Maple-Glazed Meatloaf Recipe (2024)

instead of baking the meatloaf on a pan, place a baking rack on a sheet pan. Cover the rack with foil, & pierce small holes with a cake tester or skewer. This allows excess fat or juices to drain off onto the baking sheet. This makes your meatloaf less greasy (from the bacon fat. Also, when I put bacon on my meatloaf, I use the pre-cooked, shelf-stable bacon instead of uncooked. Much less greasy topping.

I left out the ground veal because my market didn't have any. Probably the best meatloaf I've ever had. Don't skip the basting step, it makes a big difference in the taste.

I found this a little greasy due to all the bacon on top. Perhaps just one or two strips next time.

Delicious departure from the usual tomato-based meatloaf. I used panko instead of saltines because that's what I had in the pantry. Worked just fine. I served it with parmesan grits and broiled asparagus on the side. Great dinner!

Hands-down the best meatloaf I've ever had (sorry, Mom). A bit of a production to prepare, but worth every minute of prep time. I usually use applewood smoked bacon, but others will do. Do NOT over-cook, as it dries out easily. Yummy!

I made this for Christmas Eve dinner, since my husband is a fan of meatloaf and we all found it to be exceptionally tasty! I used regular bacon, and put the meatloaf on a metal rack over a baking sheet. I didn't fine it to be too greasy at all. Excellent recipe as is.

Use panko instead of saltines. Basting adds to flavor, do not skip

I've made this several times, and it has been adopted by others in my extended family. It is a delicious meatloaf. I recommend using the glaze to baste in during the cooking. I also have used, variously, saltines, panko and toasted bread crumbs, all of which worked well. Use a good-quality smoked bacon, for flavor, but you have to expect that there will be a fair amount of fat in the pan. If it bothers you, you can put an oven-safe cooling rack under the meatloaf to lift it

Best meatloaf I’ve ever had. Used oats instead of breadcrumbs (1:1.2 ratio) to make it gluten free, and used more beef instead of veal. Highly recommend technique that others mention here: put on foil lined cookie sheet in middle so fat has somewhere to go. If you put in a loaf pan would be far too greasy. Did the basting. Served with rosemary & Parmesan mashed potatoes, and asparagus with lemon zest.. and a cote du rhone. Incredible meal! Yum yum yum!

Absolutely. The actual baking time may end up differing from the recipie’s, but all you would need to do is periodically check the internal temp with a meat thermometer until it reaches the recommended 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

Really quite delicious. The bacon and maple make this dish. Substituted ground chicken for the ground veal, and responding to comments from other contributors, removed most of the fat before laying the bacon strips onto the loaf. Easy to over-bake: I might use a bit more sour cream next time to up the moisture and guard against drying out.

I am sensitive to onion, so I replaced it with finely chopped zucchini. It did not affect the moisture content of the meatloaf and worked well.

This was just great! I reduced the meat to 2 lbs, 1 beef, 1/2 each pork and veal. Everything else I kept the quantities the same. It came out moist and was at 170 in 1 hour- so I might have been able to take it out at 50 minutes. At 2 lbs of meat this was still a big meatloaf- plenty for 4 - 6 servings

All family members loved this meatloaf. I can't get veal. I used 2lbs. of 80-20 beef and the pork. Pretty much followed the recipe as written. Excellent. I use a ameripan meatloaf pan and the fat drains to the bottom chamber so we had a non greasy meatloaf and easy cleanup. Thanks

Fabulous recipe and a complete crowd-pleaser. My four -year old asked for leftovers in her lunch. Time is underestimated: this was closer to three hours from the beginning of prep to the meal on the table.

Great flavor - I only had thick sliced bacon - regular would have been better for the top. The maple/mustard was pretty runny - hard to put it on thickly. Mine took 2.25 hours.

I made this for three first time last night and we loved it—delicious, perfect meatloaf. Our market didn’t have ground veal so I just used more beef and I don’t think we ever missed it. The bacon I used didn’t seem to cause the grease problem that others stated. I used a thick cut applewood smoked bacon from a butcher and had no significant amount of grease on the bottom and the meatloaf wasn’t greasy either.

Forgot to baste during cooking, but oh well still a super recipe. Like others I used panko since I didn’t have saltines. This is a great recipe to keep in mind for meatloaf meals!

I made this in a loaf pan and, for the most part, it was great. I do think the different shape prevented the maple glaze flavor from penetrating too far into the meat.

Make as listed, oven at temp for an hour and 15, basting as you remember. Turn to 450 to finish and tack up/crisp bacon

I made this exactly as directed except for substituting Panko for the Ritz crackers and I thought it was terrible. The loaf itself, timidly seasoned, was flavorless. The mustard/maple mixture mostly rolled off the bacon onto the foil-covered baking sheet. I must have misinterpreted " Drape remaining strips of bacon lengthwise over loaf to completely cover." I draped them lengthwise across the loaf, i.e., parallel to the sides of the loaf. One of the worst NYT recipes! Don't make this!

This didn’t work for me. Made exactly as directed but I missed having a tomato based glaze. The mustard maple flavor disappeared despite basting twice.

We didn’t follow the recipe so much as travel beside it: reduced it by a third; the proteins soyriso and ground turkey, a pound each;1/2 lb of pancetta instead of bacon. But for doctors’ orders we each would have had seconds. No idea how it compares with the prototype

While, ok, it's not the healthiest main course on the planet, this was by far the BEST meatloaf I have ever eaten! It got rave reviews at my house, as well as requests to make it again.I have made this recipe 3 times, and my only adjustment is leaving out the added salt, or at least cutting it back significantly.

This recipe was amazing. I followed it to the t with the exception of not draping the bacon over the top (I still included it inside the meatloaf) and I made the mix into two loaves instead of one (because I needed it to cook faster). I have two picky kids and the both asked for seconds which never happens.

We made this last night and loved the actual loaf. But we all agreed that next time we would leave out the strips of bacon on top (I know, heresy). It's difficult for the bacon to get crisp, since it's laying on top of a wet loaf – and the loaf is sufficiently flavorful without the bacon. I'd just do more basting with the maple/mustard sauce next time.