Smoked Meatloaf is the only way I will ever eat meatloaf.  If it’s not smoked, then I’m not eating it.   I’ve never, ever liked meatloaf and absolutely refused to eat it when I was younger (just ask my Mom).  I mean it’s a total waste of good ground beef.  Why not make tacos?  Or hamburgers?  Or empanadas?  Or meatballs (which actually should taste like tiny meatloaves but don’t)?  Or Salisbury steak?  Anything but meatloaf.  My extreme hatred towards meatloaf took a drastic U-turn one summer weekend, several years ago, when J wanted to BBQ smoke something on his grill.  I looked at what meal fixin’s we had on hand and found packages of ground chuck, ground pork, and ground turkey, a couple of red bell peppers, a sweet onion, and a sleeve of stale saltines.  Unbelievably, I announced that I would make a meatloaf and J was more than happy to smoke it.

The first time I made this barbequed smoked meatloaf, I didn’t write down any of the ingredients.  I just threw together all the stuff and made it.  Honesty, I really didn’t care about documenting it because I knew I wasn’t going to eat it (because it’s meatloaf!).  I also knew that I wasn’t going to make it again for J for another year or so (because it’s meatloaf!).  Truth be told, after J smoked it, curiously got the best of me and I took a bite to try it.  I was completely surprised by how much I liked it.  Smoked meatloaf tastes NOTHING like regular meatloaf.  It is beyond good!  Way better than it should be, but then again, smoked meat always tastes good to me.  This easy meatloaf was full of smokey goodness, super moist, and yummy beefiness yet slightly lighter in flavor because of the addition of the ground pork and ground turkey.  I immediately wrote down the ingredients (guesstimating the amounts) on a small piece of paper and stored it in my favorite BBQ cookbook for future reference.  I was now a converted meatloaf lover and I liked it!

Bell peppers in meatloaf are the best and I like to roast them first.  I always use red bell peppers but green can be used.  Char the peppers until they are blackened on all sides, steam in a covered bowl, then peel all the skin off, remove the inside seeds, and chop that baby up!

The all-mixed-together meatloaf in my homemade foil pan.  This meatloaf is way too big for a single disposable aluminum foil pan so you can either macgyver a big one, like I did, or divide up the mixture and use two disposable foil pans.

Even though this recipe is for smoked meatloaf, I understand some people don’t have a smoker or don’t want to smoke their loaf, so this can be cooked in a 350F degree oven for 1 1/2 hours, or until middle registers 165F degrees.  However you cook it, I hope you enjoy this recipe for Smoked Meatloaf.

5.0 from 3 reviews

Smoked Meatloaf

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

4 hours

Total time

4 hours 15 mins

 

Author: Tasty Ever After

Serves: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1¼ pounds ground beef chuck
• 1¼ pounds ground turkey
• 1 pound ground pork
• 2 roasted red bell peppers, chopped (at home roasting instructions below)
• ¾ cup fresh bread crumbs
• â…“ cup onion, finely chopped
• 4 fresh garlic cloves, minced
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 Tb dried oregano
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 1½ cup barbeque sauce, separated
• heavy duty aluminum foil to make your own loaf pan or 2 disposable aluminum foil pans

Instructions

1. TO ROAST RED BELL PEPPERS:
2. Grill bell peppers over a gas or charcoal grill. Grill all sides of each pepper until blackened, about 15-20 minutes. Place blackened peppers in a small bowl and cover with a plate to allow the steam to loosen up the skin on the peppers. Let steam about 15 minutes and then peel off the pepper skins and scrap out the seeds. DO NOT rinse the peppers under water to remove the skin and seeds because that will remove all the smokey flavor. Chop the bell peppers and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients but only add ½ cup of the 1½ cup of barbeque sauce. Reserve other 1 cup of sauce to top the meatloaf later. Mix all ingredients in the bowl together until thoroughly combined.
4. Take a small baking sheet and make a foil loaf pan by taking a 24" piece of heavy duty aluminum foil and doubling it over by folding it half. Mold the foil sides upwards to form a loaf pan.
5. Fill the loaf pan with the meatloaf mixture. Place the meatloaf directly on the rack of an indirect heat barbeque smoker set at 225F degrees and smoke it for 3-4 hours, or until middle of meatloaf registers 165F degrees. Brush top of meatloaf with remaining 1 cup of barbeque sauce the last hour of cooking time.
6. **Alternative oven cooking method to smoking: Bake meatloaf in a preheated 350F degree oven for 1½ hours or until middle registers 165F. Top the uncooked meatloaf with the 1 cup of remaining barbeque sauce before placing it in the oven.
7. Remove fully cooked meatloaf from the pan and cut into slices.

3.3.3070

 

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