For years after my boarding school days I absolutely refused to even consider meat loaf as a legitimate type of food. Let alone one that I wanted to eat.
But I’ve always been a huge fan of meatballs and burgers and all things ground (minced) meat. And after falling in love with my meat ‘diamonds’ I decided it was time to tackle the humble meatloaf. Surely I could work some magic.
And so I did. I was thinking of ways to keep my meatloaf super succulent. And was reminded of how carrot cake and my zucchini cake had such beautiful texture. Surely the same principle could apply in savoury form.
Long story short, it does. This meatloaf has it all. Deeply flavoured from the beef and the tomato. And so so moist. Even my boys love it.
Oh and for the adults, choose a delicious sauce to turn it into a real treat.
Supermoist Meat Loaf
Ingredients
- 1 kg ground (minced) beef
- 2 medium zucchini (courgette) (300g / 10oz) for the meatloaf
- 8 medium zucchini (courgette) to roast and serve
- 4 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon salt
- tomato pesto or other sauce, to serve
- 1 small bunch flat leaf parsley mint or basil, to serve
Instructions
- Turn your oven to 200C (400F). Grate 2 zucchini and sliced the other 8 into coins about 1.5cm / 1/2in thick.
- Line a loaf pan (approx 24cm x 12cm (9in x 5in)) with baking paper. In a medium bowl combine meat, salt, tomato paste and the grated zucchini. Use a clean hand to squeeze and mix until the zucchini is evenly distributed. Press the meat mixture into the tin and smooth the top.
- Place the sliced zucchini in a large roasting tray. Drizzle with a little oil and scatter over a pinch of salt.
- Place meatloaf in the oven on the middle shelf. And slot the zucchini in on the shelf below. Set your timer for 55 minutes.
- When the timer goes check the meatloaf. It should be deeply golden and shrinking away from the sides of the pan. If you have a thermometer make sure the internal temperature is 71C (160F) or above. Remeber the tomato paste give the meat loaf a slightly pink colour even when cooked.
- To serve cut meatloaf into generous door step slices. Drizzle over the beautiful juices. Top with the sauce. Toss the herbs in with the zucchini and serve the roast veg on the side.
Nutrition
Variations & Substitutions
short on time – roll the meatloaf into meatballs and bake on a tray 250C (480F) for 15-20 minutes.
keto / ultra low carb – skip the zucchini.
vegetarian – am thinking a lentil loaf with egg to bind would be lovely – but would need to experiment first. Or try this Easy Mushroom Loaf for an incredibly delicious meat-free option.
nightshade-free – replace tomato paste with grated parmesan or almond meal.
more substantial (carb lovers) – serve with crusty bread or cooked pasta.
more substantial (low carb) – bigger slices! And more sauce.
Low FODMAP – skip the zucchini.
different vegetables – onion or carrot will work in place of the zucchini in the meatloaf. Feel free to serve with any roast veg. Also great with cabbage.
different protein – any ground (minced) meat will work.
more fancy / for entertaining – serve with another side salad like my reliable cabbage salad or these sunny parisian carrot bowls (without the extra protein). I’ve also served a middle eastern version with almond hummus and tabbouleh and pomegranate seeds sprinkled over – super pretty!
Waste Avoidance Strategy
ground (minced) beef – freeze it.
zucchini – will keep for 2 weeks or longer in a plastic bag in the fridge. To keep it even longer, cook sliced zucchini in a little butter until just soft then store in an airtight container in the fridge.
tomato paste – unopened in the pantry. Once open keep in the fridge.
pesto – commercial jars of pesto will keep for months in the pantry. Fresh pesto will keep in the fridge for a few weeks. Cover with olive oil to prevent exposure to air and browning reactions. Can be frozen.
parsley – will keep in the fridge wrapped in a plastic bag for a few weeks. Can be frozen or make a parsley oil by packing the leaves into a clean jar and covering with extra virgin olive oil.
Problem Solving Guide
bland – more salt! And a more delicious sauce. Try a splash of Tabasco or Sriracha if you like it hot.
too dry – overcooked meatloaf or your meat was too lean. Next time check earlier and / or use a different butcher. For now a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil will help.
no oven – form the mixture into burger patties and pan fry. Pan fry the extra zucchini or just serve the burgers with a green salad instead.
too much liquid – you’ll get the lovely zucchini and meat juices collecting in the sides of the pan – it looks like a lot but when you serve it out drizzled over the meatloaf you’ll be surprised that there’s isn’t as much as you’d think.
sticking to the pan – be sure to line your loaf pan with baking paper. Allowing to cool slightly before serving can help.
Prepare Ahead
Absolutely! Just cook as per the recipe but keep the zucchini and mint separately. Leftovers will keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or can be frozen. To serve, warm in the oven 200C (400F) for about 20 minutes or pan fry slices to warm more quickly.
Add to my Old Favourite Recipes
I have not made this yet. I have a question. Does the zucchini stay in the oven at 400 for 55 minutes? That seems like a long time to roast zucchini.
You know it does sound like a long time for the zucchini but because it’s in a pan under the meat loaf it actually is fine – and I like it on the very well cooked melting side – you can check earlier if you like 🙂
Oh my gosh Jules your Supermoist Meat Loaf is delicious. I served the meat loaf with Sweet Chilli sauce and it was the perfect addition to the recipe. Will definitely be making this one again. ??
So glad you enjoyed Jules!
Loved this! Used 1.5 lbs beef. Zucchini at the grocers was pitiful since it’s out of season, so subbed a shredded onion. Also added 2 shredded carrots and some shredded red cabbage which made for a wild, fun color combination!! Added an egg to help bind all the extra veggies. Makes great leftovers!
ooh LOVE the idea of your rainbow version Melanie 🙂
I made a half batch of this and added some garlic powder, onion powder and chopped rosemary to the meat, and more rosemary to the roast zucchini, capsicum, onion and potato. I have a meat thermometer, which was a bit slow to admit that the thickest part of the loaf had reached 71C, even though the loaf had shrunk away from the pan edges. I thought that a tomato sauce on a tomato-y loaf was overkill, so just used mayonnaise, which was a nice contrast. Good.
Nice addition with the rosemary Mark – it’s supposed to shrink in a little when done
Which it did. I’m regretting eating half of it for one meal. 250g of red meat is A LOT for one serving.
You could list your Easy Mushroom Loaf as a vegetarian alternative. I made that last week in lieu of this on the Meal Plan.
Thanks for the suggestion! THe Mushroom loaf is a more recent recipe and I didn’t think to go back and update this. Appreciate your thought.
No worries.
Loved this Jules. I had mine with a baby spinach, almond and parmesan pesto… delish
Liked that I could just put it in the oven and take the dog for a walk, came home and dinner was ready ?
Thanks for another super tasty dinner.
You’re so welcome Kath! So glad you enjoyed – this recipe took me a long time to perfect – so glad I perservered 🙂
I might add garlic and onions, to make it more like the meatloaf I grew up with. But I like the idea of adding the zucchini to make it more moist. I also like the idea of some of your variations. With the amount of meat specified at 1 kg, for us this would make 6 servings. Hmm… an easy to make meal that requires me to do less cooking during the week – what’s not to like? 🙂
Yes Susan!
I’m going to make it on the weekend with lamb and onion and some middle eastern spices and serve with almond hummus – it’s really versatile.
When I was developing the recipe I did a version with grated raw onion instead of the zucchini and it worked really well – beautiful flavour but I decided on this zucchini version for the official recipe to keep it suitable for the low FODMAP people.
Made this for dinenr tonight as written, except using parmesan in place of tomato paste. I was disappointed in it for two reasons. The primary one is that when I went to slice it, it was very rubbery. The other is that apart from the chimichurri sauce, it had bascially no flavor. I used 85% lean ground beef and there was a lot of fat around it, which I just poured off. Do I need to somehow save that fat and pour it over the sliced meatloaf? That still wouldn’t prevent it from being rubbery. The only other thing I can think of that might have caused the problem is that I did it for the specified time, but using convection bake. I usually do that becausee we are at 4000 feet altitude, but maybe this time it was overdone? I would appreciate any ideas you have.
Oh that’s a shame Susan…
The tomato paste does round out the flavour. And the pan juices help with the dryness. So I serve them with rather than pouring off.
Did you use the salt? That makes a big difference to the texture and flavour.
And the only other thing could be that it was over baked.
Thanks for reporting back!