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The idea of comfort food for many folks brings up memories of Mom’s meatloaf, made with love and a secret ingredient or 2. Well this 3-Cheese Meatloaf takes that comfort food to a whole other level. This stout meatloaf is made from both ground beef and sausage and is filled with 3 kinds of tasty cheese. It takes the flavor of meatloaf up a few notches for a meal unlike any other. It’s one of my new favorites and you’ll see why as we get into the recipe more.
3 cheeses! Really that might be all I need to say. Take anything savory and add cheese to it and you’ve made it instantly better. The cheeses here are smoked Gouda, mozzarella, and parmesan. For maximum flavor make sure the Gouda is of the smoked variety.
You’ll have to shred it yourself, but this is easy with a shredder attachment on your food processor. Pop the cheese in the freezer for a bit to make it easier to shred. Alternately you can cut it finely if you don’t have anything to shred it with.
For the meat it’s seasoned well with parsley, shallots, garlic, and white pepper. We’re using ground beef and ground sausage- I used spicy Italian sausage and it was really great with the other flavors. But, you can use any type of ground sausage you want for this.
To get the center filled with ooey gooey melted cheese press half the meat mixture into a loaf pan then pile the cheese in the center, avoiding the sides. Then add the rest of the meat, making sure to fill in the sides. Doing it this way means you can still slice it after it comes out of the oven.
Like many meatloaf recipes this one calls for a sauce to be brushed on top. It’s made from ketchup and molasses, but if you don’t love that combo I could see replacing it with some marinara sauce or bbq sauce. It adds a little bit of acidity and sweetness either way. Since the meatloaf is rich and dense this little bit of zing goes a long way to making it more balanced in its flavors.
As you can see from the slices, it comes out with a melted cheese center that’s so wonderful.
This 3-Cheese Meatloaf makes this classic an even more special comfort food.
3-Cheese Meatloaf
Diet: Gluten-Free
For the glaze:
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon molasses
For the Stuffing:
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded smoked gouda cheese
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
For the Meatloaf:
- 1 ½ lbs ground beef
- 1/2 pound ground pork sausage
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 shallots, minced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 egg white
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, plus extra for topping
- 2 teaspoons dried ground mustard
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- pinch white pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Preparation
- Whisk together glaze ingredients. Set aside. Preheat oven to 400˚F.
- Combine stuffing ingredients and then set aside.
- Combine meatloaf ingredients well, but do not overmix. Press half meatloaf into 8”x5” loaf baking pan. Add filling in center then cover with remaining meatloaf, ensuring all cheese is covered by meatloaf mixture.
- Brush with half glaze mixture. Bake for 45 minutes. Brush with remaining glaze and bake for 10-15 more minutes or until meat has reached 160˚F. Sprinkle with some freshly chopped parsley if desired and cut into slices to serve.
Recipe adapted from TJ’s Taste.
