Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf

It’s been about 10 years since we last enjoyed this meatloaf so we opted to make it for our Friday get together.  Since my cooking is now limited for six weeks, Bev was the chef for this meal.  Our favorite part of a meatloaf meal is the leftovers made into meat loaf sandwiches and to ensue plenty and match our meat amount, we doubled the recipe to get the one below.

Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf – Adapted from Smoky Mountain Café  

The Ingredients:

4 pounds lean ground beef

4 tbsps. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 cup Italian bread crumbs

1 cup finely chopped onions

½ cup finely chopped celery

1 of green bell pepper - finely chopped

2 heaping tbsp minced garlic

4 tbsps. chopped flat leaf parsley

4 eggs

1 tbsps. Kosher salt

1 tbsps. black pepper

4 cups shredded Sharp Cheddar cheese

8 slices of hickory smoked bacon, cooked and crumbled

The Directions:

1. Heat a skillet over medium high heat and add the olive oil.  Once oil begins to ripple add in the onions celery and bell pepper and saute for about 2 minutes. 

2. Add in the garlic and parsley and saute for another 2 to 3 minutes.  Remove skillet from heat and place veggies in a bowl to cool slightly.

3. Preheat oven to 375°F.

4. In a large mixing bowl, combine beef, bread crumbs, wilted veggies, eggs, salt and pepper. Mix well.

4. Place meat mixture on a piece of wax paper about 18 inches long.  Place meet mixture on wax paper and place another piece of wax paper equally as long on top of the meat.  Using a large baking sheet, press the meat out to about 1/2 inch thick with approximate dimensions of 10" x 15".

5. Spread cheese over the meat, leaving a 3/4 inch border around the edges.

6. Sprinkle bacon over cheese.

7. Roll the meat in a jellyroll fashion to enclose the filling and form a pinwheel loaf. Press both ends to enclose the cheese.  With double meat, ours was too thick to roll so we folded it in half – or we could have made two loaves.

8. Place in a large baking dish or pan with high sides and bake for about 45 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 160°F.   Allow to rest for about 5 minutes before slicing.

We served it with some plate mashed, boiled potatoes and buttered baby peas.

The Verdict:

Once again it was very good and a hit with the diners but I wish we had made two loaves so we could have rolled it and spread the cheese throughout it more rather than all in the middle.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

12/16/22 meal date