We all have those nostalgic dishes from our childhood that we grew up eating, thought were weird or gross but grew to love. This Old School Meatloaf is one of them for me.
My mom’s family always made meatloaf with perfectly-cooked hard-boiled eggs running through the center. As a kid, I was both fascinated and disgusted by this simultaneously decorative, bizarre and somehow beautiful meatloaf.
I remember wondering: “How did they get the eggs in the center?”, “How did it stay together?”, and ”Should I eat it?”. LOL!
Fast forward a couple decades and I find myself with a family who not only wants meatloaf but the old-school version. Since my mom’s family recipe was bound together with breadcrumbs, eggs and ketchup, I had to do a bit of a reinvention.
My version is a Paleo Meatloaf Recipe that combines both lean ground beef and ground pork with herbs, spices, egg and some almond meal to bind it together. If you don’t eat pork, you could use dark meat chicken or turkey. Whatever you do, don’t skip the hard-boiled eggs. They are the best part!
NOTES:
- Worcestershire Sauce is a tricky thing if you care about real food, because the classic we all know and (used to) love has some crappy ingredients in it. Then, there are some organic, vegan versions that I know of but they contain wheat and soy in some form. If those things are OK for you, I suggest just picking up one of the cleaner, organic versions.
- You have to make the hard-boiled eggs in advance. This can be done days prior. Here is my foolproof technique for perfect hard-boiled eggs every single time!
- I recommend ONLY using 3 hard-boiled eggs so that your eggs don’t stick out the edges of your meatloaf. My son demanded that we put in four so I went with it but it does make it a bit more difficult to cut.
- The loaf pan size I used is 9 x 5 x 3 inches / 8 cups Imperial OR 23 x 13 x 8 cm / 1.9 liters Metric
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Paleo Meatloaf Recipe. Old School Meatloaf Recipe with Hard Boiled Egg.
- 4 small cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1/2 large or 1 small yellow onion finely chopped
- 1/2 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2/3 cup almond meal
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
- 1 pound ground pork
- 3 to 4 hard-boiled eggs
- 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons Ghee or olive oil
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Begin by finely chopping garlic, onion and parsley. I cheated and used the food processor to save time. If you want to do the same, place garlic in first, process until finely chopped and then add onion.
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Pulse until onion is finely chopped but not watery.
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Remove onion and garlic to a large mixing bowl. Place parsley in food processor and process until finely chopped and you can measure 1/2 cup. Add to mixing bowl.
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Add tomato paste, worcestershire sauce, paprika, oregano, salt, pepper, almond meal and beaten eggs into mixing bowl.
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Mix until well combined and add in ground beef and pork
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Use your hands to gently combine until spice mixture is just incorporated. You do not want to overwork the ground meat or it will be tough.
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Take 1/2 of the ground meat mixture and place into a loaf pan (see NOTES for size). Press down until well packed and make a slight well in the center for the hard-boiled eggs.
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Place hard-boiled eggs in well.[img src="http://www.everydaymaven.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/IMG_9466.jpg" width="550"]
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Cover with remaining ground meat mixture. Be sure to pat down well and make sure there are no air pockets.
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Preheat oven to 350F. In a small bowl, combine ingredients for topping (tomato paste and ghee or oil).
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Use your hands to evenly spread the topping over the meatloaf.
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Place loaf pan on a baking sheet (so the meatloaf juices don't leak over and cause smoke in the oven) and put on the center rack in oven. Bake undisturbed for 90 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes. The meatloaf should have shrunk just a bit and pulled away from the sides. There may also be juices that overflowed onto the baking sheet and are still in the loaf pan.
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Once meatloaf has cooled, use 2 sturdy spatulas to gently remove it to a cutting board. Slice, serve and Enjoy!
Did you make this recipe? Tag @EverydayMaven on Instagram with the hashtag #EveryDayMaven and please give a star rating below.
My family actually likes the almond meal better than bread crumbs! And the egg inside is a nice surprise! Great recipe!
Yay! That is so great Joy! 🙂
I am NOT a cook! I have messed up so many recipes… I made this meatloaf exactly as it is written and my family and I love it! I will definitely make it again. By far the best ever!!
However, prep time for me was 1 1/2 hrs. Hopefully I can cut down on that the more I make it.
Love this feedback Shelby! You made my night 🙂
What is the nutritional numbers: Calories, protein, carbs, fat, et cet? I am using an app to log it all in.
Thank you
What about the boiled eggs?
I was looking at you recipe and it looks really good. I just have a tiny complaint. When you are wrote about the Worcestershire sauce you said that the classic contained wheat and soy. I know that in fact this is not true. I am allergic to both of those and I use this same brand for just about everything. Plus if you go to the website, the same one you linked the ingredient list is as follows:
Distilled white vinegar, anchovies, garlic, molasses, onions, salt, sugar, water, chili pepper extract, cloves, natural flavorings, tamarind extract
Hi Stanley,
I said (below) that L&P has crap in it. Then, I said that the two organic, vegan versions I found have wheat and soy. I wasn’t referencing L&P in regards to the wheat and soy but I can totally see how that is confusing. I think I will update it. Thanks for the heads up! 🙂
“Worcestershire Sauce is a tricky thing if you care about real food, because the classic we all know and (used to) love has some crap in it. There are a couple organic, vegan versions that I know of (this one and this one) but they contain wheat and soy in some form. If those things are OK for you, I suggest just picking up one of the cleaner, organic versions. If not, here is a Paleo Worcestershire Sauce recipe I found that looks good.”
So sorry if I missed it… What temperature?
This sounds yummy! I have recently had to cut gluten from my diet to help with some thyroid issues, so I like that this recipe doesn’t need bread crumbs. My son has an intolerance for egg. As wonderful as the egg sounds, so you think it would be any good without it?
You can absolutely make this without the hard boiled egg in the center but you would need a replacement binder (flax or chia egg?) for the eggs that help hold the loaf together.
Thanks! Putting it on the menu plan for next week! ?
I made this for dinner tonight without the eggs, and I halved everything else (cuz it’s just me here this week). It held together just fine without the egg or any other binder. I also used straight coconut aminos in place of the Worcestershire. Great recipe 🙂
Did I understand correctly? This meatloaf can be frozen? That’s exactly what I wanted to hear, but all I could find is that hard cooked eggs don’t freeze well. Guess the “padding” makes the difference.
Hi Kathy!
You are right on both counts. You really aren’t supposed to freeze hard boiled eggs but I have frozen (individual servings) of this meatloaf with the egg and reheated (in the oven). I didn’t mind the egg texture at all but some might. I would say start with freezing one slice and see what you think 🙂
I don’t like the egg after it is frozen. So if you are going to freeze don’t use the egg unless you thaw the mixture insert the egg then bake.