I just recently signed up for ButcherBox which if you’re not familiar with it, it’s a monthly subscription box service for high quality meat— you can choose between beef, chicken and/or pork! I’ve said on here time and time again, I am by no means a vegetarian. I do enjoy meat, but mostly will eat chicken more than anything. I try to limit my red meat intake to a couple times a month. I love ButcherBox because everything is humanely raised, has no antibiotics, no added hormones and is of the highest quality. The beef is grass-fed, the chicken is free range and the pork is heritage breed. It literally doesn’t get any better than this. You can tell that they really love what they do and are passionate about respecting the planet, the lives of the animals and the livelihoods of farmers. I feel better eating meat knowing exactly where it comes from and the quality is sublime.
I just got my first box (a mix of all three with various different cuts) and I’m obsessed. It comes frozen in a well-insulated recyclable box with dry ice. I decided to use some of the ground beef from my box to make this delicious Italian Meatloaf. It’s like a giant meatball cooked in marinara and topped with mozzarella cheese. Serve it with creamy polenta and some crusty bread for sopping up the sauce and dinner is done.
Right now, ButcherBox is running a promotion for new subscribers! You can get 2 pounds of their grass-fed, grass finished ground beef for free for life. That means you’ll get 2 pounds of ground beef in every box for free for as long as you’re subscribed. That is a major deal, especially if you’re like me and love ground beef. The offer ends on October 4th, so take advantage of it before it’s too late. Click here to subscribe!
I’m using the 100% grass-feed grass-finished ground beef from my Butcher Box shipment. You want something with a little bit of fat to it, so that the meatloaf doesn’t dry out. This is 85%/15%. At the same time, you don’t want something with too much fat or else you’ll end up with a greasy loaf.
**Note: You can also use half ground beef and half ground Italian sausage if you want to give your meatloaf a bit more depth in terms of flavor!**
Add the milk, bread crumbs, parmesan, eggs, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, dried basil, red pepper flakes, and parsley.
**Note: I always add milk to my meatballs, because it keeps them moist, and since I modeled this meatloaf to be one giant meatball basically, I recommend adding it here as well. Also, I wanted to use all ground beef but wanted the sausage flavor to come through, so adding fennel seeds will achieve that!**
Give it a mix until all of it is well-combined. Make sure not to over-mix or else you’ll end up with a dry tough meatloaf.
**Tip: Mix it by hand until everything is just evenly distributed, but don’t overwork it to death.**
Pour half of the marinara sauce into a 9×13 baking dish, spreading it out into an even layer. Shape the meat mixture into a large oval loaf and place it into the baking dish on top of the sauce. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.
**Tip: If you’re feeling extra, you can totally make the marinara sauce from scratch. I love a homemade sauce, but there are some great store-bought options these days. My all-time favorite is Rao’s marinara. It’s literally the best jarred sauce out there right now. This isn’t an ad for Rao’s at all. Just my honest opinion.**
Carefully remove from the oven, uncover and top the meatloaf with the remaining marinara sauce. Top with the mozzarella cheese and return to the oven, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
I love my meatloaf with mashed potatoes. Always. But since this is an Italian Meatloaf after all, I wanted to ditch the potatoes and serve it with polenta instead! I have a great recipe for it here. But it’s pretty easy. Just bring 2 cups milk and 2 cups water (with a large pinch of salt) to a simmer. Stir in 1 cup coarse cornmeal and cook over low, stirring often, until the polenta is tender and soft, about 25 to 30 minutes. Stir in 2 pats of butter, parmesan and black pepper before serving. EASY!
Once the cheese has melted through and the loaf has cooked through, carefully remove from the oven and let cool slightly before garnishing with fresh basil right before serving.
You can also sprinkle it with a bit more parmesan and a pinch or two of crushed red pepper flakes, depending on how hot you like things.
Serve the meatloaf with polenta (or mashed potatoes would be great too) or even a green salad is good too. One thing is a must, lots of crusty bread for sopping up that marinara sauce!
If you’re not a fan of beef, or want to lighten this up a tad, you can totally make this with either ground chicken or ground turkey instead. It would be just a good whichever route you take. This would also be great as meatballs. Shape the mixture into balls and place in the dish as directed. Bake for half the top and then top with sauce and cheese as instructed below. Cook for another 10 minutes and you’ll be good to go!
I hope you’ll give this recipe a try soon because it’s a delicious mid-week dinner option! Sure it cooks for an hour, but that’s as far as the hard work goes. You literally just mix everything together quickly and then the oven does all the work for you! You can even prep this the night before and just bake it off when you get home from work, if you really want to make this as quick as possible. Leftovers would make a great sandwich. Hint hint. Don’t forget to pay a visit to my friends over at Butcher Box and if you feel inclined to sign up, I highly recommend it. Take advantage of that free ground beef for life of your subscription! As always, stay safe out there and let me know if you have any questions!
**Thank you for your continued support of the occasional sponsored post on this site. They help keep the blog going, allowing me to continue to share my recipes with you on a weekly basis. I never want my sponsorships to feel forced, which is why I only partner with companies I feel very passionate about and actually use on a regular basis.**
Italian Meatloaf
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef 85/15%
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 1 cup Panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 small yellow onion minced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse black pepper
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 1 24-ounce jar marinara sauce
- 3/4 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
- 2 tablespoons torn fresh basil leaves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, milk, bread crumbs, parmesan, eggs, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, dried basil, red pepper flakes, and parsley until well-combined. Make sure not to over-mix or else you'll end up with a dry meatloaf. Mix by hand until everything is just evenly distributed.
- Pour half of the marinara sauce into a 9x13 baking dish, spreading it out into an even layer. Shape the meat mixture into an oval loaf and place it into the pan on top of the sauce. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.
- Carefully remove from the oven, uncover and top the meatloaf with the remaining marinara sauce. Top with the mozzarella cheese and return to the oven, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before garnishing with fresh basil and then slice and serve. Enjoy!
Looks good, for those of us not in US, what would you think was in Italian seasoning? Oregano and basil and parsley and fennel you already have.
So each brand varies with the mix of spices and herbs but generally it’s a combination of: dried basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, garlic powder, sage, or coriander.
Wonderful! I have my own favorite meatloaf recipe, but this one intrigued me. I made it last night and both my husband and I loved it! I followed the recipe and did not make any changes, except my bottle of RAO’s was 20 Oz, and it worked fine. Made enough for us to have as leftovers one night and, I froze some for one night in the future. Thank you! I love all your recipes. Every recipe I have tried has been a keeper.
Did you make the Polenta with it? I’ve never made Polenta, but it looks fabulous!
I made this last night and it was amazing. I’m always looking for quick comfort meals for feeding my family, especially my teenage son who has a voracious apppetite. This was perfect. I made mashed potatoes and broccoli as sides and everyone loved it!
Why milk and why so much? Wouldn’t the meatloaf ooze extra liquid in the baking? What about using soda water and maybe only 1/3 cup since there are eggs that already add moisture?
Hi Debbie, my grandmother always used milk in her meatballs and her meatloaf. It provides moisture, and the fat from whole milk prevents it from drying out in the oven, while the eggs are only a binding agent, not really adding moisture. 3/4 cup of milk might seem like a lot but there is 1 cup of bread crumbs going in and so that really soaks it up nicely, preventing any excess moisture from oozing during baking. Give it a try, I promise you’ll see the difference!
I don’t know how I missed this one when it was first posted. It looks yummy. I love fennel seeds and throw them in even when I cooking sausage. My dad used to do a spin on meatloaf where he added leftover rice to it and topped it with marinara and cheese. We always had leftover rice and he was always looking for ways to use it. He even adds it to scrambled eggs which my husband is not a fan of. Well he’s from up North and we are in the South. Differences.
I made this a few years ago and loved it and now want to make as a freezer meal for my daughter who’s expecting twins. Do you think I should freeze without the mozzarella topping and rest of sauce (but baked up to that point) and continue with that once it’s defrosted and reheated? How should it be reheated? Thank you.