Italian Meatloaf Recipe

This tender, juicy Italian meatloaf recipe takes just 10 minutes to prepare and tastes delicious served over al dente spaghetti noodles with marinara sauce and freshly grated Parmesan. This new family favorite will quickly earn a spot in your month dinner rotation!

 

Why you’re going to love this meatloaf recipe:

• It’s basically a giant meatball! This Italian meatloaf recipe has all your favorite flavors of a classic meatball, but you don’t have to spend 20 minutes rolling them into little balls! All the flavor, with none of the work. You’re welcome!
• It’s so quick and easy! Prep takes just 10 minutes for this meatloaf. And honestly, if you’re without distractions, that might even be a little generous. With the help of your food processor mincing the onion, garlic, and parsley, you could probably have this meatloaf in the oven in LESS than 10 minutes!
• It tastes amazing and your family will love it! Even if your kids aren’t stoked about the ultimate comfort food we’ve come to know and love as meatloaf, serving it with the familiar family favorite of spaghetti noodles and marinara sauce will entice even the pickiest of eaters!
• It reheats like a dream! Just place leftover meatloaf in a shallow baking dish, cover tightly with foil and bake at 250 degrees for about 20-25 minutes or until heated through. It will taste just as good, if not better than it did the first day!

How to make Italian Meatloaf:

Add onion, garlic, and parsley to a food processor.

Pulse until everything is finely minced, scraping down the sides as needed.

Add mixture to a large bowl along with ground beef, ricotta, Parmesan, eggs, breadcrumbs, Worcestershire, oregano, thyme, sage, salt, and pepper.

Use hands to gently mix ingredients until just combined. Do not over mix.

Coat a loaf pan with oil and transfer meatloaf mixture to the pan. Gently press it into the pan, using hands to smooth out the surface so it’s flat.

Place loaf pan on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes. Pour off about half of the liquid from the loaf pan. Bake for another 20 minutes or until meatloaf is cooked through.

Broil meatloaf for 1-2 minutes on high if desired. Let meatloaf rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Serve meatloaf over al dente spaghetti noodles and top with your favorite spaghetti sauce, plenty of Parmesan cheese and fresh chopped parsley. Pair with Easy Homemade Garlic Bread.

Tips for making the best Italian meatloaf recipe:

• If you don’t have a food processor, just finely mince the onion, garlic, and parsley and add it to the mixture. The food processor is just going to save you time and energy – but it’s not completely necessary for this recipe!
• Placing the rimmed baking sheet underneath the pan of meatloaf is going to ensure that any liquid that cooks off the meat doesn’t overflow and make a giant smoking mess in your oven!
• Don’t worry if it seems like a lot of liquid in the meatloaf pan while it’s cooking. More moisture means that your meatloaf isn’t going to dry out! If there is still liquid in the pan when it’s all done cooking, just leave it while the meatloaf rests for 5-10 minutes. Then you can discard it if you’d like, but I usually just leave it in there.
• If you don’t have a loaf pan, any other baking dish will work. An 8×8 or 9×9 pan would be just fine also. You’ll just have to adjust the baking time as those pans are shallower and wider than a traditional loaf pan, so the cooking time will likely be a bit less.
• A meat thermometer comes in really handy for this recipe. But it’s not totally necessary – you can always just let the meatloaf rest and then when you cut into it if it’s not cooked through, pop it back in the oven for a few minutes! However, if you’ve got a meat thermometer, you’re looking for an internal temperature of 155-160 degrees in the center of the thickest part of the meatloaf.

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