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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.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did you make this? Leave a comment below!
Kaleb,
OMG….Was this Sheet-Pan Meatloaf DELICIOUS!!! The Meatloaf was so Flavorful with the Oatmeal and the Potatoes & Mushrooms were Tasty too. Once again Thanks for Your Flavorful Recipe!!! From, Sandy
I want to make your meatloaf recipe it looks amazing! I love the idea of making the meatloaf and sweet potatoes in one pan. I have a question your ingredients include Quick Cook Oats. Can I use the steel cut Quick Cook Oats?
Hello!
The quick-cooking oats quickly absorb the excess moisture in the mixture and keep the resulting meatloaf tender. Steel-cut oats would not work in the same way. I believe steel-cut could be presoaked but would be uncertain of the moisture they would absorb during baking and the resulting texture.
Made your delicious Moms Meatloaf, thank you for keeping our tummies happy, and for sharing. 😋
I am looking for a meatloaf recipe that I could for into a shape (a tree) and then cook it with it withholding the shape… This seems like it has potential, especially with the oats. Do you believe this recipe would be able to hold a shape? Thanks a ton!
I just made this, I needed to make some changes as we don’t eat grains (used crushed pork rinds instead of oats) I didn’t have sugar free ketchup so subbed tomato sauce for the sugar free ketchup and still did the honey and mustard. I also used tomato sauce rather than juice in the meatloaf mixture itself as it looked like that’s what you used. (I decreased it to 1/2 cup )This was Amazing!!!! (my ground beef (one pound) had bacon infused in it as I bought it that way from a sustainable farmer at my farmers market here in ct last week. Everything was fabulous!!!! Your recipes are excellent!
This is my second time making this only used red potatoes it was yummy.
Hands down best meatloaf recipe EVER! (and so quick and easy to make) I printed this and saved it to my recipe binder! I loved it and my husband loved it.
I’ve made this several times and I tweaked it a bit using ground Italian sausage instead of plain ground pork. I also used hot honey in the glaze which added just a touch of heat. It was delicious. Thanks for an amazing, moist meatloaf recipe!
Making this in oven now was so easy to put together I used reg potatoes.
I absolutely love all your recipes and enjoy your videos very much. I felt so validated when I threw together a meatloaf today, using oatmeal instead of bread crumbs and found your meatloaf recipe with all the same ingredients! However, I’m going to make your ketchup, honey, Dijon mustard topping as soon as I send this.
I used your process for making concentrated grape juice last fall and it’s the best thing I’ve ever done with my grapes. I’m still trying to get a chance to make your butterscotch pie. Once upon a long 1970’s time ago in Kansas some elderly ladies at a small town diner made almond cream pie, best pie I ever had in my life. I don’t suppose you have the recipe for that but thought I would mention it just in case.
I live up river from you on the Wisconsin side and really appreciate your Midwest recipes and gardening tips. Big applause for all you do on YouTube!
Sorry for rambling,
Laura