Chase’s Meatloaf is the best meatloaf recipe I’ve ever had. As kids, we would ask for Chase’s Meatloaf for dinner! When we would tell our friends we had meatloaf they would grimace and groan. I was perplexed at this reaction. Having gone to a Catholic elementary school where lunch was rarely served from the kitchen, I wasn’t aware of the lunchroom image conjured by many of my friends when I mentioned meatloaf.
Many years later, Mike, my #1 Seasoned Sampler, noted that it was apparently well over one month before I ever repeated a recipe for our dinner meal. Certainly that was either purely by accident or the low desire I had for leftovers at that time of my life, ha ha! Furthermore, when I announced to Mike that I was making Chase’s meatloaf for dinner, he seemingly conjured that ill-fated lunchroom image. And internally, he was assessing what on earth he had done to deserve meatloaf?!
Having met with the disdain from childhood friends over the years, I pre-emptively reassured Mike that this was not your typical meatloaf. That was because Chase’s Meatloaf was GOOD, saucy, and a favorite of mine. He didn’t comment out loud beyond an “okay”. It was years before he confessed this internal dialogue he had with himself upon my declaration for Chase’s Meatloaf for dinner during those early months of our relationship! We still joke about it today and he’s the first to explain just how delicious this meatloaf is to others.
Chase’s Meatloaf is great as is, and it is also very versatile and adaptable. I’ve substituted all and part of the ground beef with ground turkey to great results. The turkey has more of a low-key or sweet (to me) flavor and I like to adjust the seasoning accordingly. I’ve also had fun playing around with different flavor profiles for example using ground lamb and/or different spices to take it in a Greek direction.
It probably goes with out saying, you gotta get your hands dirty making this dish!
My mother loves to make meatloaf sandwiches with the leftovers. I’m not sure I’ve ever done that myself because the leftovers don’t last very long in my house! As kids we loved to have this hearty main dish with sides of macaroni and cheese and peas (ha ha, except Bobby on the peas)! This is a tradition I’ve happily passed on to my kids.
The recipe is pretty simple and straight forward. Most important to the outcome is to baste the meatloaf as it cooks to help it be so incredibly moist with the tangy sauce!
Chase's Meatloaf
Ingredients
For the Sauce:
- 16 oz tomato sauce four ounces for the loaf and 12 ounces for the sauce
- 3 Tbsp brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp mustard
- 3 Tbsp vinegar
- 2 tsp worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 cup water
For the Meatloaf:
- 1 1/2 lbs ground beef *
- 1 cup bread crumbs **
- 1 onion diced
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp fennel seed
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
Instructions
For the Sauce:
- Thoroughly mix 12 ounces of tomato sauce, brown sugar, mustard, vinegar, worcestershire sauce, and water in a medium bowl
For the Meatloaf:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Combine the ground beef *, bread crumbs **, chopped onion, egg, fennel seed, salt, and pepper with 4 ounces of the tomato sauce in a large bowl
- Mix thoroughly and shape into a loaf and place in a casserole dish
- Pour the sauce over the loaf
- Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 1 1/4 hours, basting every 15 minutes
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