Meatloaf — it should be a warm and complex slice of seasoned and baked ground meat, but more often than not, I’ve suffered the trauma of a crumbly and bland catastrophe. Everyone says they have a secret ingredient that makes their meatloaf an exceptional standout, but that’s seldom the case. I thought I’d end my hunt, but once I discovered this new tip, meatloaf has become the all-time rockstar of the dinner plate.
So what is the secret to making meatloaf deep, complex, and may I say, mysterious? Well, it’s something I had never thought of until I watched this video.
Most meatloaf recipes have something called a panade — which is a mixture of milk or eggs with bread, mashed together and then folded into the ground meat. This carb-based add-in denatures the protein and while baking, prevents the proteins from linking and creating a brittle, rigid structure. While panades add great texture to the meatloaf they deliver absolutely no flavor to the meat, that is until now.
This recipe calls for using vegetable juice instead of milk, which gives the meatloaf both the flavor and moisture it desperately needs. The vegetable juice accentuates the onions and bell peppers to give the meatloaf a deeper, almost roasted complexity.
There’s not much extra prep to this tip, simply mix the bread crumbs thoroughly with the vegetable juice so the crumbs are completely saturated with the liquid, then mix, shape, and mold your meatloaf.
Try it once, and you’ll be converted!