Open main menu
American-style meatloaf served with tomato ketchup and a sprig of parsley as garnishment

Meatloaf is a dish of ground meat that has been mixed with other ingredients and formed into the shape of a loaf, then baked or smoked. The final shape is either hand-formed on a flat pan or created by cooking it in a loaf pan.[1] It is usually made with ground beef, although ground lamb, pork, veal, venison, poultry and seafood are also used.

The cooked loaf can be sliced like a loaf of bread to make individual portions. Because the dish can become dry, various techniques aim to keep the dish moist by either covering it with sauce or wrapping it, using moisture-enhancing ingredients in the mixture, or filling it with meats, cheese, or other vegetables.




International variationsEdit


In Argentina it is usually called Pan de carne. It is typically filled with ham, cheese, and carrots (or some other vegetable).


The Austrian meatloaf version is called Faschierter Braten.[3] Most of the time it is not filled (e.g., in Germany), but it is wrapped in ham before baking it. Often it is served with mashed potatoes (when warm) or with sauce cumberland (when cold).




Rulo Stefani (Bulgarian: Руло Стефани).[4] The Bulgarian rulo Stefani meatloaf is similar to the Hungarian Stefánia meatloaf, with hard-boiled eggs in the middle.




The Cuban meatloaf is called pulpeta. It is made with ground beef and ground ham, and stuffed with hard boiled eggs, and it is cooked on the stovetop.[5] The dish was brought to public attention, mistakenly referred to as a sausage, in the second episode of the third season of The Cosby Show entitled "Food for Thought".[6]

Czech RepublicEdit

Czech sekaná









In Greece, meatloaf is referred to as rolo (Ρολό)[8] and it is usually filled with hard boiled eggs, although several other variations exist.[9]


Stefania meatloaf (Hungarian: Stefánia szelet)[10] or Stefania slices are a type of Hungarian long meatloaf baked in a loaf pan, with 3 hard boiled eggs in the middle, making decorative white and yellow rings in the middle of the slices.


In Italy, meatloaf is called polpettone and can be filled with eggs, ham and cheese and other ingredients.[11]

Jewish cuisineEdit

In Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine, meatloaf is called Klops (Hebrew: קלופס‎) and can be served cold or hot. It is sometimes filled with whole boiled eggs.[12] The name presumably comes from German Klops 'meatball'.


In Lebanon, kibbeh (ground beef or lamb mixed with burgul) can sometimes be formed in a loaf and baked. It is sometimes made from raw meat.




It is known as albondigón and has a small size.


хучмал (khoochmal) is served with mashed potatoes cooked over the ground meat.[13]


The Dutch version of meatloaf is called gehaktbrood and can be eaten warm or cold.[14] A mini-version of meatloaf called slavink is also served in the Netherlands.


Filipino pork embutido

Embutido (not to be confused with the Spanish embutido) is made of well-seasoned ground pork, raisins, minced carrots, sausages, and whole boiled eggs. The meat is molded into a roll with the sausages and hard boiled eggs set in the middle. Another variation of the dish involves wrapping the meatloaf with pork crow or mesentery. It is then wrapped in aluminum foil (historically, banana leaves) and steamed for an hour. The cooked embutido may be stored in freezers. It is usually served fried and sliced for breakfast.[15]

Embutido is sometimes confused with morcón (also not to be confused with Spanish morcón), due to their similarity in appearance. However morcón is a beef roulade, not a meatloaf.

Hardinera is a Filipino meatloaf made with diced or ground pork topped with sliced hard-boiled eggs, pineapples, carrots, bell peppers, peas, tomatoes, and raisins, among others.



Puerto RicoEdit




South AfricaEdit





Dalyan köfte with rice pilaf and salad

In the Turkish cuisine there is a meatloaf with vegetables dish called dalyan köfte.[16]

United KingdomEdit

In the UK there are regional pork meatloaf dishes known as Haslet, which can be eaten cold or hot.[17]

United StatesEdit

During the Great Depression, cooking meatloaf was a way for families to stretch the food budget by using an inexpensive type of meat and leftover ingredients. Along with spices,[2] it was popular to add cereal grains, bread or saltines to the meatloaf to add bulk and stretch the meat. This tradition of additions still lives on, but with new goals: primarily, producing a lower-fat dish with superior binding and consistency.

American-style meatloaf is typically eaten with some kind of sauce or relish, often applied before cooking. Many recipes call for a pasta sauce or tomato sauce to be poured over the loaf, to form a crust during baking.[18] One of these tomato-based sauces may be substituted with a simple brown or onion gravy, or a can of cream of mushroom soup, but the meatloaf is prepared in a similar manner. Barbecue sauce, tomato ketchup, or a mixture of ketchup and prepared mustard may also be used. This style of meatloaf may be topped with a "meatloaf sauce" consisting of ketchup and brown sugar. Another variety of meatloaf, in the same style, is prepared by "frosting" the loaf with mashed potatoes, drizzling a small amount of butter over the top, and then browning it in the oven.

American-style meatloaf is normally served warm, as part of the main course, but it can also be sliced as a cold cut (and then used in sandwiches). This dish can be considered a typical comfort food in the US, and so it is served in many diners and restaurants. In a 2007 poll by Good Housekeeping, meatloaf was the seventh-favorite dish of Americans.[19]


The Vietnamese meatloaf version is called giò. It is boiled rather than baked or smoked.[20] There are many versions of giò that differ by the ingredients used.

See alsoEdit


  1. ^ a b Zeldes, Leah A. (2009-09-02). "Eat this! Meatloaf, easy comfort". Dining Chicago. Chicago's Restaurant & Entertainment Guide, Inc. Archived from the original on 2011-10-11. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  2. ^ a b c "Meatloaf Gaining Popularity among Food Connoisseurs". Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  3. ^ Beer, G. (1975). Austrian Cooking and Baking. Dover Publications. p. 56. ISBN 978-0-486-23220-1. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  4. ^ за руло Стефани
  5. ^ "Cuban Meatloaf recipe - How to Make Pulpeta Cubana". Archived from the original on 21 May 2016.
  6. ^ "The Cosby Show". Archived from the original on 2014-07-16. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
  7. ^ (in Danish) Min far's forloren Hare, FÅS IKKE BEDRE Archived 2010-12-04 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Maltese, W.; Clark, B. (2013). Everyday Gourmet: A Memoir. Traveling gourmand series. Wildside Press. p. 86. ISBN 978-1-4794-0987-7. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  9. ^ "(Greek) Ρολό κιμά με γέμιση αυγά, καρότο, πιπεριά και μπέικον". Archived from the original on 10 September 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  10. ^ Stefánia meatloaf Archived 2008-12-24 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ Root, W. (1992). The Food of Italy. Vintage Books. p. 292. ISBN 978-0-679-73896-1. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  13. ^ "Welcome to nginx!". Archived from the original on 25 February 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  14. ^ "De lekkerste gehaktbrood recepten - okoko recepten". Archived from the original on 23 August 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  15. ^ Lam, Francis (7 January 2015). "The Rich Tradition of Filipino Embutido". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  17. ^ Edington, S. (2018). Classic British Cooking. Pavilion Books. p. pt197. ISBN 978-1-911358-49-7. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  18. ^ " - Resources and Information". Archived from the original on 26 June 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  19. ^ "Sunday Supper: Meatloaf is a favorite comfort food". Florida Today. July 21, 2015. Archived from the original on September 15, 2017. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
  20. ^ Bruni, F.; Steinhauer, J.; Naron, M.P. (2017). A Meatloaf in Every Oven. Grand Central Publishing. p. pt21. ISBN 978-1-4555-6306-7. Retrieved December 15, 2018.

External linksEdit