Bacon-Wrapped Meatloaf is an amazing, savory family dinner recipe. Made with a ground beef mixture, brown sugar and ketchup glaze, all wrapped in bacon.
Meatloaf has always been a classic Weeknight Dinner Recipe, but if you’re looking for a new twist on an old favorite, you can’t go wrong wrapping it in bacon. Try this and other bacon-wrapped comfort food like Bacon Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken.
BACON-WRAPPED MEATLOAF
This simple meatloaf recipe is such a classic comfort food that your family is sure to love. When it comes to the meat loaf itself all you have to do is mix together the bread crumbs, ground beef, some sauce, and seasonings. Then that’s all just wrapped in delicious bacon that’s baked to be sizzling and crispy.
It’s an old-fashioned meatloaf recipe made completely new by wrapping it in bacon, and it may just become a go-to dinner in your house. Even though the total time for the meat loaf is a little over an hour and a half most of that time is hands-off baking time.
Once it’s baked you can serve it with easy side dishes like Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Green Beans, or even simple tater tots. It’s a simple filling dinner that kids and adults will both love.
MAKE-AHEAD MEATLOAF RECIPE
If you want to make this meatloaf recipe ahead of time, you can keep it in the freezer for up to 4 months. Here’s an easy step-by-step guide.
- Cook your Bacon-Wrapped Meat Loaf according to the recipe as usual.
- Let the meat loaf cool to room temperature before you put it in the freezer.
- Tightly wrap the Meat Loaf in aluminum foil and write the date on it, so you’ll know how long it’s good.
- When you’re ready to serve this great recipe, let it defrost in the fridge overnight.
- Once it’s thawed out, put the meatloaf in a loaf pan and reheat it in the oven for about 10 minutes.
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TIPS FOR MAKING BACON-WRAPPED MEATLOAF
- Prep: Before you start combining the meat loaf ingredient preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lay the bacon strips out across the sheet. Overlap the slices slightly so there are no gaps.
- Meat mixture: Mix together the ground beef, onion, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, eggs, breadcrumbs, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Continue to stir the ingredients until they’re combined, but there’s no need to overmix.
- Bacon wrap: Form the meat mixture into the shape of a log over the bacon so it’s easy to wrap. Fold the parchment paper up over the meatloaf one side at a time and smooth the bacon against the meat loaf. Fold the parchment paper closed and flip the meatloaf over so that it’s at the bottom of the dish.
- Bake: Put the baking dish in the oven and bake for 55-60 minutes.
- Glaze: While the meatloaf is in the oven whisk together ⅓ cup ketchup, 3 tablespoons brown sugar, 1 tablespoon yellow mustard, and 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce to make the ketchup glaze. Take the meatloaf from the oven, unwrap it from the parchment paper, and spread the glaze over the meatloaf. Bake it for another 15 minutes.
- Serve: Let it the meatloaf sit and cool down for 10 minutes before cooling.
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VARIATIONS ON BACON-WRAPPED MEATLOAF
- Meat: You can use any kind of ground meat you want to make your meatloaf. Try using ground turkey or even ground chicken in place of ground beef.
- Bacon: Just like with the meatloaf meat, you can change up the bacon you use to wrap around the meatloaf. You can try using turkey bacon slices or even candied bacon.
- Mix-ins: There are so many different ingredients you can mix into this great recipe to experiment with the flavor of the meat mixture. Try adding some BBQ sauce, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, or parsley. If you want to make the meatloaf a little spicy stir in some cayenne pepper or jalapeno slices. Another great thing to mix in or sprinkle over the top is some shredded cheese. Cheddar cheese, American cheese, or mozzarella cheese will taste great. You can also try adding some ingredients to the tomato-based glaze, like BBQ sauce, pineapple juice, or lemon juice.
- Gluten-free: You can make Bacon-Wrapped Meatloaf gluten-free by swapping out the panko breadcrumbs. Just break gluten-free bread up into crumbs and let them dry out a little before adding them to the meat mixture instead.
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HOW TO STORE BACON-WRAPPED MEATLOAF
- Serve: You shouldn’t leave your meatloaf at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
- Store: Let the dish cool to room temperature then you can store leftovers in the refrigerator. Bacon-Wrapped Meatloaf will keep well in the fridge for 3-4 days. Keep it in a shallow airtight container or wrap it tightly in tin foil or plastic wrap.
- Freeze: Meatloaf can also keep well in the freezer for 3-4 months.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef , 90/10
- 1/4 yellow onion , minced
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 1 pound bacon
Ketchup glaze:
- 1/3 cup ketchup
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Lay a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet and line bacon up overlapping a bit each.
- In a large bowl mix the ground beef, onion, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, eggs, breadcrumbs, salt, and pepper until just combined.
- Form mixture into a log on the bacon.
- Fold the parchment paper back over the meatloaf on one side and smooth the bacon flat against it.
- Fold the second side of the parchment over to form a seal of bacon.
- Wrap the parchment paper closed and turn the meatloaf over so the bacon seam is under the meatloaf.
- Bake for 55-60 minutes.
- Glaze with sauce and bake for 15 minutes.
- Let sit for 10 minutes before slicing.
WOW! This is amazing. What a rich and flavorful meatloaf!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Lisalia.
This is SO good!! And really easy to make, too! Everyone loved it!
Glad to know it’s still a hit!
This looks so delicious and tasty! I can’t wait to give this a try tonight! My family is going to love this!
Enjoy!
Tried this today. Hands down the best meatloaf I’ve ever made. The only things I did different was used 80/20 ground beef cause that’s what I had on hand, also I put some garlic powder and fresh cracked pepper corns on top of the glazing.
Yay!! I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Jake.
Can I make this in a loaf pan by putting in the bacon first, draping it over, filling with the meat, and then sealing?
Do I bake the meatloaf with the wax paper on
No, you’re just using it to be able to handle the bacon better and flip over the meatloaf so the seam in underneath. Hope that makes sense. Enjoy!
Salsa works much better than the catsup topping. Tomatoes, jalapeno, onion, cilantro, cumin, salt, lemon juice.
Thanks for the suggestion.