The OP sound’s very much like my Mom’s meatloaf which I hated, no offense, I think it was the green peppers. The Missus’s recipe from her Mom is delicious. But then I found it got so much yummier when I cooked it on my Weber grill. You get this barbecue flavor with all of the carcinogenic blackened crust goodness. Oh my.
I don’t put the green peppers in. Yeah, they add nothing.
I use whatever starchy thing I want to get rid of in the house. Fresh white bread, stale bread, bread crumbs, crackers, whatever. I soak about 1/2-1 cup of it in milk or water or broth, add an egg (this is for about 2 lbs of meat) and then freestyle the rest.
I like to keep mine simple. Pretty much all I add in terms of vegetables is chopped onion. Maybe Lipton Onion soup to season if I’m feeling like it. Maybe a stock cube. Maybe just salt and pepper. Two days ago I was in an Old Bay mood, so it was that. For meat, I usually go with straight-up ground chuck (80:20).
Bake for about an hour-ish at 350. I don’t do glaze–I prefer making a gravy on the side.
Here’s mine. It looks pretty ordinary, but my kids forbade my wife from making meatloaf in favor of mine. For each pound of meat (I buy stewing cubes or round and grind it in a Cuisinart), I use one medium or large onion, one or two cloves of garlic, 1/2 tsp salt, one slice of old bread from the freezer, and one egg. First I soak the bread and then strain it. The biggest difference is that I chop and saute the onion and then turn the heat down and press in the garlic. Total about 5 minutes. I add to bread, along with the meat, salt, and egg and mix well. I line a baking pan (not a loaf pan) with non-stick foil and make a loaf. I start the oven at 425 and, after a half hour, turn it down to about 390. Meantime, my wife has cut up a mix of veggies (carrots, celery, maybe potatoes,…) and she adds them to the bottom of the pan around the loaf and they cook in the meat grease. I bake it for a half hour plus a half hour per pound of meat. So a 2 lb loaf would go for 90 min. It always crumbles when hot, but slices nicely the next day when cold. I usually bake a bread the same day and eat it on sandwiches with mayo and the cooked veggies.
That’s a very tender subject.
Meatloaf is one of those catch-all recipes, using what is on hand. I dislike ketchup so I use salsa or cocktail sauce, oatmeal and breadcrumbs, chopped carrots and onions, sunflower seeds and Craisens and a beaten egg to hold it together.
Another thing you can do regardless of the meat recipe is after mixing the meat concoction, spread it out flat on plastic wrap or wax paper, and lay a nice Italian ham and smoked provolone over it. Roll it up, seal the ends, and bake like you normally would (with or without glaze).
We’ve also done this with drained sauerkraut, and a lamb meatloaf with spinach and feta.