Paleo BBQ Meatloaf

In our house, we sometimes refer to “THE MEATLOAF”. Yup, all in caps, just like that. And not like normal people would, either. We’re not hearkening back to the glory days of some alimentary perfection; no grandma’s recipe yet to be re-created, here. We’re actually referring back to my greatest culinary shame. You see, where I grew up, we didn’t eat meatloaf. I’d never SEEN a meatloaf before I decided that it was ok, I was completely capable of handling this bastion of American home cooking. What could be so hard? Right? Erm. Not quite. Somehow I decided to take it upon myself to improve a recipe I’d never once made.

It CAN’T be that plain, surely it wouldn’t taste of anything! It would definitely be better to add seasonings! Add spices! Layer in some veggies! Monkey around with leaner, fancier meat! Ewwww, isn’t ketchup just for fries?!

The result was something which looked roughly like cat food and tasted only marginally better, I would guess. I am thankful every time it becomes a topic of discussion that we never took a picture, because if such a picture existed I would feel compelled to share it with you. And then no one would want to eat meatloaf for a long time. Perhaps ever again.

So. Meatloaf. One of the easiest things in the world, I was assured, and yet it’s one of the few things in the kitchen that absolutely terrify me. I still look at recipes and go, “well, it couldn’t go as wrong as THE MEATLOAF, so I’ll try it!” I’m telling you all this not to completely humiliate myself but because it does show that if I can make this and have it turn out delicious, you can too. This meatloaf has the power to heal all past culinary scars and shame!

This is seriously the easiest thing ever, too. Dump everything in a bowl like this and mix. That’s pretty much it. Although it isn’t technically pretty at this stage.

Now a quick note about how I shaped it and stuffs. I lined a 10 inch loaf tin with saran wrap, packed the meat mixture down into it and then inverted it onto a 9 x 13 inch pyrex baking dish. This way all the not so pleasant fat and juices can baste the meat as it cooks and then has somewhere to drain out so that your ‘loaf will turn out moist, but not greasy. Here it is just before cooking, look at the lovely loaf-y shape. Technical term.

I didn’t baste the top of mine because the home made bbq sauce I used (because I made too much for ribs the other day) is prone to scorch because of all the fruity sugars in there. If yours isn’t, then feel free to baste away!

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