Meatloaf is a classic dish that everyone loves! This post will show you how to make my Healthy Meatloaf recipe. And wouldn't you know, It’s GREAT for meal prep!
I’ll tell you right off the bat.
You are going to adore this Healthy Meatloaf! It's the kind of recipe that you'll come back to again and again.
The ingredients are simple, meaning that this is a clean eating recipe. Plus it’s a breeze to make – you simply mix the ingredients together and put the mixture in a meatloaf pan.
Pop it into the oven and let the flavors blend into a juicy and tender dish that is fabulous any night of the week. After 45-50 minutes, the oven has done the work.
Voila! Dinner is prepared and pairs well with yummy Low-Carb Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes or Baked Carrot Fries. Another favorite of mine with meatloaf is Strawberry Salad With Chia Seed Vinaigrette.
Getting hungry? Let’s make this Healthy Meatloaf!
What Is In This Healthy Meatloaf?
Here are the ingredients for this easy-to-make dish:
- Ground beef: I use 85/15, which means 85% lean and 15% fat
- Almond meal: This is a healthy way to help the meatloaf retain moisture
- Chopped Italian parsley: The flavor boost is amazing
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese: I love to add the cheese, but you can omit it if you want a dairy-free recipe
- Sea salt
- Ground black pepper
- 1 egg as a binder (if you need to substitute the egg, try 3 tablespoons of plain Greek yogurt)
For the glaze (it’s divine!), you’ll need tomato sauce (I make my own to avoid hidden sugar), coconut sugar and dry mustard. That is it – so delicious yet absolutely good for you.
How To Make It?
Now that you’ve seen the ingredients, you’ll want to make this recipe tonight!
This is how you do it.
1. Preheat your oven. The temperature required to make this tasty meatloaf is 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Sort: In a large bowl, place all of the ingredients. You’ll need beef, almond meal, parsley, salt, pepper, and egg.
3. Combine: Mix the ingredients with a fork until mixed, but do not overmix.
4. Get Your Glaze Ready: In a small bowl add the glaze ingredients, which are tomato sauce, coconut sugar and dry mustard.
5. Meat To Pan: Put the meat mixture into a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
6. Glaze: Spread the glaze over the top.
7. Bake: Usually 45-50 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees F
8. Try To Wait! Let the meatloaf rest for 5 minutes before slicing.
What Is The Secret To Moist Meatloaf?
To make a moist meatloaf, I use 85% lean ground beef and 15% fat. This fat ratio ensures that the dish is moist. I don’t recommend a higher ratio of fat (because there is the chance that your meatloaf will become greasy instead of moist).
Here's some other factors:
- I use almond meal. It helps to retain the moisture as opposed to it draining away. I like to use almond meal instead of breadcrumbs to make the meatloaf gluten-free. But breadcrumbs work as well.
- Don’t over mix the ingredients either. Doing so can result in a dryer, tougher meatloaf. Just mix until the ingredients are combined. When adding the ingredients to the pan, don’t compress the meat too much because it may take longer to cook. This risks a dryer meatloaf, too.
- Lastly, let the meatloaf rest for 5 minutes before slicing. If you slice it right away, you’ll see the juices flowing out. Letting it rest and reach a lower temperature ensures the juices remain.
Should Meatloaf Be Covered While Baking?
I don’t cover the meatloaf. If you bake the recipe at a low temperature, your meatloaf will cook evenly and will not dry out. Some people cover with foil to keep the top of the meatloaf from drying out. But when the dish is cooked at a low temperature with a glaze on top, you do not have that issue.
As mentioned, use an instant-read meat thermometer to check for doneness. This way you do not dry out the meatloaf by overcooking. Having an uncovered meatloaf makes this easy to do, also!
What Can I Put On Top Of Meatloaf Instead Of Ketchup?
Put my glaze on top, of course! Tomato sauce, coconut sugar, and dry mustard are all you need to make this appetizing glaze. You can also use barbecue sauce, mushroom sauce, or even salsa.
What Goes Well With Healthy Meatloaf?
The first thing that comes to mind to pair with healthy meatloaf is Butternut Squash Healthy Mac and Cheese. Talk about comfort food! If you’d like to go lighter, Healthy Green Bean Casserole goes well. You get the idea, right?
These recipes are all healthy! Here are more ideas for what goes well with meatloaf:
- Loaded Cauliflower Tots
- Healthier Crock Pot Mashed Potatoes
- Easy Sweet Potato Hash
- Healthy Sweet Potato Fries
- Roasted Broccoli
How To Store Healthy Meatloaf
Store this healthy meatloaf in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. I like to wrap it in a reusable storage bag and then put it in an airtight container.
To freeze, wrap the meatloaf and store it in an airtight container in the freezer for 3-4 months. To reheat, let it thaw in the fridge overnight and then reheat. Meatloaf sandwiches are amazing, so go ahead and slice the meatloaf, packaging a few slices together in each container. Just make sure they are well wrapped.
More Healthy Entrées
Are you ready to try more good-for-you recipes? I’ve got a ton of them on the blog. These are just a few!
- Flank Steak With Chimichurri Sauce
- Healthy Hot Nashville Chicken
- 15 Minute Healthy Shrimp Scampi
- Teriyaki Salmon
- Roast Beef
This post contains affiliate links to products I use regularly and highly recommend.
Healthy Meatloaf
*This post may contain affiliate links for products I use often and highly recommend.
Ingredients
For the meatloaf:
- 1 lb 85/15 ground beef
- ½ cup almond meal
- 2 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley
- ½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese omit if going dairy-free
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 egg
- For the glaze:
- ⅓ cup tomato sauce
- 2 ½ teaspoon coconut sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon dry mustard
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Place the ground beef, almond meal, parsley, parmesan, salt, pepper, and egg in a bowl. Combine very lightly with a fork.
- Transfer mixture to a 9-inch X 5-inch loaf pan.
- In a small mixing bowl, stir together the tomato sauce, dry mustard and coconut sugar for the glaze. Pour the glaze over meatloaf and spread evenly.
- Bake until meatloaf reaches 160 degrees on an instant read thermometer, about 45/50 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes before slicing.
- I've never needed to grease the pan or use parchment paper, but you can do so if you wish.
Riley W
Hey Lacey!
This recipe is not the one I originally saved on Yummly. Do you by chance have the old file for that one?
I have made the previous recipe several times and thought it delicious! It's my husband's absolute favorite.
Thanks!
Dustin
I believe this is it here: https://web.archive.org/web/20160320004903/https://www.asweetpeachef.com/entrees/meatloaf/
Hope that helps.
JASON LAWRENCE
Added siracha to the glaze and Romano in the mix!!!
Good job
Chloe
Why would you not include onion, garlic, or another allium in a recipe for meatloaf? I'm sorry but just because it leaves out fats and has so few ingredients doesn't make it "healthy." This meatloaf deserves vegetables, flavor, and LOVE.
shannon
OMG!!! I tried the meatloaf and the parmesan green beans they were delish!!! I will never go back to can green beans. Thanks for all the recipe's
Dustin
Meatloaf sounds good again. It has been awhile.
Kate
Have you tried freezing the meatloaf either before or after you cook it?
Chelsea
Found this recipe on Pinterest. We're about to have a very American meal here in Korea--complete with mashed potatoes and green beans! Yum! Thanks!
Denise
Have you ever substituted ground beef with ground turkey for this meatloaf recipe?
Lacey Baier
Unfortunately, no I haven't, Denise. It should go well with ground turkey nonetheless. Please share how it goes if you try it 🙂
Jill
Wonderful recipe. My husband does not like leftovers, but managed to eat the leftover meatloaf for lunch and dinner the next day!
Meagan
My husband wasn't thrilled when I told him I wanted to try this recipe, since he's never been a fan of meatloaf. Tonight when I pulled it from the oven, he came downstairs and said that the smell of it'd had his mouth had been watering for the past 15 minutes! He took one bite and said it was the BEST meatloaf he'd ever tasted. I have an easy new go-to dinner now--it was delightful, thank you!
Meagan
Oh, typo--"it'd had his mouth watering." Oops 🙂
Tara Hall
Tried this recipe tonight and it was to die for. I wasn't able to include nutmeg because I did not have any on hand but it was still delicious. I would love to have more of the ketchup glaze mixture to eat with the rest of the meatloaf because it was so tasty! Thank you, this is definitely the best recipe for meatloaf I have tried.
Lacey Baier
Yay! Thanks for sharing, Tara 🙂
Julie
Just finished making the meatloaf recipe.
Sounds amazing can't wait to try it.
One typo, the worcheshire sauce is listed in the ingredients, but missed from where to put it in the directions. I realized this after everthing was put together so I just put a few drops over top before the glaze was added.
If you can fix that in the details that would be great.
Kristine Schuster
I just have to say I have enjoyed following your recipes... I've been reading for about a week. Tonight I saw your measuring spoons and had to comment! My mom has the exact same ones. I think the five kids in our family all teethed on them and so did all our children! 🙂
Lacey Baier
Haha, Kristine! I actually got those measuring spoons from my mom 🙂 They're good stuff!
Kerrie
I must start by saying I'm not a huge fan of meatloaf, but my husband is, so I'm always looking for a recipe he might like. I took a little nibble when it came out of the oven and mmmmmmmmm, OMG, delish :-).
Even my 15 month old daughter, who is incredibly picky, enhaled it.
I made it exactly as written (except I used pork and beef mix, since that's what I had on hand). Thank you so much for sharing.
Lacey Baier
Yay! What a compliment, Kerrie. Thank you for sharing 🙂
carrie @ gingerlemongirl.com
on a similar diet and for meatloaf, I replace the breadcrumbs with blanched almond flour.. retains the moisture and tastes awesome!! 🙂 Love your pics!
Lacey Baier
I'm learning more about the different types of flours one can use instead of regular flour. I will definitely have to try the almond flour -- I think that would have really helped keep the meatloaf more "normal." Thanks for sharing, Carrie!
Sherri B.
Who doesn't love a good meatloaf? I have been on a quest to find the best one, I think that it isn't the easy recipe that everyone thinks it is. Yours sounds very good and I will enjoy trying your recipe. Thanks!
Lacey Baier
I hope you like it, Sherri. Let me know if it ends your quest 🙂