The BEST Italian Meatloaf
About 8 years ago, Craig’s parents gave us the BEST Christmas present! It was a 1/2 grass-fed cow from a farmer! Grass-fed beef is probably the best gift they could have gotten us! I suggest a box of quality beef from Butcherbox as a gift to your family or friend! Each month they will remember you and enjoy healthy meals!
We love using Butcherbox ground beef for lots of recipes including this Ranch Meatloaf. Check out this video with Micah as my assistant on what you get in a box each month! You can customize your box too! We now are getting ribs and ground beef which we eat all the time!
Click HERE to save time and get a the CURRENT Butcherbox Deal!
Instead of using breadcrumbs or cracker crumbs to make my keto Italian Meatloaf, I use an egg for the binder along with finely chopped mushrooms (don’t worry you don’t even taste them, but it makes it very moist) and grated Parmesan cheese.
Mushrooms and aged cheeses have something called “UMAMI.” Umami is a pleasant savory taste produced by glutamate and ribonucleotides, chemicals that occur naturally in many foods. Umami is subtle and not generally identified by people when they encounter it, but blends well with other tastes to intensify and enhance flavors; it plays an important role in making food taste delicious.
The BEST Italian Meatloaf
Ingredients
- 1 1/5 pounds ground beef 85% lean
- 1/2 pound Italian Sausage
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 3/4 cups mushrooms finely chopped
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup marinara sauce
- 2 teaspoons Redmond Fine grain sea salt
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano ground
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- 1 1/2 cups fontina cheese shredded (or shredded mozzarella)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, mix together ground beef, Italian sausage, eggs, mushrooms, Parmesan and marinara.
- Season with Italian seasoning, salt, oregano, basil, garlic, and cheese.
- Press into a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and lower temperature to 350 degrees F and cover the meatloaf with foil. Place back into the oven for 40 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F (70 degrees C). Slice and serve.
Nutrition
Here is a video showing you how to make this meatloaf!
I served my meatloaf sandwich on my protein sparing bread (recipes HERE)!
Testimony of the Day
“I started yo-yo dieting and exercising when I was 8 years old even though I was a slim child with no genetic tendency towards being even slightly overweight!
I had started baby ballet a few months prior and was so gifted a dancer that in just a month I was moved to the advanced ballet class with the older girls and was (apparently) even better than all of them.
My ballet teacher who was once a prima ballerina was so impressed by my ability that she pulled my mom aside and I had the ill-luck to have overheard this conversation. She told my mom that if I continued to dance that I would someday be a prima ballerina assoluta. (I had to look up this definition when I got much older but at 8 years old I had no idea what kind of compliment I was being given). But THIS I remember…she said that for me to be a ballerina I would have to go on a strict diet because I was not a ‘skinny’ girl. That actually my (slim) frame was not ideal for ballerinas and it would hold me back. The ballet world would think I was too ‘fat’ and my body was not ideal.
There. My life was changed at that moment. I started a lifelong struggle with body image at that moment that I heard I was too fat. And even though I stopped dancing only 2 years later, the dieting and exercise continued. I would do 45 minutes of aerobics and toning in my room with my door closed and I was only 8 years old.
I never had an eating disorder but I was definitely obsessed with my weight. My eating was either feast or famine because I could never stick to a real diet. I had no concept for what was healthy and what was right. I went about ‘dieting very blindly. And because I could never stick to an actual ‘diet’ i actually started gaining weight. All the feasting was catching up to me which made me try more starvation diets only to feast later on. Because I never lost weight and I would hide my binge eating, my mom never knew how obsessed I was with my weight and my body. No one knew. It was my own secret.
To make a long story short, everyone in my family was thin except for me…which made me even more obsessed.
I have been on every diet I can think of and have been to countless nutritionists with little success. I was really at the end of the line and I always felt trapped in my body. I’m an emotional eater and have a major sweet tooth. Once I start I can’t stop. I once went on a sugar binge that lasted almost a year. I felt like crap every single day!
Then one day, I had the good fortune to meet Maria who really understood me and my background! She showed me a lot of compassion and I knew she really cared about helping me.
She mapped out a great eating plan, but more importantly recommended supplements to curb my moods and emotions–which was at the crux of my emotional eating.
Since then, I have bought every one of her cookbooks. I feel very educated about health and eating and can consciously make the right choices.
By the way, I have made almost every one of her desserts and ate it guilt-free!! But I slowly stopped craving sweets altogether. When you don’t deprive your body of something, it stops craving it.
Now, I am healthy at 5’6″ and 117lbs and am no longer dieting or going crazy about my weight and body which had consumed the better part of my life. I can live and enjoy life the way I was meant to…something I haven’t felt since baby ballet.
Thank you, Maria. You are a superstar and life changer….and forever my go-to gal. I love you!!!!” Romy J.
Click HERE to get your 30-day meal plans and start your transformation!
In the instructions you state to season with diced tomatoes but that isn’t on the ingredient list. I assume it should be a fresh tomatoe diced?
Oops! All fixed!
Thanks for your help!
Hi Maria, looks great! I have a question unrelated to meatloaf… Have you ever used or tried grapeseed flour? What is your opinion on this? I found it in the Health Food store, and am wondering what your take on it is? I like experimenting with new ingredients 😛
Thanks Jenni!
I haven’t used grapeseed flour…I will have to look into it!
Thanks!
Wow what a nice post.I like it too much.Many ideas i have for this post.Can you more share with me.I will come back as soon.
Thanks for more sharing………
Laith Salma
Hi Maria,
Do you know if there are any negative side effects if you do decide to take CLA Supplements? Thanks!
April, I have never heard of any bad side effects.
Happy eating!
Hi Maria,
Is there a particular time of day to take CLA? I work out 4 days a week and still have some small problem areas and thinking CLA could help.
I have a whole chapter on supplements on when and how much to take in my book: secrets to a healthy metabolism.
500mg at breakfast and lunch
In your article above on CLA you said that we should have 3-4 grams per day for it to have a noticeable effect in our bodies. Should I take this 3-4 grams at breakfast and lunch, or spread it out more during the day since its more than the amount you are suggesting to Amanda here? And this meatloaf is a favorite for my 4 man meat loving family! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Thanks! You can do either but I would stick to 3-4 grams total per day. 🙂
Ohh ok let me go back and reread that part haha. I just finished that book a week ago! I forget so quickly
No worries girl!
I appreciate your support;)))
I use ground chia as a binder in my meatballs…
That’s a great product..
Thank you so much for the recipe! My husband told me it was probably the best meatloaf I’ve ever made 😀 the only thing I changed was I subbed in some Swiss for the mozz. Delicious!
Thanks!!! I love it when husbands are on board too!!!
This looks like a meatloaf sandwich though, what bread are you using here?
It is my protein bread. 🙂 http://mariahealth.blogspot.com/2012/01/crab-blt-and-paula-deens-diabetes.html
this was A-MA-ZING! we fried it up the next day in coconut oil. Yum!!!!!!
Thanks Kapu! 🙂
Wow Maria!! I have to admit, I just started eating meat again after 5 years of Vegan. This was a tough decision but necessary. I was drawn to your sight as it’s nutrition based/whole foods/no chemicals/Sugar-free and obviously, meat! So anyway, made your Italian Healthified Meatloaf and it was beyond words WONDERFUL and soooo satisfying!! Can’t wait to make again and again. Thanks for all you do!!
Yay! I’m glad you liked it Kaye. Thanks! 🙂
Another delish recipe!! I made this last night and it was a big hit. The meatloaf was so moist and loaded with flavor. I am going to eat it leftover tonight on your protein bread.
Thank you Megan! 🙂
Maria,
What kind of sausage do you use in the meatloaf? Dr. Davis has sausage (cured) listed as a “Never” item in his Quick and Dirty List. Also, are those meatballs the same recipe shaped into meatballs, or a different recipe? Both look really good.
Yes, same recipe shaped into meatballs. I use one from our butcher that I know doesn’t have wheat in it. 🙂
Hi Maria
What did you do with the sausage in the meatloaf?
You combine it with the hamburger. I updated it above. Thanks!
I’ve never been a mushroom eater before (they’ve always scared me, but I’m not sure why). I want to make this, but I’m not sure what kind of mushrooms to get – does it matter, and if so, what kind should I get?
Just a button mushroom would have the least flavor and you probably wouldn’t notice them. 😉
Seriously – So freaking good! I didn’t have all of the ingredients on hand, so I used 1lb grass fed beef and 1lb ground turkey, 1 T of ground chia seed soaked in about 1/8 c whole milk instead of the mushrooms, and tomato paste instead of the marinara. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to make a meatloaf without using bread crumbs, and the texture was just never right. Edible, but no cigar. This meatloaf was sooooo moist and better than any meatloaf I’ve had with bread in it. My husband is not even a big fan of meatloaf (I know, ridiculous and un-American right?) but he described this version as a “perfect piece of meat.” From a man who himself is an excellent cook and die-hard carnivore, this is high praise indeed! I love you for this, Maria!
Awesome! Thanks!
Hi Ruth, did you happen to water down the tomato paste? We are allergic to eggs so this adaptation may work for us!!! Thanks, Tracy
This meatloaf is soooo good! I like it better than our traditional carb loaded meatloaf. Thanks for the terrific recipe! I haven’t found a recipe of yours I didn’t like. You make low carb dieting and cooking a joy!
Thanks!
If we omit the cheese and mushrooms on day 2 do we need to use anything to replace with? Thx!
This was really good and right up my alley. I had to pry my husband’s mitts off the left-overs…MINE!
Ha! Thanks!
Just made this and it’s beyond fantastic. I just started the Keto for weight loss and my husband has been very supportive in trying my meals. I made this with venison and I found his new favorite. Wonderful! Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks!
I am Dairy free so how do I substitute the cheese?
Well, you could just omit it. Otherwise I have a dairy free mozzarella recipe coming soon. 🙂
Just got your 1 week keto adapted program and am prepping food today. I made 2 batches of this recipie…1 for meatloaf and 1 for meatballs. Very different recipie than what I’m used to. Looking forward to trying them both. Thanks.
Maria, have you released your dairy free mozzarella recipe yet?
Sorry, not yet. Still perfecting it. 🙂
I am having a “dork” moment 🙂 Italian sausage – is this something I ask the butcher for or do I buy the links and remove casing and cut up? Ground pork breakfast sausage makes sense for meatloaf, but that’s not the ingredient. I’m sure I’m overthinking it. Just saw Italian sausage links at Trader joes. I’m obviously not a cook, but I’m trying. 🙂
Most grocery stores will have it. It is basically sold like hamburger but is ground pork with Italian spices. 🙂
Hi,
Isn’t CLA from trans-fats such as safflower oil? How safe is it?
Thanks for your info 🙂
Not if it is from a quality source.
I have re-read this recipe 3 times… Where do you put in the 1.5 cups of mozzerella? In with everything else, or on top?
Thank you! 😳😜😘😃❤️
In the mix before baking;)