Italian Meatloaf
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Think of this Italian meatloaf as one big giant meatball, packed with familiar flavors but on a grander, more satisfying scale.
My family loves this delicious Italian meatloaf that is essentially one big giant meatball, or an Italian version of my classic meatloaf. It’s comforting and satisfying, and the smell of it baking in the oven always lures everyone to the kitchen. I serve it with a big Italian salad and Parmesan smashed potatoes, but it is also delicious with pasta or creamy polenta. If you’re lucky enough to have leftovers, the meatloaf is even better the next day, sliced and topped with melted cheese in a warm sandwich.
To make the recipe quick and easy, I use a food processor to chop the vegetables. I also cheat and use a good-quality store-bought marinara sauce; the recipe only calls for 3/4 cup, so there is no need to make it from scratch. It’s easy to make two meatloaves, so you might as well—one to freeze and the other to bake straight away.
Table of Contents
“So I made this meatloaf on a whim…My husband and my in-laws LOVED it. I was so proud!!”
What You’ll Need To Make Italian Meatloaf
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by chopping the vegetables. I use a food processor, which makes it quick and easy. Always rough chop the veggies before putting them in the machine, otherwise they won’t chop evenly.
You want to pulse until the vegetables are finely chopped but not puréed — this makes for a nicely textured meatloaf.
Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet and cook the vegetables until softened, 5 to 7 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the eggs with the Worcestershire sauce, basil, salt and pepper.
Whisk to combine.
Add the meat, bread crumbs, cheese, and cooked vegetables.
Mix with your hands until well combined.
Shape the meat into a 9×5-inch loaf on a greased, foil-lined baking sheet. I prefer to “free-form” it rather than cook it in a loaf pan — that way, the fat cooks out and there’s always enough well-browned crust to go around.
Top with marinara sauce, letting a bit drip down the sides.
Bake for 65 to 70 minutes, until cooked through, then scrape away any fat that accumulates around the meatloaf.
Slice the meatloaf and serve.
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Italian Meatloaf
Think of this Italian meatloaf as one big giant meatball, packed with familiar flavors but on a grander, more satisfying scale.
Ingredients
- 1 small onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 carrot, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 stalk celery, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh basil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 pounds meatloaf mix (or use 1½ pounds 85% lean ground beef plus ½ pound ground pork)
- ⅔ cup Italian-style bread crumbs
- ¾ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- ¾ cup marinara sauce, plus more for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and set an oven rack in the middle position. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- Place the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic in a food processor fitted with the steel blade and pulse until the vegetables are minced. (Alternatively, you can mince all of the vegetables by hand.)
- Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the minced vegetables and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Do not brown. Let cool until just warm.
- In a bowl large enough to hold all of the ingredients, whisk the eggs with the basil, salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce.
- Add the meat, bread crumbs, cheese, and cooked vegetables to the egg mixture and mix with your hands until evenly combined.
- Form the meat mixture into a 9x5-inch loaf shape directly on the prepared baking sheet. Spread the marinara sauce evenly over top, letting it drip a bit down the sides.
- Bake for 65 for 70 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer registers 160°F in the middle of the meatloaf. Let the meatloaf rest for about 10 minutes. Scrape any fat away from the edges of the meatloaf (it will ooze out and brown while baking), then use a wide spatula to transfer the meatloaf to a cutting board or serving platter. Slice and serve with more marinara sauce on the side, if desired.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The cooked meatloaf can be frozen for up to 3 months. When ready to serve, defrost it in the refrigerator for 24 hours and then reheat it in a 300°F oven until hot in the middle. You can also freeze the meatloaf for up to 2 months before baking. Wrap the shaped loaf tightly in plastic wrap, then in foil. Add the marinara sauce after defrosting, when you are ready to bake and serve.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (6 servings)
- Calories: 585
- Fat: 42g
- Saturated fat: 15g
- Carbohydrates: 15g
- Sugar: 4g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 35g
- Sodium: 966mg
- Cholesterol: 180mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Finally a meatloaf recipe that even my teenage son loves! Made exactly as written and it didn’t disappoint. Thanks for another great recipe.
Great meatloaf. My critics didn’t like finding “bits of orange” and immediately questioned if I was trying to slip something past them. Sigh, and they even like carrots! Next time, I would try adding mushrooms instead of the grated carrots and serve the carrots as a side dish.
This is a very moist tasty meatloaf. I doubled the recipe because of the amounts of meat I had. It was a real time saver as I had one for tonight and one for later.
I made this tonight as we celebrated the first day of spring as Jenn suggested. The only change I made was I added an extra clove of garlic cause we really like garlic. It tasted great. Usually I put a sweet glaze on top of my meatloaf, but this was a really nice change for something different. I will be making this one again for sure!
Could I use this recipe for meatballs?
Hi Lynne, I think you could. I do have an actual meatball recipe that’s pretty similar to the flavors in this meatloaf.
Excellent results every time & everyone loved this meatloaf! Made it 3 times. Here’s what I did: no pork, no cheese. Marinara sauce is the better choice (tried a tomato basil sauce-just ok). Sprinkled the bread crumbs over the sauteed vegetables and combined.
Hi Jenn,
My willingness to even try a meatloaf recipe is a testament to the wonderful success I’ve enjoyed with all of your recipes. Just wondering, can I sub Italian-flavored panko for the breadcrumbs?
So glad you’re going to give it a try! Yes, panko would work here. Hope you enjoy it.
Is it possible to freeze this recipe?
sure, it freezes nicely!
I hate meatloaf.
Okay, let me rephrase that, I hated meatloaf.
Never being a lover of meatloaf, one random day, I had a craving for it. I don’t know why, but I did. So, of course, I turned nowhere else but to Jenns recipes because if I was going to love a meatloaf, it was going to be on onceuponachef.
Once again, not disappointed.
Use high quality ground beef and ingredients. I feel like a lot of people don’t use the right parm-reggiano cheese, which even though can seem pricey, is so worth the cost. So hunt for that cheese! You won’t regret it!
The only thing in this recipe I substitute is the pork. I just buy 85% lean beef and use that for the whole loaf. We like pork but try to avoid it if we can. Using all beef has worked out for me and it tastes amazing. I’m sure the pork gives it a softer/juicier consistency but if you can’t have pork, all beef still tastes great.
My sister, an avid hater of meatloaf (she pretty much dislikes anything meaty) had two slices, something I never thought I’d ever see in my life.
Leftovers taste amazing!
I usually make it with homemade biscuits, mashed potatoes and green beans with olive oil and a little sea salt.
Also, a note on my picky eater- he still picked some of the carrots out but said that he loved the meatloaf overall and he had a nice big piece. I guess I’ll have to get those carrots even smaller next time!
Thank you, Celeste for your review. I do not eat pork, so I was glad to see that it works well as an all beef meatloaf. Thanks for sharing your comments. Looking forward to trying this.
I needed a recipe that I could use to make a meatloaf that had a different flavor profile than the ordinary run of the mill meatloaf. I found this recipe on Jenn’s website & decided to give it a try. I’m not sure why I chose to do this for a family gathering for the very first time I made it, but I did! Everyone loved it, coming back for seconds, asking for the recipe. It has the perfect proportions of ingredients & chopping things finely in the food processor helped distribute the veggies well throughout the meat loaf. What very little that was left over was fought over for the privilege of taking home for leftovers! I’ve since made it with ground chicken, adding shredded mozzarella & parmesan cheese to it. Wonderful as well!
Great flavorful meatloaf. We skipped the marinara and instead dip in ketchup.