Ok so I see this question all the time on social media about what to put in meatloaf and meatballs because their old recipe calls for bread or oatmeal or crackers.

So HERE IS A SECRET ABOUT YOUR MEATLOAF RECIPE FROM MOM/GRANDMA — It was designed to stretch meat and use less meat so they added all these fillers.   There is ZERO need to add bread or crackers or oatmeal and there is ZERO need to add some keto friendly ingredient to replace them.

MEAT IS STICKY!!  It will stick together!!    If you are worried that it will not, add a beaten egg.   Most meatloaf recipes already call for egg and some call for milk but Mom/Grandma was trying to feed a family (usually larger than the family size we have now) on a pound of meat so just delete those carb-crap ingredients and make a great keto meatloaf.   Here is my recipe adapted from my Mom’s recipe which for keto had too much onion, too much ketchup and a few slices of bread so it needed a rework 😉

 

Mom’s Meatloaf Made Keto (MAKES 6 HUGE SERVINGS) and JUST 5 NET CARBS PER SERVING!

2 Pounds Ground Beef (I use exclusively pastured grass fed ground sirloin – because I can buy if from a farm –  for all ground meat recipes but you can use whatever you like)

2 Beaten Eggs (or 1/2 cup egg beaters if you are lazy)

3 Cloves of garlic – chopped fine or minced

1/2 small onion – chopped fine or minced (you want approx 1/2 cup)

3 oz small can of tomato paste

2 tsp pink Himalayan Salt or sea salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tbsp yellow prepared mustard (or 1 tsp of mustard powder which I have found very hard to find in the US so I just use regular prepared “hot dog” mustard which is usually keto friendly but check the ingredients on your fave brand)

1 Tbsp Coconut Aminos (if you don’t use these in other recipes, you can omit these as they are not cheap and to have a whole bottle for this is a waste)

OPTIONAL — AND ONLY IF YOU ARE TRYING TO STRETCH THE MEAT TO FEED MORE PEOPLE OR ARE WORRIED ABOUT IT FALLING APART AND WANT SUPER FIRM SLICES OF MEATLOAF –  1/2 cup Almond Flour, Ground pork rinds or flax meal.    I personally now leave these out but if you want to slice it, this will make it a lot easier.  This is fine to be left out if you are allergic or do not want the extra calories and carbs.  (These have NOT been added to the nutritionals below)

FOR OPTIONAL TOPPING – 1/3 cup of sugar free ketchup or your own homemade keto Ketchup or any kind of keto gravy (not included in nutritional info as I have no idea if you will add and which one you will pick so please add to your own macros if you add a topping)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 2 bread pans 9×5 (or 1 larger pan if you are making a square meatloaf or muffin tins if you are using muffin tins)   This can be made in 1 pan but it takes a LOT longer to bake so I use 2 to cut down the baking time but they are shorter meatloafs so if you like big tall slices, you can do it in 1 pan or increase time.  If you are short on time, use muffin tins, they bake the fastest and silicon pans are the fastest to clean and no greasing required.

Beat eggs and mix all ingredients in a large bowl.  Blend well.  I use a very large fork to blend because it is easiest but some people use their hands or a spoon — whatever works best for you to get it all blended well but do not overmix especially if using the optional flours.

If you want ketchup topping, put that on now.

Put into greased pans into oven and bake (you will probably want a cookie sheet underneath in case it bubbles over especially if you use one pan)

Cooking time is dependent on your pan and oven.  It will be approx. 35-40 minutes for 2 pans and around 30 for muffin tins and as long as an 50 minutes to an hour for one large tall pan.   Please use a meat thermometer and check for an internal temperature of 160 degrees.

WANT LOWER CARBS?? – Drop the Coconut aminos and drop one net carb per serving.  

WANT EVEN LOWER CARBS?   Use egg beaters instead of real eggs.  You will only get 2 fewer carbs in the whole recipe but if you are wanting to go even lower, every bit helps  🙂

LOVE MEATBALLS???  GUESS WHAT — Same recipe works great but you might want to add one of the binders — check out a future post for everything about meatballs!

 

Nutritional Info PER SERVING (recipe makes 6 LARGE SERVINGS)

(does not include any of the optional binders (like flour) or toppings (like ketchup/gravy)

Calories 320 calories

Total Carbs 6 total carbs

Net Carbs 5 net carbs

Protein 34 grams

Fat 18 grams