Best Zesty Meatloaf
Is there any comfort food as good and filling as meatloaf?
Thank y’all for stopping by the wagon today. We’re cooking up a cowboy classic zesty meatloaf with a honey hot sauce that will put a kick in your get along and get you to goin’ – and we’re going to show you how to do it over some hot coals for an evenly-cooked loaf of meat that will taste so good and make the best cold meatloaf sandwiches the next day.
Wash Your Meatloaf Mixers
Tip: There just is not a better tool than your hands to mix up all the ingredients in a meatloaf.
Go ahead and chop all the red onion and peppers and sauté them in some butter until they get just a little soft. Add the garlic right at the end.
Add the rest of the ingredients, including the Original Seasoning and mix it all together. Simmer for a bit while the flavors mix. After it’s a little cooled, add the cow juice and the bread crumbs. Once it’s the texture of a really good thick paste, mix them up with the meat until it’s well combined. Use those hands!
Tip: You can always add extra breadcrumbs if the consistency is too wet to hold a shape.
After forming the meat into a loaf, take a big onion and slice it super thick. Line the bottom of the oven with onions to keep the meatloaf from burning. The onion will create a “bumper” that keeps the meat off of the bottom of the oven and allow the heat to circulate all around the meatloaf and be downright tasty by itself at the end when it’s all burnt and slow cooked in those beef juices. Delicious!
Prepare the sauce and add the sauce on top, trying to prevent it from
Get the Fire Goin’
Cook inside:
Put the meatloaf in the oven at 400F for 50 minutes. Enjoy!
Cook outside:
If you want to took this meatloaf on hot coals, lets do it. We’re going to put hot coals all over on the top of the Dutch oven lid and all around the outside of the pot, pushed up against the side nice and tight. Rotate from time to time. When the ends are done, if you need, concentrate the hot coals on the center. Just check as you go with a meat thermometer and you can target the coals and move them around so the heat hits that middle without burning or overcooking the ends. Really, if you’re doing this part, folks, watch the video and see how it’s done. It’s easier to show you than to tell you.
Storytime at the Ranch
When Shannon and I first got married, she didn’t know much about cooking. That’s ok because I sure do love to cook and I love to spoil her any way I can. One day, I came home and smelled cooking. I thought there must have been someone who brought us some food. I walked into the house and saw my beautiful wife putting meatloaf on the table.
Have you ever had the thing happen where your brain kicks in gear but jumps a cog and your butt gets to thinking first? I said, “Boy my mama used to make the best meatloaf.” That’s not the brightest thing to say when your woman’s setting a hot cooked meatloaf out for you. Anyway, after I took that bite I told her she wasn’t fooling me anymore. The meatloaf beat my mama’s meatloaf.
Tip: Do not tell your wife that your mama made the best meatloaf when she’s serving you hers.
No matter who you’re cooking for, they’re going to love this delicious sauce on top of their meatloaf so give it a shot. Eat all you can, and save the rest for a cold sandwich tomorrow. There’s just nothing like it.
Zesty Meatloaf - Cowboy Kent Rollins
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 3 large eggs
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 purple onion chopped
- 1 yellow bell pepper chopped
- 1 orange bell pepper chopped
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire
- 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
- 4 teaspoons hot sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Salt and black pepper
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 to 1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
- Honey Hot Sauce recipe below
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Butter a baking sheet or turn an 11-x-13-inch casserole dish over, butter the underside, and place upside down on a baking sheet. (This will help drain the grease while the meat loaves are baking.)
- In a large bowl, mix the meat and eggs together with your hands. Set aside.
- In a 12-inch cast iron skillet, melt the butter and cook the onion, peppers, and garlic over medium heat, stir- ring, for about 10 minutes, or until tender.
- Reduce the heat to low and stir in the ketchup, Worcestershire, horseradish, hot sauce, and cayenne. Season with salt and pepper to taste and simmer for a few minutes to let the flavors combine. You may want to add more of the seasonings to your liking.
- Remove from the heat and let cool for about 5 minutes. 6. Stir in the milk and slowly begin stirring in the bread crumbs until the mixture is like a thick paste.
- With your hands, gently begin mixing the pepper mixture into the meat until combined. You may want to add a few more bread crumbs at this point if the mixture is too wet.
- Divide the mixture in half and form 2 loaves. Place the loaves on the greased baking sheet or turned-over casserole dish.
- Spoon the honey sauce over the tops of the loaves and bake for about 50 minutes, or until the meat is cooked through. Serve hot.
Notes
2 tablespoons honey 1 1⁄2 teaspoons hot sauce
1 teaspoon prepared horseradish In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients until smooth.