Italian Meatloaf – and How To Be Important

Italian Meatloaf is a different spin on traditional meatloaf!

My mother and I are the type of people who cook with what we have on hand. So last week she had leftover spaghetti sauce and a husband with a hankering for meatloaf. This recipe for Italian Meatloaf was born and she was shocked when it turned out tasting so incredibly good, and more different from regular meatloaf than she had expected. It even got a compliment from someone who is notorious for complaining!

So she said I just had to make it for y’all. And I listen to my Mama (most of the time). So here it is.

Now on to the meatloaf 🙂 You’ll need: spaghetti sauce, oats, egg, bell pepper (or sweet peppers), onion, and 1+1/2 to 2 pounds ground chuck.

Note: The peppers and onion are optional in this. Just go with whatever you want to use or have on hand. Also, you can use ground beef in place of ground chuck, you’ll just have a little grease to strain off. You can also use ground turkey if you like. I’ve made plenty of turkey meatloaves in my life for others, I just prefer beef.

Chop your onions and bell pepper if you are using those.

I should have chopped mine finer, sure, but I just chop until I’m tired of fooling with it.

Add your oats, spaghetti sauce, beef, and egg to the onion/pepper mixture.

You can use more oats if you have less meat in order to stretch it. You’d be amazed at how far you can stretch your meat in a meatloaf!

Did you see my tutorial where I used leftover shredded chicken and stretched it with crushed saltine crackers and such to make chicken patties? Oh they are so good and they freeze so well, click here for that.

Okay, back on point, Christy. Back on point!

Mix that all up with your hands.

I know, some people shudder at the thought of digging their hands into raw ground beef  (believe me, I’ve received emails about it!) but there are so many worse things that we could have to do so just buck up, dive in, and know that this will better prepare you for the storms of life.

And really, if this is the worst thing you have to do all day, you have a pretty awesome life!

Press your meatloaf into a lightly greased baking dish.

I ended up with a little extra so I used one loaf pan and one mini loaf pan. Use a knife to cut a slice down the center. This will help it cook more evenly.

Take the rest of your  spaghetti sauce (or however much you want) to the top of the meatloaf.

If you don’t have enough leftover spaghetti sauce for this, you can use ketchup.

I love ketchup on meatloaf!

Bake at 350 for about an hour, until  juices run clear.

If you have a smaller one, it will be done in about thirty minutes.

Dive in and enjoy… and know that you are important. 🙂

Italian Meatloaf – and how to be Important

Use leftover spaghetti sauce for a deliciously different spin on your traditional meatloaf recipe! This is easy to customize as well.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: meatloaf

Servings: 4

Calories: 539kcal

Ingredients

• 1 +1/2 -2 pounds ground chuck
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 bell pepper or 1/2 cup chopped sweet peppers, chopped
• 1 cup oats quick or old fashioned
• 1 egg
• 2 cups spaghetti sauce reserve 1 cup

Instructions

• Place all ingredients into a large mixing bowl and mix well with hands.
• Press into greased baking dish. Pour reserved spaghetti sauce over top.
• Bake at 350 for one hour, or until juices run clear.
• Enjoy!

Nutrition

Calories: 539kcal

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Always do the right thing. It will satisfy most people and astonish the rest.

– Mark Twain

Submitted by Jim Ferguson. Click here to submit your own. (I always love new quotes!)