Meatloaves are personal. Whatever you grew up with will likely be your favorite meatloaf recipe. I was always partial to Mom’s meatloaf. She used tomato paste for the topping and lots of onions in the meatloaf. When I married Nancy, she used her mother’s recipe which called for a ketchup topping. Over the years, that has become my favorite. Recently, however, I saw a recipe that called for Ritz Crackers in a meatloaf. I love Ritz Crackers and have found that they can improve the flavor of most anything, so I decided to give this recipe a try.
Start with a pound of lean ground beef – 92/8 or 90/10 are two good choices since they are both lean but with just enough fat to add flavor. Add 12 crushed Ritz Crackers, ¾ C grated cheddar, 2 T Lipton Onion Soup Mix, ¾ C cheddar cheese, 2 beaten eggs, 1 T steak sauce and 1/3 C ketchup to the meat and mix well. For the topping, mix 2/3 C ketchup with 1 t dried mustard and 1/3 C brown sugar. Put the meat in a loaf pan, pour on the topping and bake in a 350 oven for 1 hour. This ain’t your Mama’s recipe for meatloaf, but the flavor – with the cheese, the onion soup mix, the steak sauce and the crackers – is simply incredible. Give it a try. You’ll like it.
Ritz Cracker Meatloaf
1 lb. lean ground beef
12 Ritz crackers crushed
¾ cup cheddar cheese
2 T Lipton onion soup mix
2 eggs beaten
1 T steak Sauce (like A-1)
1/3 C ketchup
Meatloaf Topping:
⅔ cup ketchup
1 t. dried mustard
1/3 C brown sugar
