Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf is moist and juicy on the inside, and crunchy on the outside. A homemade comfort food, that is easy to make, cheesy, and super flavorful.
This Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf will quickly become your family’s favorite meal. Just like the classic meatloaf recipe, this one is moist, flavorful, affordable, and can feed a larger crowd. Easily one of the best homemade comfort food. While the bacon definitely gives this meatloaf recipe an extra bit of smokey flavor, it also adds to the tenderness of this meatloaf.
Baked to crispy perfection on the outside, and is super tender and juicy on the inside. This is the mother of all comfort foods! And if you are a bacon lover, this is the perfect combo. It is easy enough for a family weeknight meal or perfect for guests.
The garlic adds so much flavor, and the cheddar cheese makes it perfectly moist. This delicious homemade recipe can be an easy dinner, as it requires few ingredients. Similarly, the leftovers are delicious, and can easily be reheated.
For this Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf, I used ground beef meat. However, any type of meat would work here. Ground pork would work just as well, or you could even mix the two. In addition, if you want a healthier meatloaf, then use ground chicken or ground turkey.
How to make Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf?
This is one of the easiest comfort-food recipes out there. Below are the quick steps to make it. Also, feel free to watch the recipe short video tutorial.
Preheat the oven: While you assemble the dish, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
Make the meatloaf: In ad bowl, add the meat mixture: ground beef, milk, egg, onion, garlic, bread crumbs, dried parsley, thyme, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. Then, mix the ingredients but do not overmix the ingredients. Next, add in the cheese and combine it with your hands with the rest of the mixture.
Bacon wrap: Form the meat mixture into the shape of a log over the bacon. Then, arrange the bacon strips on top of an aluminum foil (shown in the video attached). Next, place the meatloaf over the bacon strips, and fold the foil and fil the loaf over, so it is fully wrapped.
Make the glaze: Whisk together the glaze ingredients and set aside.
Bake: Put the baking dish in the oven and bake for 55-60 minutes.
Glaze it: During the mid-way baking time, remove the loaf from the oven and brush with glaze all over it.
Rest and serve: Allow it to rest for about 15 minutes after removing from the oven. Then, serve with your favorite side dish.
Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf Variations:
This recipe is easily adjustable. Below are some quick tips on how to adapt it:
Swap the meat: You can easily make this dish with any kind of ground meat. For example, try using ground turkey to make Turkey Meatloaf or even ground chicken in place of ground beef.
Add other cheese: Similarly, you can use other cheeses here, or a mixture of them. American, mozzarella, Asiago cheese works just as fine.
Gluten-free: For a gluten-free version, use gluten-free breadcrumbs.
Meatloaf Cooking Times and temperatures:
I love cooking a 2lb loaf, at 350 degrees F for about 70-80 minutes. This is the optimal cooking time for juicy and succulent meat. Also, to make sure you have a perfectly cooked meatloaf, we recommend using an instant-read thermometer.
The internal temperature should be 160 degrees F. If the temperature is lower than 160 degrees F, put it back into the oven and back for a few extra minutes.
Why does my meatloaf always fall apart?
There are some factors that might cause a meatloaf to fall apart and crumble. One factor to make sure is that meatloaf is not very dry, or that it has too much liquid in it.
So, it’s important to have a nice balance when cooking the meatloaf. Using eggs and bread crumbs are key ingredients in keeping a meatloaf together. Also, we use cheese in our recipe, which keeps the meatloaf nice and puffy.
Cooked leftover meatloaf properly stored will last for 3-4 days in the refrigerator. To freeze a cooked meatloaf, wrap tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil, or place in an airtight container or freezer wrap. It can be frozen for up to 3-4 months.
Bacon Meatloaf Recipe Tips and Notes:
Use room temperature bacon. This is an important one because when you try to roll cold bacon, it just doesn’t mold that well as the fat is all cold.
In addition, you can use turkey bacon instead of the regular type.
Make sure you use longer and thinner bacon slices, that can be wrapped around easily.
Both the lean and regular ground beef would work well. Just know that using the leaner option will result in a slightly denser meatloaf as it has less fat content.
Additionally, you can form the meatloaf up to 8 hours ahead and refrigerate until ready to bake.
Don’t over mix the mixture or it can become tough and dry.
Similarly, if you want to use a store-bought BBQ sauce to speed up the process, that will work as well.
Prior to serving, let the meat rest for 15 minutes so that all the juices seep back. Then slice it and serve.
Tools I used to make this Recipe:
Non-Stick Pan Set – I have this set and I love it, I used the smaller pan for this recipe.
Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf is moist and juicy on the inside, and crunchy on the outside. Easy to make, full of cheese and flavor, it is also budget friendly.
This bacon wrapped meatloaf sure does look appealing. I wouldn't have known that it's better to work with room temperature bacon. Thanks for the tips and recipe
I've never been a fan of traditional meatloaf because it tends to be too dry for my taste. This, on the other hand, looks amazing and so moist! Bacon makes everything better and I have to try your recipe ASAP. Looks so delicious!
I have been on a quest all year to find and make the perfect meatloaf. We enjoy meatloaf here and I make it about once every two weeks. So it is a regular dish bit I never would have thought of bacon wrapped meatloaf. This is a great idea.Ā
oh. my. goodness. I mean does it get any better than meatloaf and bacon? I am saying not. Thanks for this awesome looking recipe. Gotta make this one for the hubby.
I have never had a bacon wrapped meatloaf but this sounds delicious and perfect to make this Thanksgiving for my small family. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Made this bacon wrapped meatloaf tonight for dinner. It was moist and flavorful. A hit with the family for sure. If I make this again I will use half as much onion and be sure to dice it as small as possible. Also it took almost an hour and a half to get this loaf up to temp, you you may want to note that to time the meal with sides.
Well, I made this for the family last night. I'm now in charge of meatloaf. One of the best ever. My wife is usually the meatloaf expert, and is very proud of her recipe, but the baton has been passed.
Oh bacon... the duct tape of food! This recipe for bacon wrapped meatloaf is a must try for me. I will have to get more bacon tomorrow so I can make this soon as possible. Looks so delicious!
I made this meatloaf for my husbands birthday last night and it was amaaaaaazzzzzzing!!!!
I did have to cook it for an extra 30 minutes and then put it under the broiler to crisp the bacon, but it was worth the extra time!!
OMG JUST FOUND YA AND MADE YA TODAY BEING NATIONAL BACON DAY!!!! All I can say is OMG it literally melted in our mouths!!! We used all but milk and thyme. Beyond delish my Lubs had 3 servings!!!!
My bacon was crisp when I only wrapped 5 of the 6 sides instead of going all the way around (the bottom wasn't wrapped). Also I used a broil pan (2 pieces with the top having slits for fat to drip through).
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