Meatloaf

Could you be more specific about how you substitute quick cooking oatmeal for the bread and milk. Do you cook it first? How much oatmeal do you use? It is a very interesting idea.

I much prefer adding the Worcestershire sauce to the meatloaf mixture, and adding vinegar and brown sugar to the ketchup for the glaze. Just personal preference.

I use quick cooking oatmeal instead of bread and milk. The texture is very good, and perhaps it is a healthier version. And faster!

@Anita, the Quaker Oats meat loaf recipe (which I've used for decades) calls for 3/4 cup uncooked oats per 1-1/2 pounds of meat.

I think instead of two tablespoons of kosher salt, it should read 2 teaspoons. I cut it back to 1 tablespoon, and very salty.

Why on Earth anyone feels the need to add five garlic cloves to this recipe is beyond me? Garlic overpowers every other flavor. Lay off the garlic, it is included in almost every recipe you publish on this site, Americans use it way too much and it's a lazy way to flavor food. Especially, when it is completely unnecessary. I know many will disagree, and that's ok.

If you add half a package of frozen chopped spinach, cooked and squeezed dry, along with some dry basil and oregano and one cup or more of grated imported Reggiano Parmesano to the mix it will add more flavors to the meatloaf and make it very moist. I use cream instead of milk to soak the bread and use bread that is not as soft as regular white bread.

My best friend from college, still my dearest friend after 50 years, had a wonderful mother who was a superb cook. She taught me to mix ketchup, mustard and brown sugar for my meatloaf glaze. Caramelizes beautifully and tastes delicious. (Quantities to taste.)

Anita-- It doesn't have to be quick cooking oatmeal, regular oatmeal will do (maybe not steel-cut). I grew up making it this way, the recipe was on the side of the Quaker Oats canister of oatmeal. About 3/4 c. UNCOOKED to 1 1/2 lbs of meat mixture.

I used to make my meatloaf with catsup but now I substituted my favorite barbecue sauce for it. I also add a bit to the meat mixture.

Morton Kosher Salt (blue box) has more sodium than Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt (red box). Most culinary magazines rely on Diamond Crystal for their recipe testing & they usually list their 'standards' like, large eggs, unsalted butter, Diamond Crystal salt, etc. somewhere near the index section. Once you switch brands you'll immediately taste the difference.

I often use shredded zucchini as the filler with the meat. plus add some spices like cumin and mustard, and only one egg for helping bind it all together. But then again, I am not using three pounds of meat.

Use the leftover tomato paste thinned with ketchup—or even better with cocktail sauce—for the glaze. The tanginess of horseradish in the cocktail sauce is delish. Actually, I call cocktail sauce “ketchup for adults” and usually keep it in my fridge instead of ketchup.

This is exactly our old family recipe for meatloaf. I was surprised when Sam said it is new. What goes around comes around. Always good.

Maybe if I hadn’t been drinking I would’ve thought harder before adding 2 tablespoons of salt to this recipe... let alone any recipe ever. NYT cooking I love you but why the fancy salt? Can we flag this type of thing more clearly in the future?