This Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf is the perfect dinner to serve with your favorite sides. Combine your ingredients, bake in the oven, and slice into this delicious dish in no time.
What’s more of a comfort meal than meatloaf? It’s one of my favorite foods. I look forward to preparing at least once a week. I’ve recently started preparing this Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf, which has been a huge success in my household.
There’s something so incredible about the smoky taste and crisp texture of cooked bacon wrapped around the meatloaf and topped with a sweet homemade glaze consisting of ketchup, brown sugar, and balsamic vinegar.
This meatloaf is simple enough to make, even with the many ingredients it calls for, which are the standard ingredients that most people already have at home. Aside from its simplicity and great taste, I love that I can serve this with all kinds of sides.
While mashed potatoes are a huge hit as a side dish with this Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf, we also enjoy creamed spinach, baked macaroni and cheese, and even baked beans with this entree!
Bacon Meatloaf Recipe Ingredients
This meaty dish contains quite a few ingredients, so here is a brief rundown of what you’ll need to make this delicious comfort food dish:
- Ketchup: You need ketchup to prepare the perfect sweet glaze for this savory dish.
- Brown Sugar: Combine the brown sugar with your ketchup for added sweetness.
- Balsamic Vinegar: A tablespoon of this vinegar really adds something extra to the homemade glaze.
- Bacon: Use around eight to ten bacon slices for this meatloaf recipe.
- Ground Beef: I’d recommend using two pounds of ground beef to have enough to go around.
- Bread Crumbs: Add texture and flavor to your meatloaf with the addition of bread crumbs.
- Cheddar Cheese: Shred your cheddar cheese block beforehand.
- Grated Onion: Grate your onion into the tiniest of pieces possible for added flavor.
- Minced Garlic: Fresh minced garlic gives this meatloaf an incredible taste.
- Spices: Salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning are all you need for spices!
- Worcestershire Sauce: The addition of this sauce brings a savory, slightly zesty flavor to the meatloaf.
- Eggs: The eggs serve as a binding agent, keeping the meatloaf from falling apart!
How to Make This Meatloaf Recipe with Bacon
- Step 1: Preheat your oven and prep your glaze: Set it to 350 degrees F, allowing it to heat while preparing your meatloaf. In the meantime, combine your ketchup with the sugar and vinegar to make the glaze.
- Step 2: Get your loaf pan ready: Grab a 9×5 loaf pan and begin lining the bottom and sides of it with the bacon strips before setting it off to the side.
- Step 3: Prepare your meatloaf: Now, add ground beef to a large mixing bowl with the eggs, bread crumbs, spices, cheese, worcestershire sauce, and additional ketchup. Use your hands to give these ingredients a good mix before putting your meat mixture into the loaf pan and shaping it. Wrap the additional bacon strips on top of it.
Step 4: Cover and bake: Cover your loaf pan with a broiler pan rack, flip it upside down, and then place the rack on top of the boiler pan. Brush the top of your meatloaf with the ketchup glaze before baking for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, add more glaze, and bake for another 30-40 minutes. Once you’ve cooked your meatloaf, remove it from the oven and let it sit for 10-15 minutes before you slice it and serve!
Bacon Covered Meatloaf Recipe Tips
I’ve had no problems making this Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf perfectly every time. Here are a few tips that you can use to your advantage to ensure the same successful outcome:
- Go with high-quality, premium bacon so that it’s not too fatty. I’d suggest using regular cuts instead of thick-cut bacon for this recipe.
- When preparing this meatloaf, I typically use 85% lean so that it is more flavorful. You can use a leaner option, but it won’t have the exact same flavor!
- Both the eggs and bread crumbs help keep the meatloaf together. They work to bind it so that it’s not crumbling and falling apart, which is why I use them. You can use any brand and flavor of breadcrumbs that you desire.
Meatloaf Variations
- Swap your cheddar cheese for a different type of cheese, such as mozzarella. It will taste just as good!
- Prepare a spicier glaze for this Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf by adding a bit of hot sauce to your mixture with the ketchup, brown sugar, and balsamic vinegar.
- Use a blend of ground beef (or ground turkey), veal, and ground pork to achieve a different yet delicious flavor for this meatloaf.
More Meatloaf Recipes
Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf
Ingredients
Glaze
- 3/4 cup ketchup
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Meatloaf
- 8-10 slices bacon
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup onion grated
- 3/4 cup cheddar cheese shredded
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 2 teaspoons garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°.
- Make the glaze by stirring together the ketchup, brown sugar and vinegar until combined.
- Line a 9×5 loaf pan with strips of bacon, crosswise, slightly overlapping each other. The bacon should be hanging over the sides.
- Put ⅓ cup of the glaze on top of the bacon in the bottom of the loaf pan, spread out so it covers the bottom, set aside.
- In a large bowl, add the ground beef, bread crumbs, onion, cheese, eggs, worcestershire sauce, ketchup, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Using clean hands, gently mix everything together until it is well incorporated.
- Transfer the meat mixture to the loaf pan and press in place so the meat fills the pan and is even on top. Wrap the bacon that is hanging over the sides across the meatloaf.
- Cover the loaf pan with the rack of the broiler pan, or a different rack if using, and flip the pan upside down. Place the rack on top of the tray of the broiler pan, then lift the loaf pan off.
- Brush the top of the bacon covered meatloaf with a layer of the glaze.
- Bake for 30 minutes, remove from the oven, and add another layer of the glaze. Return to the oven for an additional 30-40 minutes, or until the internal temperature is 160°.
- Allow the meatloaf to rest for 15 minutes before slicing and serving. Garnish with fresh parsley if desired.
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