Meatloaf isn’t one of the most original or exciting dishes, but this Italian Meatloaf recipe is one of my favorites. I found the recipe in Cooking Light magazine years ago. The addition of sun-dried tomatoes and basil give it an Italian flavor and make it unique compared to your standard meatloaf recipe. I’m part Italian and a little partial to Italian food even though much of what I eat is probably more Americanized.
This Italian Meatloaf tastes great the next day. You can eat it as is or put it between two slices of bread for a meatloaf sandwich. My husband isn’t a big fan of leftovers, but this is one dish he will eat again. I’ve made a few adjustments to the recipe. The original recipe calls for provolone cheese, but I use shredded cheddar. I can’t ever seem to find shredded provolone at my grocery store. It also suggests sun-dried tomatoes, packed without oil. You have to let the sun-dried tomatoes soften in boiling water for 30 minutes and I’m not always good about planning for this step. If I’m pressed for time, I just rinse and drain sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil. I love the addition of fresh basil in this recipe, but I didn’t have it on hand this last time I made it so I used 2-3 Dorot frozen cubes of basil and it worked fine. These are all minor adjustments which I’ve included in the recipe.
I hope you enjoy this recipe. What’s your favorite type of food to eat? Mexican, Italian, Asian, Greek, etc.
| Italian Meatloaf | Print |
- 1 cup boiling water
- ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes, packed with out oil or jar with oil
- ½ cup ketchup
- 1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
- ¾ cup finely chopped onion
- ¾ cup chopped fresh basil or 2-3 Dorot basil cubes
- ½ cup shredded provolone cheese or cheddar
- 2 large egg whites
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 pound ground round
- cooking spray
- ⅓ cup ketchup
- Combine boiling water and tomatoes in a a bowl, let stand 30 minutes or until soft. Drain tomatoes and finely chop or if using tomatoes packed in oil rinse and drain them then chop.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine ½ cup ketchup, breadcrumbs and next 6 ingredients (through beef) in a large bowl.
- Add tomatoes to meat mixture.
- Shape meat mixture into a 9 x 5 inch loaf on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray.
- Spread ⅓ cup ketchup over top of meat loaf.
- Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until a meat thermometer registers 160. Let stand 10 minutes, and cut into slices.
Sounds really good. I pinned it!
Thanks Keri 🙂 Hope you enjoy it!
Yummy!
I’m not really a fan of traditional meatloaf, but I love flavored meatloafs and Italian is my favorite, so I will definitely try this one.
I hope you enjoy it Jeanene. I like this one much better than traditional meatloaf. The basil and sun-dried tomatoes give it a nice flavor.
Don’t know what a basil cube is, but I sure do love sun-dried tomatoes! I’ll give this a whirl. Meatloaf is a “feel good” food.
Hope you enjoy it Seana. A basil cube is basically basil which has been frozen into small cubes. The brand Dorot makes them and Trader Joes usually has it. I’ve also seen it at Costco before. If you can’t find fresh basil it’s just another option.