Recipe: Sous Vide Meatloaf
December 6, 2022
Meatloaf's biggest weakness is an inconsistent oven. We've all had the distressing, if not outright depressing, weeknight meal of dry meatloaf. Fortunately, sous vide is here to save the day with precise temperature control. Here, the only downside is that you need to shape the loaf carefully before vacuum sealing as we won't be using a traditional loaf tray.
With that said, here at Sous Vide Guy we very much prefer the sous vide method - to no one's surprise. Part of this is not only because of the more consistent cooking process, but also thanks to the quick-and-easy glazing process at the end.
- Prep: 15 mins
- Cook: 1 hr 15 mins
Ingredients
For the Meatloaf
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup whole milk
2 large eggs, beaten
2 stalks celery, diced
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp of vegetable oil for frying
1/2 tbsp Italian seasoning (to make this at home combine basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, and marjoram).
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork, or de-cased mild Italian sausages
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
For the Glaze
3/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Directions
1Start by heating your water bath to 153 degrees Fahrenheit, or 67 degrees Celsius.
2While the water bath is coming up to temperature soak your breadcrumbs in your milk and set aside.
3Next heat a skillet to medium-high heat. Once hot add the vegetable oil followed by the celery and onion. Cook for between 5 and 8 minutes, or until the onion has just begun to soften .
4Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant - about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes depending on your temperature.
5Remove from the heat and stir in the tomato paste plus Italian seasoning. At this point you can also blitz the vegetable mix if you'd like a smoother consistency.
6In a large (and I do mean large) mixing bowl combine the meat, breadcrumb and milk mixture, eggs, Worchestershire sauce, and season with salt and pepper to your taste. Fold in the cooked veggies.
7Form two rectangles and slide into a vacuum sealable bag, cutting off the ends to square the loaf. Make sure to use the moist sealing method!
8Place your meatloaf in the water bath and sous vide for 75 minutes.
9While the meatloaf is cooking
10Remove from the water bath, pat dry, and let rest for 15-minutes.
11Set your oven to broil and brush the top, sides, and ends with 1/2 of the glaze. Broil for 1 to 1/2 minutes, re-glaze, and finish under the broiler for an additional 1 to 1/2 minutes.
12Finally, plate up your meat loaf with a side of mashed potatoes, green beans, or a light side salad dressed with a vinaigrette. Most importantly, enjoy!
We've included a simple glaze here, but there's a lot you can do with this finishing step. For instance, maple and bourbon are both great for glazing. So too would be a honey glaze similar to char siu.
You can also consider blitzing the veggies in a food processor to create a smoother texture. This is especially important if you're adding other root vegetables like carrot to the celery and onion.
Photo credit: Brent Hofacker/Shutterstock
Lori
January 28, 2023
This sounds amazing! After having a sous vide (gift from my son) for a few years, I am finally getting into using it and I am really enjoying it! I never thought about making a meatloaf this way, but I can’t wait to try it. Thank you for this recipe.