Southern Meatloaf

Whether it's sliced on a plate alongside some smashed baby red potatoes or piled on bread in a sandwich, there are few meals heartier or more comforting than meatloaf. But if you've made your mom's traditional meatloaf what feels like one too many times and you're clamoring for something new, give this Southern Meatloaf a try. It has all the trappings of a stick-to-your-bones, old-fashioned meatloaf with distinctive Southern flair. Here's everything you need to know.

What Makes Southern Meatloaf Southern?

To make this Southern Meatloaf truly Southern, we added a couple recognizable ingredients. The first is diced pimientos, which add sweetness, heat, and tanginess to the meatloaf. Then, instead of glazing it with ketchup the traditional way, we took the condiment and added some brown sugar and dry mustard, making a barbecue sauce-esque mixture to brush on top that gives the meatloaf additional sweetness.

Southern Meatloaf Ingredients

You likely already have many of the ingredients for Southern Meatloaf on hand in your kitchen, but here's everything you need to make the mouthwatering dish.

Bell pepper, onion, and olive oil
We use green bell pepper and sweet onion, but feel free to use your favorites. These get finely diced and sautéed in the olive oil to add freshness and moisture to the meatloaf.

Breadcrumbs, milk, Worcestershire sauce, and eggs
These ingredients form the panade, or the starch mixture that holds the meatloaf together and keeps it tender. We like plain breadcrumbs as opposed to oats, which while more traditional didn't keep the meatloaf from crumbling and didn't give it the density and texture we craved.

Ketchup
This meatloaf staple is used twice, once in the meat mixture itself and again as the base for the glaze.

Ground beef
Use 90/10 lean ground beef if you can find it, which keeps the meatloaf from getting too soggy and cooking in its own fat.

Diced pimientos
You'll need a whole 4-ounce jar of this Southern pantry staple.

Herbs and spices
Giving the meatloaf its smoky-spicy flavor are smoked paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and black pepper. There's also some chopped fresh parsley for brightness.

Brown sugar and dry mustard
These sweet and savory ingredients are mixed into ketchup to form the delectable glaze for the meatloaf.

Notes from the Test Kitchen

Our recipe developers and testers worked hard to make this Southern Meatloaf wow-worthy. They found that packing the meat mixture into a loaf pan and inverting it onto a baking sheet gave it the best shape and most even cook, but if you don't want to dirty a loaf pan you can shape the mixture into a loaf free-hand.

You can also prep your meatloaf ahead of time, adding it to a loaf pan or shaping the loaf then wrapping it in plastic wrap and keeping it in the fridge for up to a day.

To keep the top of your meatloaf from cracking in the oven, place a baking sheet with some water on it on the lower rack. The additional moisture it creates will prevent drying and cracking.

How to Serve Southern Meatloaf

Serve this delicious Southern Meatloaf as you would any other: Sliced on a plate alongside garlic mashed potatoes or as a burger or sandwich. You could even break it up in a frying pan, creating a meatloaf hash, and then top it with fried eggs.

Editorial contributions by Alyssa Sybertz.