This Sheet Pan Glazed Meatloaf is one of my most popular recipes among family and friends. It's not your average meatloaf- it's deeply flavorful, has sweet, salty, and umami flavors, and cooks on one sheet pan.
What is Meatloaf?
In creating this recipe, I had to think– "what is it that makes a meatloaf so meatloafy?" Meatballs certainly aren't meatloaf. The shape has to be a loaf! Said loaf must be soft, not chewy. Hamburgers also aren't meatloaf.
Shape aside, it must have flavors of garlic and onion, with both moisturizing and binding ingredients, served with potatoes of some kind. And finally, it absolutely must be glazed in some kind of ketchup-based sauce.
Why Sheet Pan Glazed Meatloaf?
I grew up eating and absolutely loving my grandmother's meatloaf, which is glazed in ketchup and cooked in broth alongside potato wedges, peas, and carrots. It's delicious, but it's her meatloaf.
In creating this recipe, I took my favorite aspects of her delicious meatloaf and made them more suitable for On the Bias... a touch more modern, with some twists on the classic ingredients and method.
Salty, Spicy, Umami Meatloaf
I highly recommend using more umami-enhancing flavors in your day-to-day cooking. Aside from the ground meat, ketchup, soy sauce and Worcestershire add rich, umami flavor to the glaze. You'll find similar flavors in my awesome apple chicken meatball recipe.
I also love adding hints of spice wherever I can, so cayenne and crushed red pepper provide a whisper of spice. I'd argue that adding spice to food, even if it's just a touch, is non-negotiable, like adding salt.
Sheet Pan Magic
Sheet pans allow for excellent browning and caramelization of the vegetables. As much as I love the more "traditional" meatloaf pairing of mashed potatoes, I also love roasted vegetables for their crunchy edges that form against the bottom of a sheet pan. They're just more deeply flavorful than mashed potatoes.
Caramelized Onions?
You might be thinking- it's unusual to pile caramelized onions onto meatloaf. Well, I'm here to tell you, it WORKS. This mound of rich, flavorful caramelized onions literally piles on another element of sweet, savory flavor. Plus, they look downright sexy and impressive.
What you'll need to make Sheet Pan Glazed Meatloaf
A good sheet pan, like the one I listed above, will serve you well. If you're looking for another reason to use sheet pans in your every day cooking and meal prep, check out my recipe for Lemon Ricotta Pizza with Calabrian Chili Oil.
This recipe for Sheet Pan Glazed Meatloaf requires a lot of dicing, so a chef's knife will be very helpful. I use this Wustoff 8" chef's knife almost every day as my primary knife.
Another worthwhile investment is a good pepper grinder. The only thing worse than a pepper grinder taking FOREVER to grind peppercorns is using pre-ground black pepper. OXO is a reliable brand for almost any kitchen product. Their pepper grinder is no exception.
You can also buy a large bag of pepper corns while you're at it. I'm begging you, PLEASE grind your own pepper. Pre-ground pepper has almost no taste comparatively. You will not be sorry!
Other Sweet and Savory Recipes from OTB
Bacon and Sweet Potato Shakshuka
Apple Chicken Meatballs with Spiced Sweet Potato Mash
Sweet and Spicy Calabrian Chili Baked Wings
About the Author
To learn more about Gianna, the recipe developer and creator of this website, click here.
You can also follow along on instagram at @onthebiasnyc
And if you make this recipe, please leave a review below!
Sheet Pan Glazed Meatloaf Recipe
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Sheet Pan Glazed Meatloaf with Heaping Caramelized Onions
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Total Time: 1.5 hours
- Yield: 3-4 1x
- Category: Meat
- Method: sheet pan meals
- Cuisine: American
Description
A delicious sweet and savory Sheet Pan Meatloaf that you'll make over and over again.
Ingredients
- 2 lb ground pork/veal/beef mixture. (see note 1)
- 5 Yukon Gold/ Butter Potatoes, cut into half-inch cubes
- 1 cup of carrots, diced
- 1 Gala apple, peeled and diced
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- ¼ c Olive oil
- ⅛c plain breadcrumbs (see note 2)
- ½ of a yellow onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- Soy sauce, 2tsp and ½ teaspoon for different steps in the process
- Ketchup, ⅛c and ¼c for different steps in the process
- ⅛c milk (Any kind works. I've used oat milk, 1%, and even half & half in the past)
- ¼c grated parmesan cheese
- 2 eggs
- ½c parsley, chopped
- 2tsp maple syrup (see note 3)
- 1tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 large sweet onions, sliced (see note 4)
- Salt, freshly cracked black pepper, cayenne, and crushed red pepper for seasoning. (see note 5)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. Dice the potatoes, apple (peeled), and carrots, and spread them onto a baking sheet. Toss with ¼c olive oil, thyme, 2tsp salt, and several cracks of black pepper. Place on the middle rack in your oven and set a timer for 20 minutes. When the timer goes off, remove vegetables from oven, toss them, and create an oblong space in the center of the pan where the meatloaf will be palced.
- While vegetables are getting a head start on their roasting, make your meatloaf mixture. Heat a small skillet with about 1Tb olive oil and sauté the diced onion and garlic with a pinch of salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes. Once soft and starting to brown, deglaze the pan with 1 teaspoon soy sauce. Once the liquid evaporates, which will happen quickly, remove pan from heat to cool.
- In the large bowl add the ground meat, 2 egg, ⅛c ketchup, ⅛c milk, ⅛c breadcrumbs, ¼c parmesan, cooled onion/garlic mixture, 1.5 teaspoon salt (three 3-finger pinches), and 5 cracks of black pepper. Use your clean hands to combine. Form meatloaf into an oblong or rectangular shape and place it in the center of the baking sheet containing the partially-roasted vegetables.
- Make your glaze. In a small bowl, whisk together the other ¼ c ketchup, 2 teaspoon soy sauce, 2 teaspoon maple syrup, 1 teaspoon Worcestershire, and a small pinch of cayenne pepper. Pour the sauce all over the meatloaf. Place meatloaf in the oven for 30-40 minutes. You can take its temperature at the end with an instant read thermometer to make sure it's cooked. Meatloaf should reach an internal temperature of at least 150F. Let it rest for 4 minutes before slicing.
- While meatloaf is cooking, make the caramelized onions. Slice the 2 sweet onions. In a large skillet over a medium-high flame, heat about 1TB olive oil and place onions in the pan with 2 big pinches of salt, about a teaspoon. Cook for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they become dark caramel in color. If they start to blacken, lower the heat to medium, and continue to cook, stirring more frequently.
- Place 2 slices of meatloaf on each plate, surround them with roasted vegetables, and top with a heaping pile of onions.
Notes
- If your grocery store doesn't sell this combination, you can make it yourself by purchasing individual packages of each to make 2 pounds. Ground chicken would also work.
- You can make your own breadcrumbs by toasting a couple slices of bread and crumbling them with your fingers
- Use honey if you don't have maple syrup
- Vidalia is a brand of sweet onions, but you can also use yellow onions. They just won't be as sweet.
- Freshly cracked pepper is much more flavorful than pre-ground. I love my Unicorn Pepper Grinder and bulk peppercorns from Amazon.com
Keywords: Sheet pan glazed meatloaf, meatloaf