The Best Brown Sugar Glazed Meatloaf Recipe (2024)

ByLynda SelfPublishedMarch 31, 2022October 25, 2023Updated onOctober 25, 2023

Brown Sugar Glazed Meatloaf Recipe: Comfort food at its best! This Brown Sugar Glazed Meatloaf Recipe is made using ground beef and is topped with a sweet glaze made with brown sugar and ketchup. It’s not difficult to make, and many of the ingredients you will need are kitchen staples that we tend to keep in our pantry and refrigerator.

If you grew up in the United States, chances are great that you have had meatloaf. At least once. For many of us, it is quintessential American comfort food, ranking high up there along with Buttermilk Biscuits and Pecan Pie.

Let’s take a look at how to make this tasty meatloaf.

Ingredients

This meatloaf recipe has a sweet, brown sugar glaze on top and a little bit of glaze on the bottom.

Glaze Ingredients

• ¾ cup ketchup
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar

Meatloaf Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 ⅓ pounds ground beef (grass-fed is best)
• 1 ⅓ cups bread crumbs
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 2 eggs
• ¼ cup milk

How To Make Brown Sugar Glazed Meatloaf

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly spray a loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Before making the meatloaf itself, make the glaze by combining ketchup, brown sugar, and a little salt. Let it sit for a moment so that the sugar can dissolve a bit in the ketchup.

Next, spoon about small layer of glaze (about ⅓ cup of the ketchup mixture) on the bottom of your loaf pan. (I use a 9×5-inch loaf pan.) Set the rest of the glaze aside and get started on making the loaf.

Chop the onion into chunks and prepare the bell pepper by removing the top, bottom, and insides. Place them in your food processor and pulsate until they are diced.

Then add the meat, bread crumbs, egg, milk, and ⅓ cup of the glaze. Process it all in your food processor until the mixture is thoroughly blended.

Next, place the ground beef mixture into the loaf pan and pat the top smooth. Spoon the remaining brown sugar glaze on top. Bake meatloaf in the middle of the oven rack for an hour in the preheated oven.

It’s important to cook ground beef to an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit. If the meatloaf is under 160 degrees, continue to bake it until it reaches that temperature to be safe.

I suggest that if it has baked for an hour and still has not reached 160 degrees, check every 10-15 minutes. (If you still cannot seem to reach the minimum safe temperature, you might want to invest in an oven thermometer.)

Meatloaf Questions

Meatloaf Facts & Trivia

• Meatloaf has European origins. It was mentioned in the Roman cookery collection Apicus as early as the 5th century.
• Europeans and Americans are not the only ones who enjoy meatloaf. Other countries ranging from Chile to Vietnam have their own versions of the meaty dish.
• America’s version of meatloaf takes its origin from scrapple, a Pennsylvania Dutch dish made from pork parts.
• Meatloaf gained much appreciation during the Great Depression, thanks to its adaptability. People were able to make use of less expensive fillers to stretch ground beef and create a satisfying dish.

Here are two more meatloaf recipes to add to your recipe box:

• Home-style Meatloaf in the Instant Pot – This recipe for the iconic comfort food is for all you Instant Pot fans.
• Boarding House Meatloaf – This Southern Living recipe will transport your tastebuds to the famous boarding house located in Lynchburg, Tennessee.
• Mini Meatloaf Muffins – All the great flavor of classic meatloaf in cute little muffin shapes.

Before you go, don’t miss out on these Southern Kissed favorite recipes:

• Quick and Easy Chicken and Dumplings
• Zucchini Tots
• Ooey Gooey Butter cake

Be sure to come back and tell us how your meatloaf turned out!