha Price

Categories Meatloafs

Time 1h20m

Number Of Ingredients 9

Ingredients

1 small can evaporated milk
2 slice bread
1/3 c chopped onion
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 lb ground beef
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 c ketchup
2 strips bacon, cut in half

Steps:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, pour milk over the bread. Let stand until the milk is absorbed.
3. Add onion, salt and pepper. Stir with a fork until bread softens and is light and fluffy.
4. Mix in ground beef; stir in beaten egg. Shape into a loaf. Place in lightly greased baking dish.
5. Spread loaf with ketchup; top with bacon strips. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
6. *The original recipe did not call for the egg; I think eggs were in short supply during the depression. Maybe the canned milk helps it hold together? Anyway, I added the egg to the recipe just in case I had inadvertantly not copied the recipe correctly!