This recipe for Crock-Pot Brown Sugar Meatloaf is a family favorite full of delicious flavor with just a touch of sweetness from a little brown sugar. This easy meatloaf can be prepared ahead of time as a slow cooker freezer meal so that you have dinner ready to go in the slow cooker for busy nights.
Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Meatloaf
This recipe for Crock-Pot Brown Sugar Meatloaf is included in our 10 Easy Crock-Pot Freezer Meals Meal Plan that you can purchase in our store for just $1.99. The meal plan includes 10 great freezer meals that you can prepare ahead of time and have ready to go in your freezer. You will also get a printable grocery shopping list for all the ingredients needed to make all 10 meals as well as printable labels that you can stick on your freezer bags.
I have found making meatloaf in the crock so easy, and best part is it doesn’t get over dry, like I have found in the oven. Kids love it and the next day we make yummy meatloaf sandwiches for lunch. If your not fond of doing meatloaf due to having to handle the raw hamburger, I personally use vinyl gloves, so I’m not scraping raw hamburger out of my fingernails after. We enjoyed this meatloaf recipe, tasted quite good and my oldest had multiple servings, she liked it so much.
Equipment Needed For Crock-Pot Brown Sugar Meatloaf:
- 6 Quart, 6.5 Quart Or 7 Quart Slow Cooker
- Dry Measuring Cups And Spoons
- Liquid Measuring Cup
- Slow Cooker Liner OR Non-Stick Cooking Spray
- Mixing Bowls
- Meat Thermometer
- Serving Platter (optional)
Frequently Asked Questions
Cooking raw hamburger meat (ground beef or beef mince) is safe in your slow cooker. With this meatloaf recipe you just need to make sure that the internal temperature of the meatloaf reaches 160° F (72° C) using an instant read meat thermometer.
Yes you can. We have now officially tested this recipe halved and it could not be any simpler. We recommend cooking half the recipe in a 3 to 5 quart oval shaped slow cooker for 5 to 6 hours and making sure you use a meat thermometer to reach the safe cooking temperature of 160° F (72° C).
While this is a Crock-Pot recipe food website and we specialize in slow cooker recipes only we realize that sometimes readers wish to know if they can cook a recipe like this one in the oven. For oven cooking cook at 350° F (177° C) for approximately 45 minutes to an hour.
While we prefer to use an oval shaped slow cooker so that the finished meatloaf if more of a u0022loafu0022 shape you really can use any other shape of slow cooker including a round shaped one. You will just end up with a round shaped meatloaf which will still taste fantastic.
Special Diets
More Tasty Slow Cooker Meatloaf Recipes To Try!
Crock-Pot Meat Loaf
Perfect for Sunday dinner with your family this recipe for Slow Cooker Meat Loaf comes out moist and delicious when made in your slow cooker!
Crock-Pot Chicken Parmigiana Meatloaf
Lighten up your meatloaf with this healthy recipe for Slow Cooker Chicken Parmigiana Meatloaf. Ground chicken is cooked into a delicious Italian meatloaf!
Crock-Pot Mom's Meatloaf and Potatoes
Only 9 ingredients needed in this classic recipe for Slow Cooker Mom's Meatloaf and Potatoes! A complete slow cooker dinner!
Crock-Pot Bacon Cheddar Meatloaf
Everyone in the family is going to love the bacon cheeseburger flavors in this moist & flavorful Slow Cooker Bacon Cheddar Meatloaf recipe. Perfect for dinner!
Recipe Collections:
- 6 Quart Crock-Pot
- 6.5 Quart Crock-Pot
- 7 Quart Crock-Pot
- Beef Crock-Pot Recipes
- Crock-Pot Hamburger/Ground Beef Recipes
- Entrée Recipes
- Freezer Meal Recipes
- Kid Friendly Crock-Pot Recipes
Crock-Pot Brown Sugar Meatloaf Recipe
Ingredients
Meatloaf:
- 3 Pounds Extra Lean Ground Beef
- 1 ¼ Cups Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs
- 1 Cup Milk
- 4 Large Eggs
- 2 Packets Onion Soup Mix (or homemade)
- 2 Teaspoons Kosher Salt
- ½ Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- ½ Teaspoon Ground Ginger
Topping:
- 2 Cups Ketchup
- 1 Cup Brown Sugar (light or dark)
- 2 Teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
Instructions
- Line an oval shaped 6 quart or larger with a slow cooker liner (optional but makes the removal of the cooked meatloaf easier as well as aids in clean up). If you do not use a liner spray the slow cooker insert with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl combine together with clean hands the ground beef, breadcrumbs, milk, eggs, onion soup mix, salt, pepper and ground ginger.
- Add the meatloaf mixture to the bottom of prepared slow cooker pressing and shaping it into a loaf shape keeping it away from the sides of the slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 7 hours or until a meat thermometer inserted in the center reads 160° F when inserted into the middle of the meatloaf.
- About 1/2 hour before the meatloaf is done cooking mix together the ketchup, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce in a small mixing bowl and evenly spread the mixture over the top of the meatloaf. Finish cooking.
- Carefully remove the meatloaf from the slow cooker by either pulling the liner with the meatloaf inside or using two spatulas to lift the meatloaf up and out of the slow cooker. Place on a serving platter if desired.
Notes
-
- Follow instruction #2 and mix the meatloaf mixture together in a large bowl.
- Transfer mixture into a 1 gallon size zippered freezer bag OR FoodSaver bag. and flatten the meatloaf mixture as much as possible inside the bag.
- In a smaller quart sized freezer bag add the topping mixture and mix in the bag before sealing. Place this smaller bag inside the bag with the meatloaf and seal the larger bag closed by hand OR use your FoodSaver sealing system to vacuum seal the bag closed.
- Label bag with date prepared, name of recipe, ingredients and cooking instructions.
- Lay bag flat in freezer and allow to freeze for several hours. At that point you can stand the bags upright in your freezer if desired.
- The contents of the freezer meal must be allowed to thaw completely. So, remove freezer meal from freezer and place in the refrigerator until completely thawed (about 24 hours).
- Remove topping bag and set aside on a plate in the refrigerator until needed.
- Remove meatloaf mixture from freezer bag and put in slow cooker. Follow the remaining directions from the instructions in the recipe.
Nutrition
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I love, love your site for crockpot recipes. Please keep posting them. I made your brown sugar meatloaf and It was a hit! However, due to my high blood pressure, I modified your recipe. Instead of adding 2 packets of dry onion soup mix, I used only one and added extra dry onion, (but you could add extra chopped onions). I omitted the salt. I also, used 1/2 of the ketchup, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce that you recommended. I poured it on top of the meatloaf 2 hours before it was done cooking. It flavored the meatloaf throughout and gave it a better flavor. I also used 85% beef and I didn’t have too much fat in the bottom.
Is it safe to put hamburger in raw?
Yes it is Nancy.
This was REALLY good. My kids (ages 3 and 6) gobbled it up with no complaints. That literally never happens. This was the first freezer meal that I tried and I am really encouraged to try more. I converted this recipe into 2 loaves because I have a small family and froze them in individual loaf shapes. When it was time to throw the meatloaf into the CrockPot I put it in frozen and increased the cook time to 7 hours. It didn’t dry out at all and it only took me about 2 minutes before I went to work to get dinner ready – awesome. Instead of serving the sauce on top I served it on the side so the kiddos could dip. They loved the sauce so much that I made an extra batch of that to keep in the fridge for them to use on other food.
How long can these be kept in the freezer?
I would say, 6 months would be the longest I keep in the freezer..
Do you cook any of the meat before freezing it (for any of these 10 recipes) or leave it all raw when you mix it together?
Thanks!
All the meat is raw unless the recipe indicates otherwise.
I don’t have an oblong crock pot. Will this still work in a 3.5 qt round crock pot?
Yes it should work just fine in a round crock-pot. You will just need to shape your meatloaf round instead of a loaf shape.
I know it’s a crock pot recipe, but could I bake this ? If so, at what temp and for how long ? Thank you in advance 🙂
This recipe has not been officially tested in the oven Cassandra, however I would recommend cooking it at 350° F for about 45 minutes. Check the internal temperature of the meatloaf on an instant read meat thermometer to see that has reached 155°F. Add the glaze and cook an additional 15 minutes.
If I cut the recipe in half how long would it need to cook? Thanks!
Hi Renee, this recipe has not been tested halving the recipe so I cannot give very good advice on how long it would need to cook. If you test it out yourself please come back and let me know how it works for you.
Being a single person I gave awAy my 6 qt crockpot and bought a 3 1/2 qt I also bought your Big book of Slow Cooker dinners … do I just cut the recipes in Half? I really want to use my new cooker.
You should be able to cut most recipes in half.
Do I use the same amount of ingredients if I use ground turkey n do I cook it the same??
Hi Marie, yes you would use the same amount of ground turkey as ground beef and cook it the same.