All American Dinners: Brown Sugar Meatloaf

When it comes to home cooking, there is, arguably, no more classic a meal than traditional, homemade meatloaf. America has a love/hate relationship with this loaf of ground beef, but for me, when served with garlic mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli, nothing tastes more like home.

The key to good meatloaf is plain and simple: use quality meat. Organic or free range beef is less fatty and therefore, less greasy than your run-of-the-mill supermarket chuck. Aside from that, this recipe is easily altered to fit your family’s own tastes and preferences.

Brown Sugar Meatloaf

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup ketchup

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef

3/4 cup milk 2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 small onion 3 cloves garlic

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

3/4 cup finely crushed cracker crumbs (like Ritz)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Dice the onion and garlic. In a large bowl, combine onion, garlic, ground beef, milk, eggs, black pepper, ginger, and cracker crumbs. Mash together – that’s right, folks, with your bare hands! Press the mixture into a bread pan. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and ketchup. Mix until consistent, with no lumps of brown sugar. Spread over meat, as if frosting a cake. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until juices are clear.

Photo Source: Acererak