The Best Vintage Meatloaf Recipe For A Classic Family Dinner

Old-fashioned meatloaf is the best meatloaf. Simple ingredients that combine to make a classic comfort food just like Grandma served — just the thing on a disagreeable November night while you are regretting a political conversation with your next-door neighbor!

This old-fashioned homemade meatloaf tastes better than any frozen convenience version—and it’s much better for you because it’s made with fresh, wholesome ingredients. Once you see how simple it is to make your own meatloaf from scratch, you’ll want it in a regular busy-weeknight rotation.

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What You’ll Need to Make This Recipe

• Ground beef, ground pork, or meatloaf mix –You can use all beef, or mix in a little pork for fat and flavor. But use ground chuck with 20% fat! it keeps the meatloaf juicy.
• Instant oatmeal — extenders make the meatloaf lighter and improve the texture when they soak up the milk
• Eggs — to bind the meatloaf
• Milk — whole milk combines with oatmeal to make the perfect juicy meatloaf texture
• Tomato juice — the secret ingredient!
• Onions — onions are an important part of the juiciness and flavor in classic meatloaf
• Worcestershire sauce — Worcestershire sauce is a crucial part of the flavor of most vintage classic dinners
• Salt and pepper — classic salt and pepper should not be scorned

And remember, traditional meatloaf should be gray-brown throughout—no pink centers here! Cook the meatloaf at 350 degrees F.

How to Make Classic Old-Fashioned Meatloaf

You can find meatloaf recipes in most vintage cookbooks. I prefer 1940s meatloaf recipes to 1950s meatloaf recipes because they don’t contain canned or prepared foods, so I can use only whole foods like beef and oatmeal. My favorite meatloaf recipes come from The Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book and Meta Given’s Modern Family Cook Book.

Step 1: Prepare the Meat Mixture

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Put the meat in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the middle for the oatmeal.

Put the oatmeal into the well in the middle of the meat.

Finely mince the onion.

Step 2: Add Liquid Ingredients and Seasonings

Break open the eggs into a bowl and beat them slightly.

Blend the milk, tomato juice, finely minced onion, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper into the beaten eggs.

Pour the mixture into the oats in the center of the meat, and let it sit for 5 minutes.

Stir gently for 3 minutes to ensure all ingredients are evenly incorporated.

Step 3: Shape the Meatloaf

Pack the mixture firmly into a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. It should just fill the pan.

Shape the top into a gentle dome for even cooking and a classic appearance.

Step 4: Bake the Meatloaf

Bake in the preheated oven for 1½ hours at 350 degrees F. I usually make this into an entire oven meal by baking potatoes, roasting potato wedges, or baking a pan of scalloped potatoes, and baking or roasting carrots, green beans, or another vegetable in the oven as well.

Before you remove the meatloaf, check for doneness: the interior should be gray-brown with no pink. When you take out the meatloaf, the loaf pan should be quite full of fat which you can drain off.

If you prefer to glaze the meatloaf, turn the oven up to 425 degrees F while you let the meatloaf sit in the pan for 10 minutes before turning it onto a sheet pan, and brushing ketchup or BBQ sauce over it. Once the glaze is on, bake the now-glazed meatloaf, alongside your pan of hot rolls (you did make a 1-hour roll dough just after you made your meatloaf, didn’t you?) for 20 minutes at 425 degrees F.

Step 5: Rest and Serve

Let the meatloaf stand for 10 minutes before slicing. It’s nice to put it on a platter with parsley and pickled okra or onions for garnish. I use this old French’s ad for my reference:

The 10-minute rest gives you just time to take up the ice water, salad, and butter to the table before dishing up and getting the food on the table. If you want to know about properly setting the table, step-by-step, you can find that here.

Serving Classic Meatloaf for a Vintage Family Dinner

This recipe serves 8, and can be refrigerated and eaten cold, or even frozen.

I like to serve this with other oven dishes. My favorite menu is meatloaf glazed with ketchup, scalloped potatoes, herbed tomatoes or roasted green beans, celery sticks for relish and pickles for the loaf, hot rolls, and something delicious like hot fudge sundaes or apple pie. The menu is based on this 1950s menu from Better Homes and Gardens:

My husband prefers meatloaf glazed with BBQ sauce, and baked potatoes instead of scalloped potatoes. He also prefers cooked carrots, I cut the carrots into coins or sticks, put them in a foil-covered oven dish with a little water, and bake them alongside the meatloaf and potatoes. I add a tossed salad with ranch dressing, corn muffins instead of hot rolls, and dessert.