Smoked Meatloaf

Oh, man. Nothing says love like a plate of Mama’s meatloaf. But then, when you put it in the smoker and top it with bacon. Be still my heart. This is our recipe for smoked meatloaf. Just in case you haven’t had your socks knocked off this week.

🍽️ Why This Works

Incredible flavor. Once you try it, you will wonder why you’ve never thought to smoke the meatloaf before. That rich smokiness with the sweetness of the onions, ketchup, and bacon on top makes it so much better than the classic meatloaf recipe. Dang.

Inexpensive. Sometimes, you need a choice of beef that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg but still tastes amazing and ground beef is all that. This is it. It’s the ultimate comfort food, just like Mama used to make, but better. Smoked. With bacon. I feel like a broken record here.

Flexibility. You can serve a crowd or serve a couple and save the leftovers. You can even freeze half the recipe uncooked and pull it out to smoke or bake later. This is a pretty handy recipe to have around.

Ingredients

📝 Ingredient Notes

Lean Ground Beef – 90-10 is a good choice for meatloaf because the lower fat content won’t make as much of a mess in your smoker. You can use ground beef, ground chuck, sirloin, or even ground turkey or chicken instead. If you switch to ground poultry meat, expect a different texture and flavor.

Ground Pork – Adding pork improves the flavor and texture of the meatloaf and lowers the fat content per serving at the same time.

Bacon – Because topping meatloaf with bacon is the only way to go.

Diced Onions – Infuse flavor throughout the smoked meatloaf.

Garlic – We used freshly minced garlic. You could use refrigerated minced garlic or dried minced garlic, but fresh has a richer flavor.

Jalapeño – This is optional if you don’t want the heat.

Panko Breadcrumbs – We like these light, thin crumbs, and you do need bread crumbs as a binder. Panko is the perfect choice.

Cheese – Use your favorite! We used a Mexican blend. Cheddar cheese or Colby Jack will both work.

Bell Peppers – Red and yellow bell peppers add sweetness and flavor and even a little crunch.

BBQ Sauce – We like the classic Heinz 57 for this recipe.

Eggs – These act as a binder with the breadcrumbs so your meatloaf doesn’t fall apart.

Parsley – Fresh parsley will add so much flavor! If you only ever used dried parsley, you will be pleasantly surprised.

Ketchup – Use your favorite brand. The classic tomato glaze is the perfect finish for this meatloaf. We only used 1/4 cup of ketchup but you can add more to increase the tartness.

Brown Sugar – Because you want that caramelized sweetness from our homemade glaze on the top.

⏲️ Equipment and Tools

• Smoker or grill. We used the Big Green Egg which is a multipurpose Kamado-style grill, but you can also use a pellet grill such as the Traeger, a charcoal grill, gas grill, electric smoker, or offset smoker.
• Quarter Sheet Pan. If you don’t have this size, you will be seriously blessed at how handy it is to have one or two in the kitchen. They can even be used for dinner trays when you want to eat in front of the football game.
• Quarter Sheet Pan Grid. This might be labeled a cooling rack and can be used in a variety of ways.
• Quarter Sheet Pan Parchment Paper. I’m a big fan of keeping cleanup easy.
• Pecan Wood Chips. If you haven’t tried them yet, you are going to love this wood smoke flavor. You can explore other options such as cherry wood to add a touch of fruity sweetness, oak for a classic medium smoke, or hickory for a stronger smoke flavor. Mesquite is the strongest of all, and I recommend you use it sparingly or blend it with milder woods. Feel free to look at our smoking wood chart for more pairings.
• Vegetable Chopper. There is so much to chop, and this thing makes it all a breeze.
• Knife.
• Large Bowl. You will need to be able to *gently* hand mix two pounds of meat plus added ingredients without it spilling over the edge. So go with the biggest mixing bowl you have.

🔥 Instructions

Step One: Chop all of the vegetables and get them ready. Preheat your smoker.

Step Two: Combine all of the ingredients for the meatloaf by hand, and be careful not to overmix. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Step Three: Form the meatloaf into a loaf shape. You can freeform this or use a loaf pan for a mold, but then flip it onto the cooking grid or a cooling rack and remove the pan.

Step Four: Place a wire rack on a sheet pan and set the meatloaf on that. No loaf pan is needed because you want the smoke to infuse as much of the meat as possible.

Step Five: Cut your bacon in half and cover the top of the meatloaf with bacon slices. Or do a fancy bacon weave if you want to impress your guests like we did for this smoked fatty.

Step Six: Move the meatloaf to your preheated smoker (take it off the sheet pan and move it directly to the grill grates.) Don’t forget to add wood chips to your smoker.

Step Seven: Mix the BBQ glaze. Wait until the meatloaf reaches an internal temperature of 155-160°F and brush the glaze on all sides.

Step Eight: Cook it for five more degrees so it reaches the internal temperature of 165ºF and then remove it from the heat and let it rest before serving.

Meatloaf Glaze

Step One: Add the Heinz 57, brown sugar, and ketchup to a jar. This makes it handy to carry out to the grill but a small bowl also works.

Step Two: Stir to combine and dissolve the sugar. No need to heat the mixture.

Step Three: Use a pastry brush to apply it to your meatloaf once it is at 155ºF. Discard any leftover glaze.

✔️ Recipe Tips and Tricks

• Combine the meatloaf gently with your hands. Overmixing meatloaf will cause it to become tough.
• This is a quick smoker recipe with a short cook time of under 90 minutes so we recommend using a smoking wood with a stronger flavor. We used pecan, but you can also try hickory or a blend of mesquite and fruitwood.

🍱 Storage and Reheating

Keep leftovers in your refrigerator in an airtight container for up to five days. Freeze a whole meatloaf, partial meatloaf, or individual slices in an airtight container or a sealable freeze bag for up to six months in the deep freeze.

Reheat by thawing and reheating in the oven or an air fryer at 250°F. You can also reheat leftover meatloaf as individual slices in the microwave. Cook it in 30-60-second intervals until it’s heated through. Perfect for taking to work in a lunchbox!

🌶️Additions and Substitutions

The reason there are so many different variations of a basic meatloaf recipe from cook to cook is that it is a very forgiving, easy dish, and you can customize it to your taste. This is an incredible recipe for smoked meatloaf.

• Bump it up to habeñeros instead of jalepeños, or add a pinch of cayenne or a dash of hot sauce to increase the heat instead. If you’re not sure how hot you want this dish, start with just 1/2 tsp of cayenne or hot sauce, and add more if needed.
• Mix in finely diced or grated zucchini or yellow squash for extra bulk and veggie content.
• Switch up the seasoning. We kept it simple because there are many fragrant ingredients on the list but feel free to experiment.
• Work with what you have. Swap an ingredient if a suitable alternative if you don’t have it. For example, use garlic powder if you don’t have fresh garlic.
• Add small cubes of cheddar cheese to your raw meatloaf so when it cooks it will leak melty cheese.
• Add a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce to the meatloaf. It gives it a distinct flavor everyone seems to enjoy!
• Try a homemade BBQ sauce for glazing the meatloaf. We love this whiskey BBQ sauce and the cherry bourbon BBQ sauce for glazing meats!

🍽️Serving Suggestions

Serve our amazing smoked meatloaf with any side you enjoy! It’s so flexible it will go with anything. You can go with tradition and serve it over mashed potatoes and brown gravy, or serve it over black beans and rice with hot sauce.

The choice is really up to you. Try this recipe next to smashed potatoes or this refreshing Grilled Peach and Arugula Salad.

You also have the option to smoke a side dish next to the meatloaf. Smoked corn on the cob, smoked mac and cheese and smoked fingerling potatoes are all fantastic options!

❓ Recipe F.A.Q.

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