Pizza Meatloaf
Pizza Meatloaf is absolutely dynamite! It’s filled with Italian bread crumbs, mozzarella cheese, onions and red bell pepper. Then it’s covered with a zesty spaghetti sauce that includes crushed red pepper to give it a little zip. Finally, it’s topped off with more mozzarella cheese. It’s pizza in meatloaf form! I love meatloaf recipes, especially if they have cheese, barbecue sauce or taste like cheeseburgers! Pizza Meatloaf is hearty, satisfying and wonderful comfort food.
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This recipe, adapted from my mother-in-law, is simply wonderful. The first time I ever tasted it was when John and I were newly married. We were having a house built for us and so we moved in with his parents for a few months. Joan made this for dinner one night. She’s made it many times over the years and we’ve always enjoyed it. The main alteration I’ve made from Joan’s recipe is to add mozzarella cheese inside the meatloaf and on top. Those additions jazz up this meatloaf and make it more pizza-like.
I can’t believe I’m finally getting this recipe posted. Last week at this time the bottom seemed to drop out of my blog! I was getting ready to write up a post for this delicious recipe in the early afternoon. I was in the middle of pinning some recipes when my blog suddenly stopped working. My hosting service shut me down. After waiting a couple of hours, I notified my son to find out what was going on.
After THREE DAYS of calling the service, emailing them and trying to get answers but coming up empty, I finally asked my son to switch us to another server. It has taken several days to get everything migrated over to another server. I think just about everything is working correctly now but what a nightmare! 🙁 I appreciate your patience as I’ve tried to get everything up and running again. I know how inconvenient it has been for many of you who have been trying to make some of the recipes.
If you’re looking for a fabulous meatloaf recipe and you’re in the mood for something with Italian flair, then consider making Pizza Meatloaf. You will be so glad you did.
Pizza Meatloaf is a wonderful, tasty entree. The spaghetti sauce has crushed red pepper adding a little heat.
Here I’ve ladled more spaghetti sauce over top of Pizza Meatloaf.
This hearty main dish entree will have you coming back for more! I served Pizza Meat Loaf with Seasoned Scalloped Potatoes and Italian Zucchini.
Here’s what I did.
I used these ingredients to make the meatloaf.
Place lean ground beef in a mixing bowl. Add Italian bread crumbs, onion, diced red bell pepper, eggs, minced garlic, parsley, Italian seasoning, ground flaxseeds and pepper.
Add mozzarella cheese and milk.
Mix ingredients with your hands until well combined.
Grease a 9×13″ glass baking dish. Shape beef mixture into a loaf. Bake at 350 for about 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes, until beef is completely done.
I used these ingredients to make the sauce (plus the cheese for the top.)
Pour spaghetti sauce into a sauce pan. Add garlic salt, parsley, crushed red pepper flakes, oregano and basil.
Remove meatloaf from oven.
Pour spaghetti sauce over top of meatloaf (you will not need the whole amount). Sprinkle cheese over top.
Bake meatloaf about 10-15 more minutes until cheese melts. Serve meatloaf with additional sauce and cheese, if desired.
Pizza Meatloaf has a zippy spaghetti sauce recipe with crushed red pepper flakes.
If you love pizza you’ll love this fabulous meatloaf recipe.
This jazzed up meatloaf is just what the doctor ordered on nights where you have picky eaters!
It’s delicious served with Seasoned Scalloped Potatoes and Italian Zucchini.
Here’s the recipe.
PIZZA MEATLOAF
(Recipe adapted from my mother-in-law, Joan McNally, Largo, FL)
Pizza Meatloaf
Ingredients
MEATLOAF:
- 1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef 93% or 96% lean preferred
- 1/3 cup onion diced
- 1/2 red bell pepper diced
- 3/4 tsp. minced garlic from a jar (or 2 garlic cloves, finely minced)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup seasoned Italian bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup 2% milk
- 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp. parsley
- 2 tbsp. flaxseed meal or whole wheat germ
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
PIZZA SAUCE:
- 32 oz. jar spaghetti sauce (any flavor)
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tbsp. parsley
- 1 tsp. oregano
- 1 tsp. basil
- 1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
Instructions
MEATLOAF:
- Mix together with hands and form into a loaf.
- Place in a greased 9x13” rectangular glass baking dish.
- Bake about 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes at 350°.
- Add Pizza Sauce and spread over top of the meatloaf.
- Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over top and heat through about 10 minutes more.
PIZZA SAUCE:
- Heat sauce and seasonings over medium heat in medium-sized saucepan until mixture starts to bubble.
- Turn down heat and keep warm until ready to use.
- Once meatloaf is cooked, ladle Pizza Sauce over top of the meatloaf.
- Use as much as desired and use the rest to serve over individual servings.
- Sprinkle cheese over top of sauce.
- Bake 10 minutes longer until heated through and cheese melts.
Notes
© Can’t Stay Out of the Kitchen
Nutrition
- [b]MEATLOAF:[/b][br]
- 1 ½ lbs. lean ground beef (93% or 96% lean preferred)
- 1/3 cup diced onion
- ½ red bell pepper, diced
- ¾ tsp. minced garlic from a jar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup seasoned Italian bread crumbs
- ½ cup milk
- 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp. parsley
- 2 tbsp. flaxseed meal or whole wheat germ
- ½ tsp. pepper
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese[br]
- [b]PIZZA SAUCE:[/b][br]
- 32-oz. jar spaghetti sauce (any flavor)
- ½ tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tbsp. parsley
- 1 tsp. oregano
- 1 tsp. basil
- 1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese
- Mix together with hands and form into a loaf.
- Place in a greased 9×13” rectangular glass baking dish.
- Bake about 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes at 350°.
- Add Pizza Sauce and spread over top of the meatloaf.
- Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over top and heat through about 10 minutes more.[br]
- Heat sauce and seasonings over medium heat in medium-sized saucepan until mixture starts to bubble.
- Turn down heat and keep warm until ready to use.
- Once meatloaf is cooked, ladle Pizza Sauce over top of the meatloaf.
- Use as much as desired and use the rest to serve over individual servings.
- Sprinkle cheese over top of sauce.
- Bake 10 minutes longer until heated through and cheese melts.
Every forkful of Pizza Meatloaf is amazing.
Your family is sure to enjoy meatloaf when it’s Pizza Meatloaf!
I love meatloaf. This Pizza Meatloaf is hard to beat. 🙂
You may also enjoy these delicious recipes!
Pizza Meatloaf
Ingredients
MEATLOAF:
- 1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef 93% or 96% lean preferred
- 1/3 cup onion diced
- 1/2 red bell pepper diced
- 3/4 tsp. minced garlic from a jar (or 2 garlic cloves, finely minced)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup seasoned Italian bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup 2% milk
- 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp. parsley
- 2 tbsp. flaxseed meal or whole wheat germ
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
PIZZA SAUCE:
- 32 oz. jar spaghetti sauce (any flavor)
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tbsp. parsley
- 1 tsp. oregano
- 1 tsp. basil
- 1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
Instructions
MEATLOAF:
- Mix together with hands and form into a loaf.
- Place in a greased 9x13” rectangular glass baking dish.
- Bake about 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes at 350°.
- Add Pizza Sauce and spread over top of the meatloaf.
- Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over top and heat through about 10 minutes more.
PIZZA SAUCE:
- Heat sauce and seasonings over medium heat in medium-sized saucepan until mixture starts to bubble.
- Turn down heat and keep warm until ready to use.
- Once meatloaf is cooked, ladle Pizza Sauce over top of the meatloaf.
- Use as much as desired and use the rest to serve over individual servings.
- Sprinkle cheese over top of sauce.
- Bake 10 minutes longer until heated through and cheese melts.
8 Comments
Jenelle D.
November 7, 2022 at 5:47 am
I made two changes to this recipe.
1. I did use gluten free breadcrumbs but only 1 cup even though the notes say to use 4 cups. Why would you use 4 cups of gluten free bread crumbs vs. regular bread crumbs? Please revise the notes because if someone made this with 4 cups they would not like the results and they would’ve wasted about $20 or more of gluten free bread crumbs.
2. I used 2 lbs of ground beef and then divided the mixture out into about 6 individual loaves and baked them for 30 minutes. The only problem with this is that the onions and peppers weren’t cooked all the way so if I were to make this again I’d sautee them first or maybe microwave them a little to soften them but I somewhat enjoyed the little bit of crunch they provided as it was a break in the texture of the meat loaf.
Overall, the recipe was pretty good.
I may make again but substitute the bread crumbs with instant plan oatmeal as I like that consistency for meatloaf better.
Teresa
November 7, 2022 at 7:41 am
Hi Jenelle. I think you misunderstood my note at the bottom. The brand of gluten free breadcrumbs I was recommending was called “4C” kind of like Progresso, the brand name for the gluten free crumbs I was suggesting was “4C” not to use four cups of bread crumbs. If you bake this in a regular sized dish (per recipe) you won’t have any problem with the onions and bell peppers cooking all the way through since the length of time is longer.
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Amanda
November 11, 2014 at 6:35 pm
This looks delicious!!!
Teresa
November 11, 2014 at 7:30 pm
Thank you, Amanda, it really was wonderful. I hope you try it sometime. Thanks for stopping by.
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