Mastering the Basics: No-mess meatloaf

MeatloafAfter working with raw ground beef, I feel like it takes me half an hour just to clean my hands so they don’t feel sticky. Plus, kneading in all those ingredients can be messy, and it can leave a lot to clean up.

Well, not with this recipe.

Save yourself all the cleanup hassle — and the sticky fingers — by kneading the ingredients in a resealable bag!

Utensils required: Gallon-size resealable bag, oven, 5-inch x 9-inch pan (you can substitute any oven-safe pan with tall sides though), oven mitts

Ingredients:

– 1 tbsp of Worstershire sauce

– 1 packet of Lipton Onion soup mix (it’s a powder mix found on the seasoning aisle)

– 1 can of Ro-Tel original diced tomatoes (drain the juice first!)

– 1 tsp of salt

– 1 tsp of pepper

– 1 egg

– 2 pounds of lean ground beef

– 1 cup of breadcrumbs

Time commitment: 15 minutes to prepare, 50 minutes to cook

Steps (serves 6-8):

1. Preheat the oven at 350 degrees.

2. Put all of the ingredients into the resealable bag. Then, carefully remove any air from the bag and seal it shut (if you don’t do this, you could risk popping the bag — and splattering meatloaf all over you — if the bag has a big air bubble trapped in it). Make sure that about a third to half the bag is empty, so the ingredients have room to move around and be mixed. If you’re doubling this recipe, you will need two bags.

3. Now, thoroughly knead the ingredients inside the bag, making sure that you use your hands to separate the ground beef and fold all of the ingredients into it. It’ll take a few minutes to do this, but it’s well worth the effort.

4. Once everything is sufficiently mixed, turn the bag inside out and gently dump the meatloaf mixture into the cooking pan. Now that the bag is inside out, you can use it like a glove to smooth the meatloaf into the pan.

5. Tuck in the edges of the meatloaf to give it a more rounded appearance. This will keep the edges from burning and getting crusty.

6. Cook the meatloaf at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes. Cut off a slice to check and make sure that it’s thoroughly cooked (no redness anywhere).

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