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Why I Love Sheet Pan Meatloaf
Sunday dinner was often Mom’s favorite meal of the week. She would prepare meatloaf before church and preset the oven to cook while we were gone. As soon as the car door opened, I can remember the smell of the meal baking.
Meatloaf can often be the brunt of jokes. It can be dry, tasteless, boring, and usually the bottom of a family’s list of favorite foods. My mom’s meatloaf is different: full of hearty flavor and somehow surprisingly light with a melt-away texture.
Let’s face it: meat can be tricky. You would think just mixing together some ground beef with salt and pepper would be pretty easy. But that’s not the case. Ground beef pressed together can become tough and lack flavor.
Mom’s trick for a delicious meatloaf is quick-cooking oats. The difference between quick-cooking oats and old-fashioned oats is simple. Quick-cooking oats are rolled and become smaller than old-fashioned oats. This helps them cook faster and absorb liquid easily. Adding the oats helps bind the meat together and absorb the liquid the meats release during baking. While baking, the oats disappear, leaving a tender and perfectly textured loaf.
To add flavor, I switched up Mom’s method in a few ways:
- Onions – Mom often added raw onions to the mixture. I find sautéing the onion until softened boosts the flavor and is just better than raw onion.
- Tomato juice – Mom always added tomato juice to the meatloaf, and I couldn’t agree more. Instead of imparting tomato flavor, the tomato juice balances out the meat and provides a slightly sweet flavor.
At its core, this is a meatloaf with no hidden agenda. And to make it even better, it’s a sheet pan dinner, making it a for-sure winner that couldn’t be easier. Rather than making an entirely separate side dish, I added thickly sliced sweet potatoes around the meatloaf that cook at the same time. During the cooking time, a golden crust forms on the bottom of the sweet potatoes, while retaining a perfectly creamy interior.
Altogether, this sheet pan meatloaf is simple and straightforward with a well-balanced flavor that creates a perfect dinner. Never dry, never tasteless… and definitely not boring!
More Dinner Recipes
- Braised short ribs
- Classic pot roast
- Spinach, quinoa, and salmon bowl
- Sheet pan cod and cauliflower rice
- Spiced pork tenderloin with roasted vegetables
- Roasted salmon with citrus and dill
Have I Convinced You to Make This Recipe?
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Sheet Pan Meatloaf
Ingredients
For the meatloaf
- ½ cup diced onion
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 lb ground beef (92% lean preferable)
- 1 lb ground pork
- 2 large eggs lightly whisked
- 1 ½ cups quick-cooking oats
- 1 cup tomato juice
- 2 ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
For the sweet potatoes
- 3 lb sweet potatoes cut in 1-inch slices
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 ½ tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp garlic granules
- 1 ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
For the ketchup sauce
- ½ cup ketchup
- 2 tsp honey
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until soft and translucent, adding garlic in the last minute, 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.½ cup diced onion, 1 clove garlic
- On a large sheet pan, arrange the sweet potatoes in an even layer, leaving space for the meatloaf. Drizzle with olive oil, rubbing to coat potatoes on all sides. Sprinkle with salt, dried thyme, garlic granules, and black pepper.3 lb sweet potatoes, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 ½ tsp dried thyme, 1 tsp garlic granules, 1 ½ tsp kosher salt, 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, ground pork, quick oats, eggs, tomato juice, sautéed onion, salt, and black pepper. Mix until combined and all the ingredients are well mixed together, showing no individual streaks.1 lb ground beef (92% lean preferable), 1 lb ground pork, 2 large eggs, 1 ½ cups quick-cooking oats, 1 cup tomato juice, 2 ½ tsp kosher salt, 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- Place the prepared meatloaf on the large sheet pan, shaping it into a large loaf. Place in the preheated oven and prepare the ketchup topping.
- In a small bowl, combine the ketchup, honey, and Dijon mustard. Whisk to combine.½ cup ketchup, 2 tsp honey, 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- Once the meatloaf is browned and reaches 150°F, about 40-50 minutes, spread the ketchup mixture over the top and return to oven to caramelize, 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes before cutting.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did you make this? Leave a comment below!
Made this last night. Easy peezie! So good 😊!
This is the exact meatloaf recipe my mom used. It must be a Midwest thing. I grew up in Missouri
Did you use tomato sauce? Like could I sub marinara?
I used 3/4 cups of Hunts tomato sauce and 1/4 cup of water instead of a cup of tomato juice.
It turned out delicious!
Made this last night for supper. Very moist and delicious and very filling. Looking forward to more recipes.
I tried this for Sunday dinner and it was delicious. I love your cooking videos
I made this tonight for my family. Absolutely delicious. Especially love the ketchup sauce on top.
I live in Dubuque iowa so it’s nice to see a great cook who lives so close.
I made this tonight and it is amazing. Mom loved it. My hubby is not a sweet potato fan and he tried them.
It was hit with him.
The meat loaf was so good and the sweet potatoes are amazing.
This maybe will become our Sunday dinner.
Who would have thought of putting the garlic on them.
Loved the crunchy ness of the garlic.
I just can’t say enough about this meal.
Look so good and the sweet potatoes omg you are one in a million love watching you cook and decorate plus your flowers keep up the great work tell Kipp i said hello he’s so cute 😍
This was delish! I made a couple of subs using onion and garlic powder (so my kids would eat it up and they did 😍). Can’t wait for lunch today 👏
I’m going to make this tonight!!!!
Tomato juice and not tomato sauce??
I thought the same thing lol
Hi Kaleb. I want to make your meatloaf as it’s nearly the exact recipe I grew up on. One problem I’m having is I don’t have any tomato juice. Can I use tomato sauce or anything else in place Of the tomato juice ?? Kinda stuck as I’m just about to start making this. Please HELP
I was out of both ( and too lazy for a grocery trip!) but had bunch of tomatoes , so I threw em my nutribullet to purée a bit and then added em in. It’s delicious