Smoky Grilled Meatloaf

One of my favorite meals to grill is Smoky Grilled Meatloaf. The whole family loves it and it is extremely easy to throw on the grill for an outstanding dinner in under an hour.

Meatloaf is a huge part of family’s meal rotation! There is just something that is so warm and comforting about eating meatloaf, especially throughout the fall and winter. I bet most of us have memories of our moms and grandmothers working in the kitchen to prepare it for the family dinner.

We turned the traditional oven-baked version into a fun, and delicious dish with a tangy, sweet kicker.  Of course, we had to cook it on the Big Green Egg. Seriously, does everything just taste better when it is grilled? 

🥘 Ingredients

The full list of ingredients are in the recipe card below. Here are a few of the major ones:

Ground Beef: I used a ground beef or ground chuck, but consider substituting for a leaner bison or even ground chicken or turkey.

BBQ Sauce: Use your favorite variety. This recipe is very forgiving! I used a honey BBQ sauce from Stonewall Kitchen.

🔥 Grilling Instructions

Step One: Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl. Reserve half of the BBQ sauce for later use. Use your hands to mix.

Step Two: Form the meatloaf into a bread pan. I placed it in a stone loaf pan and some disposable aluminum pans and both worked well. The cleanup of the disposable pan was much easier, though.

Step Three: Brush the remaining BBQ sauce on top.

Step Four: Set the grill to 350 degrees on indirect heat. For gas grills, turn off the center burners. For Kamado grills, add the plate setter.

Step Five: Grill for 45 – 60 minutes.

Note: Smaller containers will grill faster, so keep an eye on them.

💡 Recipe Tips

This recipe adds some sweetness from the BBQ sauce mixed in with the meat. The chopped red pepper also has a surprise hidden sweetness to balance off the little bit of onion. We have tried it with green peppers before, but I think the sweet red ones have a much better flavor for this dish.

I have tried this recipe with many different kinds of BBQ sauces and they all work. Add a spicy flavor if you are looking for a little extra kick.  We used this Fun Honey Barbecue Sauce from Stonewall for a sweet treat!

One other thing to note with this recipe is that the meat comes out incredibly tender.  We have not been very successful at using this for meatloaf sandwiches. The loaf just falls apart in a delicious, tender mess!  

🧑‍🍳 Equipment

Stoneware: If you have never used a stone loaf pan, it can be life changing as it helps your food retain moisture. The stone in the picture represents years and years of use. They say it is seasoned once it looks like that. My stoneware is ugly, so let’s just call it seasoned.

One word of warning, though. Don’t use the stone over direct heat. I always use it on indirect heat, so the grill acts more like the oven

Aluminum Pan: As seen in photos, we have made this in mini loaf pans like you would use for little banana breads during the holidays and it worked out great. It will decrease your cooking time, so monitor them closely.

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