Thursdays Are For Cooking
Well, it is Autumn and Winter does not fall far behind. For those who think they should not go to Cracker Barrel for a bit of good ol’ down-home cooking, I’ve got news for you: you can make your own Cracker Barrel stuff at home.
In this case, it’s the copycat version of Cracker Barrel’s meatloaf, which is really rather good. I prefer my grandma’s stuffed meatloaf, but that’s because in the winter, after running around outside in the snow and making three snowmen in the yard, something like that with mashed potatoes and veggies on the side, with a tossed salad and a good dessert was all you needed to feel full. The stuffing, like you’d use with a turkey at Thanksgiving, was always good, because it was filling.
So here is Cracker Barrel’s classic down-home recipe for meatloaf.
It comes from Mashed.com: https://www.mashed.com/185776/the-best-cracker-barrel-meatloaf-copycat-recipe/
Cracker Barrel meatloaf copycat recipe directions
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Servings: 8
Ingredients:
2 lbs of 80/20 ground beef (or 70/30 if you can find it)
1 large yellow onion, finely diced
1 cup green bell pepper, finely diced
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 cup crushed Ritz crackers
1/2 cup ketchup
Directions:
1 – Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil and set aside.
2 – In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, onion, pepper, eggs, kosher salt, black pepper, drained diced tomatoes, and crushed Ritz crackers. Using your hands or a large wooden spoon, mix the ingredients until they’re well combined but not overmixed.
3 – Pick up the beef mixture with your hands and form it into a large, tight ball. Transfer the beef ball to the prepared baking sheet. Press down on the top and pinch in the sides to form it into a large loaf. Pat down the top and sides until it’s a uniform shape.
4 – Bake the meatloaf for 30 minutes. Remove the meatloaf from the oven and spread the ketchup over the top and sides using a pastry brush. Bake for an additional 30 minutes, until the center reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
5 – Let the meatloaf stand for 10 minutes before slicing.
A couple of hints here:
1 – A really good meatloaf is made with a fattier beef at 80% lean/20% fat, not the lean stuff like 10% fat/90% lean beef that you can get nowadays. It makes the meatloaf juicier and tastier.
2 – It’s also a bit juicier if you put a foil tent over the meatloaf after you spread the ketchup (or BBQ sauce) on it. But that’s a personal choice.
3 – Ritz crackers are more easily crushed than soda crackers/saltines. Just put them into a plastic bag and run a rolling pin over them until they are small crumbs.
Ex; I just printed the meatloaf recipe but will use ground chicken instead. Question on your stove top bread recipe from last week. How long does one side stay in the skillet before turning it over. I watched the video which I have in the archive to look at but no info on the cooking time before it is flipped over and the time it takes from cooking the other side is the smell of the finished product. Any helpful tips on this kind of bread making.?? Only bought one item which was the flour which didn’t cost that much bread for the small bag.
I looked at her YouTube site. Several people had asked for the length of time. You’ll have to keep an eye on it, make sure the flame spread/diffuser is heating evenly, use the lid as she does, and pay attention to the scent of the bread as it cooks.
And since she’s using the lidded skillet as a stovetop “oven”, which is basically outdoor cooking, too, keep an eye on it, and time it to find which gives you the best results.
Il Rifugio Perfetto (The perfect bread)
4 weeks ago (edited)
➡️Cuocere in padella 15 minuti per lato
➡️Cook 15 minutes per side
Ex; Thanks for the tip on the bread. I have an electric stove and I will put the skillet on top of a heavy iron cover that is designed to distribute even heat over the surface. And old school tooth pick the bread which I just thought of.
Nuuuuuummm!!!!! Nuuuummmm!!!! Meat Loaf! You have just shown us Paradise by the Keyboard light. I like Cracker Barrel Cheese too, but their Chicken n Dumplin’s leaves a little to be desired. But, hey, Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad. But there ain’t no doubt about it, Baby got to go and shout it. We are doubly blessed. You put this on the table and we will be there like a Bat Out of Hell…even when the morning comes. Mama made this, I remember every little thing like it was only yesterday. Parking in the kitchen and there was not another snack in sight. And I never had a dish looking any better than this did. It opened up my eyes, but was no surprise but it really made to tummy hum. Didn’t even have to sleep on cause I knew I’d still love it in the morning. I swore I’d love it til the end of time.
Tanks Mi’Lady, I swear that CB got this recipe from Mama’s 3X5 card box. I have to substitute the onion powder and bell pepper for the raw now-a-days. Make a big pan of cat heads to go with the smashed taters and turnip greens. Cat head biscuit/meatloaf sammiches makes a real nice snack for later.
You want chicken & dumplings? Why dincha say so?
Never made dumplings, but I’ll see what I can find.
We covered on CnD Mi’Lady. Gots Aunt M’s old school family one that Baby Sister AND Baby Girl excel at. I used CnD in the sample above to (a) one of the only things at CB they don’t do well and (b) I needed a 2 of out three ain’t bad reference for the whole “Meat Loaf” Theme. Come to any Family Gathering at Firebase Magnolia for a bowl of the very best CnD and skillet of Buttermilk Cornbread you ever put in your mouth. Disclaimer. Since we lost Aunt M a few years back, and due to the multitudes of folks that loves the CnD we have been using the Annie’s, Mary B’s or Mary Hill frozen dumplin’s. They are fairly good, just not quite as thin as the hand rolled ones.
Wish I could figure out how to rob some of the pictures on this machine’s memory to post up different dishes without revealing the entire file and the PII.
Always liked that Richard Corben album cover. As well as his 80s-90s Heavy Metal artwork.
Ex:
The ninja family will try your recipe…it sounds Yummy!
We have been using this recipe since the 1970s (the meatloaf is always moist), so trying something new, i.e. your recipe, will be great.
Thank You for sharing!
Quaker Oats Meatloaf
Ingrediants:
1 cup Tomato Juice
3/4 cup Quaker Oats
1 Egg, Beaten
1/4 cup Chopped Sweet Onions
1 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Pepper
1 pound Ground Beef (we use 90% lean, others may use the 80% lean…
Instruction:
(1) Heat oven to 350 F Degrees.
(2) Combine all ingrediants except ground beef: mix well.
(3) Add ground beef.
(4) Press into a loafpan (we do not grease the loafpan).
(5) Bake 1 hour.
(6) Let cool 5 minutes before serving.
Serve with real mash red potatoes, green beans or corn, homemade gravy of choice…and some use ketchup or catsup on top of the meatloaf…to
Enjoy!
“…(we don’t grease the loaf pan).” Around the Firebase (and at Mama’s) we didn’t use the loaf pan that much. A well seasoned skillet worked best, no sticking and it made a nice little seared crust around the edges. Putting oatmeal in a meat loaf mix was about the only way oatmeal was cooked around the house. Bread crumbs, or more often than not, crumbled up cat heads were used instead of crackers. And, too, use of an alpha/numeric type or BBQ sauce v catsup.
Loves me some Baby Red Smashed Taters…with gravy…and green beans…or squash…or cabbages…sauteed in bacon…and #letseat!
For a savory flavor note instead of sweet, substitute the ketchup for a steak sauce with alphanumerics in its name.
Use whatever floats your boat, Sailor!
I like it with BBQ sauce, just because that’s spicier than ketchup. 🙂
For those who like to cook under pressure…
Ingredients
For the Meatloaf:
2 lbs ground beef
1 cup breadcrumbs
2 eggs
1/2 onion diced
1 Tbsp garlic powder
2 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 cup bbq sauce + more to top with
For potatoes:
3 lbs. white potatoes peeled and quartered
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup half and half
4 tbsp butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
dried parsley optional for garnish
Instructions
Mix together the ingredients for the meatloaf in a large bowl.
Shape into a loaf.
Peel and quarter potatoes.
Place the quartered potatoes in the bottom of you Instant Pot as evenly as possible.
Pour chicken broth over the top.
Place rack that comes with the Instant Pot, over the top of that, keeping it as flat as possible.
Put 2 pieces of aluminum foil over the top of that to make a make-shift bowl out of the foil for the meatloaf to sit in.
Set the meatloaf in the foil, on top of the rack.
Pour BBQ sauce over the top of the meat loaf.
Replace lid and shut steam valve.
Cook the meatloaf and potatoes in the Instant Pot on Manual mode for 25 minutes.
Quick release the steam.
Lift the meat loaf out of the Instant Pot or pressure cooker.
Add the remaining ingredients for the mashed potatoes to the pot and mash the potatoes well.
Serve sliced meatloaf with mashed potatoes.
Optional: broil meatloaf for a couple minutes to make the ends more crispy.
Two things: While you are cooking the meatloaf in the pressure cooker, you can also cook potatoes in the cooker at the same time. One pot for everything. Just lay the potatoes down and then place the meatloaf on top.
Secondly, growing up my mom used to put a round of gouda cheese in the middle of her meatloaf. The gouda melts and goes everywhere and it is extremely tasty.
*grin*
Based on this, I will now try the C B meatloaf. It’s just about exactly how Mom made it. Except that she, too, used rolled oats as the filler. Yum. Ready for a trip to the closest C B!