We were having some friends over the other night and I had 2 hours to get to the store and have dinner ready and sitting on the table. What the heck was I was going to make? Meatloaf. Instead of shaping it into a mound-shaped loaf, I decided to cook the meatloaf in cake pans. Instead of two hours, it took less than one. The key to moist meatloaf is fat–a combination of 80/20 beef and a smidge of ground pork and let us not forget, the secret ingredient, baconnnnnn. Top it with our own version of homemade ketchup–and dinner is practically done.
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground pork
- 2 lb ground beef
- 1 c almond flour
- 2 eggs
- 1 c of tomato sauce (recipe below)
- 10 slices of bacon
- s&p
Ingredients for Tomato Sauce
- 1 15 oz can of fire roasted tomatoes
- 1 1/2 c (about 1) roasted red pepper
- 1/2 onion, roughly chopped
- 4 cloves garlic
- s&p
Method
Place your oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat it to 350ºF.
In your food processor blend together all the ingredients for the tomato sauce.
In a large bowl use your hands to mix together the ground meats, eggs, almond flour, tomato sauce and salt & pepper. Separate the meatloaf mixture into two 9 inch cake pans. Fill the cake pans to the brim, as the meat loafs will shrink consdierably as they cook. Top with the slices of bacon.
Bake for 45 minutes. Turn the oven to broil and get the bacon crispy, about 10 minutes.
While the meatloaf is baking, pour the rest of the tomato sauce into a small saucepot and simmer over medium heat.
Once cool, remove the meatloaf from the pan and slice on the opposite direction you placed the bacon–against the grain, just like meat. Top with the tomato sauce and serve immediately.
61 Comments
Maria
September 26, 2010 at 2:44 pmI am a “Primal” personal trainer that loves your website. I have added a link to your website! Thanks for all your hard work
megan keatley
September 27, 2010 at 11:54 amthanks maria!
Katrina
July 10, 2012 at 11:39 amI made it in muffin tins….crumbled bacon on top of each one & cook for abt 30-35min. Kids Love them bc it’s not really “meat loaf” it’s hamburger muffins! I also sneak in some onions & carrots on them. I always make double & give one to each kid as well as myself on the way out the door in the morning.
megan keatley
July 16, 2012 at 11:52 amhahaha, however you gotta sell it..right? love it.
Primal Mami
September 26, 2010 at 3:45 pmI used to despise meatloaf as a kid, however, I can’t wait to make your version for my own!
megan keatley
September 27, 2010 at 11:55 amthat’s exactly what the guy said who we made this meatloaf for (i didn’t know this at the time). he said he really liked it. let me know how you like it!
matt
October 24, 2010 at 2:54 pmjust a tip…I tried it using organic catsup instead of making the tomato sauce. Didn’t work very well. It’s not disgusting but not great. Next shot will be with the recommended sauce.
Jiri Feala
October 28, 2010 at 10:48 amWe had this recipe last night. It was DELICIOUS!!! My diehard whole grainer wife even loved it!!! thank you soooo much for this recipe. After making the recipes on your site, over the last few days, I think i’m starting to see her converting right before my eyes. haha
P.S. Wish me luck with the fajitas tonight!!!
megan keatley
October 28, 2010 at 1:24 pmthat’s awesome! if you can make meatloaf, you can make fajitas. have no fear!
sam
October 28, 2010 at 7:50 pmI made this meatloaf the other day using homemade bbq sauce instead of tomato sauce. It was amazing!!
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CNYmicaa
November 6, 2010 at 1:01 amI too, would like to thank you for all your hard work. It is really generous of you to post these recipes for free. I have only tried a few, but they have all turned out well and even my non-paleo husband likes them, lol
I was recently looking online for a paleo cookbook. It was $37, and it wasn’t even a real book I could take to the kitchen, and prop open. It was just sent as a download in an email. I couldn’t see paying that much. I am waiting for Lauren Cordain’s book this Dec, which is supposed to be ~$13 ish. I download most of my Paleo and other reading to my kindle for less than ten bucks!
But thank you for not making delicious Paleo out of reach for those of us who really weigh choices and budget their money. Food by itself is expensive enough, and when you aren’t extending the food budget with rice, potatoes and other starches, one has to be careful.
I am going to try this meatloaf with ground venison, home packaged and already mixed with pork, so that ought to be enough fat, especially with the bacon added in…
megan keatley
November 6, 2010 at 3:11 pmthank you so much! venison should definitely work. i wish we could get our hands on some, with all the hunters we know around here in sc. oh well.
christina
December 18, 2010 at 5:52 pmWe made this last night and it was AMAZING!!! Thanks again!
megan keatley
December 20, 2010 at 10:26 pmawesome…thanks christina!!
Whitney
February 15, 2011 at 9:03 pmI’ve never put bacon on my meatloaf before reading this and I just want to say…THANK YOU…yumm.
I made two heart-shaped meat loaves for dinner last night (Valentine’s). We called them (meat) Loaves of Love (yes, we are corny).
DH wasn’t sure whether he’d like bacon on his serving so I made two and put bacon on one and tomato sauce on the other (so it’d be red, see?). Guess what, DH tasted them both, but went back for seconds of the bacon topped one and asked for it for lunch today. Bacon on top also caused our 7yo little guy to dance around the room doing some sort of bacon dance. 🙂
Revelation, I tell you.
Whitney
Rebecca
October 15, 2011 at 3:46 pmOh my goodness, I can totally picture this bacon dance. Thank you for that magnificent image. 🙂
Erinn
February 22, 2011 at 10:11 pmBetter than any SAD meatloaf I have ever tried. Fantastic!
megan keatley
February 24, 2011 at 12:01 pmthanks erinn & whitney!
Rosa
July 11, 2011 at 11:46 amMade this paleo meatloaf with ground bison…it was AWESOME! Great recipe! thanks!
Folke
August 31, 2011 at 3:53 pmI’m having trouble getting hold of those fire roasted tomatoes since I live in Sweden and quite a few of your recipes seem to include that. Do you know anything that would work as a substitute or do I have to light a fire on my balcony and whip out the barbies? 🙂
Again, thanks for some great recipes!
Rebecca
October 15, 2011 at 3:49 pmI realize I am replying late here, but I found this really great blog recipe for making (and canning) your own fire roasted tomatoes and she says you can use the broiler in your oven instead: http://delicioushouse.blogspot.com/2010/08/fire-roasted-diced-tomatoes.html
Brandon Keatley
August 31, 2011 at 9:52 pmhey folke…if you just used a regular can of tomatoes i don’t think you would lose too much.
if you can get your hands on smoked paprika you could try adding a bit of that to the tomatoes to give you a little bit of a smokey flavor.
Brandon Nolte
September 5, 2011 at 9:12 pmGreat recipe, my dad loved it!
megan keatley
September 7, 2011 at 12:09 pmthanks brandon! i hope you loved it too 😉
Brandon Nolte
September 7, 2011 at 10:48 pmI’m not much of a meatloaf guy. But this was WAAAY better then standard meatloaf. Let’s be real: bacon on top – genius.
megan keatley
September 8, 2011 at 8:23 pmwell thanks. i appreciate that. read your review. if i could add something, if you put the oven on broil towards the end it should help crisp up the bacon for ya.
Jessica
September 13, 2011 at 2:21 pmWhooooeeee! I made this last night for a dinner party and got rave reviews from kids and adults. Can’t wait to make this again, I plan on adding in some garlic and more spices. Mmmmmm!
Ryan
September 30, 2011 at 10:22 amI love this recipe! I actually made a half and half version: One side was the regular recipe, the other side was the recipe with onion and jalapeno added and then homemade salsa on top rather than the tomato sauce. Both sides were incredible!
megan keatley
October 3, 2011 at 1:22 pmnice! thanks ryan!
Terry Austin
October 9, 2011 at 5:48 pmquick question… you mention in the directions mixing the tomato sauce in with the meats. Later you say ‘while the meatloaf is baking, put the rest of the sauce in a sauce pot and simmer over medium heat’… I presume from this that 1/2 of the sauce goes in the loaf and the remainder gets warmed/reduced to serve with. Correct???? Thanks! – Terry & Karla Austin
megan keatley
October 9, 2011 at 5:56 pmhi terry and karla. so you just make the tomato sauce and use 1 cup of that to mix into the meat loaf. hope y’all enjoy!
Katie
October 14, 2011 at 1:34 amCould you make this in a crock pot? And then maybe pan cook the bacon and add it when the meatloaf is done cooking for like, 6-8 hours, on low? I think the recipe looks awesome! But I want to slow cook it 🙁
megan keatley
October 21, 2011 at 2:01 pmi’ve never made meatloaf in a crock pot, so i have absolutely no clue. might as well try it, right? i mean, it will at least be edible…right?
Erin
October 25, 2011 at 7:39 pmDoes this produce gallons of grease?
Sounds yummy!
megan keatley
October 26, 2011 at 2:21 pmindeed it does. but you just drain it off after it’s done cooking.
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Anne
November 28, 2011 at 7:04 pmBest Paleo Meatloaf EVER! Even “Princess Picky”, my 4 year old daughter, ate it and liked it. Thank you!!
megan keatley
December 5, 2011 at 1:29 pmprincess picky! hahahaha. love it! thanks anne!
Casey
November 28, 2011 at 11:05 pmWhat are fire roasted tomatoes and where do I go about acquiring them?
Also for the roasted red peppers, do you roast your own red peppers before processing them?
brandon keatley
November 29, 2011 at 9:03 amhere are the ones we buy:
http://www.muirglen.com/products/fireroasted_detail.aspx
they are at chain groceries and our local specialty food store where we live mixed in with all the other canned tomatoes.
but if you can’t find them regular diced or crushed tomatoes would be just fine.
also, you can roast your own pepper or buy jarred ones in water for convenience.
Laura
December 1, 2011 at 5:37 pmis almond flour the same thing as almond meal? i was thinking about making this this weekend, and im pretty sure trader joe’s sells almond meal, but not sure about almond flour. thanks!
brandon keatley
December 1, 2011 at 6:06 pmit is one and the same. basically just blanched ground up almonds.
Jenny
February 28, 2012 at 12:57 pmSeriously tasty! Yes. Will make again and again….
I added some finely chopped onion and carrot to mine, and cooked it in my slow cooker set to 155 degrees on the probe (in a loaf pan). We ate until we could eat no more and didn’t have nearly as much leftovers as we should have after pigging out ; ) I had to run into the kitchen and hoard a slice for lunch the next day.
Next time I’m going to try increasing the sauce by 50% and adding a tbsp tomato paste too.
So yum.
megan keatley
March 7, 2012 at 11:41 amnice. thanks jenny!
Jeran
March 21, 2012 at 6:22 pmi subbed flax meal for almond meal since my son is allergic to nuts. it was awesome!
laura
April 5, 2012 at 8:53 amI just had to comment and tell you I made this last night and it was delicious! I am the only paleo person in the house and most of them also have a strong dislike of anything “meatloaf” however, 3lbs of meatloaf managed to vanish in damn near record time. The sauce was delicious and so easy and definitely a huge improvement from the ketchup that turns alot of people off. thanks again! Grandma even went for seconds, unheard of
Shaleen
April 16, 2012 at 3:04 pmI am making this for the second time tonight, the meatloaf is delicious…but the tomato sauce is out of this world! I am seriously considering eating it warm, all by itself like tomato soup!
megan keatley
April 17, 2012 at 11:44 amhahaha…that works! thanks so much shaleen!
Amanda
July 8, 2012 at 9:51 amI’ve always hated meatloaf, but after reading this recipe I figured the ingredients were right up my alley and it was worth a shot. When I tasted the sauce raw, I was worried, but after I simmered it was completely amazing! This meatloaf is in a class of it’s own! It was delicious! I baked the “loaf” in a 8×12 pyrex and the timing was still just right. The only thing I’ll do differently next time is add 1/2 Cup of sauce to the meat instead of a whole cup. The meat mixture seemed a bit too loose before cooking it. Thanks for redeeming meatloaf in our house. I can see this recipe being used as one of our “go-to” meals!
jenny
August 10, 2012 at 7:07 pmTrying this tonight! wish me luck!
Rebecca
September 5, 2012 at 10:58 pmRidiculously delicious! Nuf said! Can’t wait to enjoy the leftovers.
Katherine
September 24, 2012 at 7:29 pmHow many does this serve?
Angie
October 5, 2012 at 7:48 pmJust made this for dinner tonight – it is soooo delicious! Everyone scarfed it down. I’ve made so many recipes from your site. Thanks for making it easy for us to transition to a primal/paleo lifestyle.
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October 29, 2013 at 11:23 amMade this last night OMG was fantastic! I have been doing paleo challenge and was in NEED of new food options; thanks for rescue! My family even loved it!!!!
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Fred C
May 12, 2015 at 7:01 pmSounds great with the addition of bacon, I make a similar meatloaf but generally don’t use bacon in it. I like to add mushrooms, finely chopped for some more texture and flavor. Instead of a tomato sauce I use a either homemade salsa during gardening season or an organic salsa from the grocery. Adds great flavor, especially if you throw in a couple of chopped jalapeños.
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