Serve the man in your life this Crock-Pot Manly Meatloaf and he will be a happy fellow! Plenty of meatloaf for a large family, plus leftovers!
Slow Cooker Manly Meatloaf
This recipe is not for the faint of heart. My husband said he wanted meatloaf for dinner.
A “manly meatloaf” with enough for leftover meatloaf sandwiches for the next day.
Well we are a large family, so a regular meatloaf normally just feeds us for dinner and that’s it.
Not this recipe though…this one has plenty for dinner and leftovers. Get out your big crock-pot (6 quart or larger) for this one because it has 5 pounds of ground beef in it.
To create this recipe I took my grandmother’s meatloaf and my husband’s grandmother’s meatloaf recipes and sort of combined them. How can you go wrong with meatloaf recipes from your grandma?
And let me just tell you, this stuff is good too! The meatloaf comes out moist and tender (because it is is cooking away all day in a moist environment in the slow cooker) and full of flavor. There is onion, garlic, special seasonings and spices and then…this glorious meatloaf is glazed with a delicious sweet and tangy brown sugar/ketchup glaze that is perfect.
NOTE – Several readers have commented about the liquid smoke listed as an ingredient in this recipe. What it is and where they can find it. Liquid smoke is found in most US grocery stores in the spice aisle. It is a liquid flavoring that adds a bit of smokiness flavor to your recipes. Totally optional if you cannot find it but our family likes the flavor it adds. A little goes a long way though.
Of course you can cut the recipe in half if you want to. But if you have a crew to feed or want left overs for sandwiches or just to put the extra in the freezer for another meal (or two) give this recipe a try and let me know what you think!
We have now made this recipe several times over, and let me tell you this is it folks…the best meatloaf I have ever had.
Equipment Needed For Crock-Pot Manly Meatloaf Recipe:
- 6 Quart, 6.5 Quart Or 7 Quart Slow Cooker
- Mixing Bowls
- Liquid Measuring Cup
- Knife
- Cutting Board
- Measuring Spoons
- Silicone Spatula
- Serving Platter
Frequently Asked Questions
While we have not personally tested this recipe using other meats, our readers have reported great results using various combinations of ground turkey, ground pork and even Italian sausage. So yes, this recipe should work with other types of meat including venison, lamb, turkey, chicken, and pork.
Diced onion, celery or bell peppers would be fantastic additions to this meatloaf. And if you want to hide some vegetables in the meatloaf you can also do shredded carrots or zucchini. Be creative!
As written, using extra lean ground beef (I used 96% lean) this meatloaf does not really release a lot of excess fat when it cooks. However if you are using a higher fat percentage ground beef or other ground meats that have a higher fat content (such as pork or sausage) it may. In that case you may want to raise your meatloaf up a little bit off the bottom of the slow cooker using a rack or balled up aluminum foil to help drain away the excess fat and keep it off the bottom of your meatloaf.
Special Diets
This recipe for Crock-Pot Manly Meatloaf is Weight Watchers Friendly on the new Personal Points plan. You can see the WW personal points for this recipe here on the Weight Watchers website. Click here for MORE of our Weight Watchers Recipes
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Recipe Collections:
- 6 Quart Crock-Pot Recipes
- 6.5 Quart Crock-Pot Recipes
- 7 Quart Crock-Pot Recipes
- Beef Crock-Pot Recipes
- Crock-Pot Hamburger/Ground Beef Recipes
- Entrée Recipes
Crock-Pot Manly Meatloaf Recipe
Ingredients
Meatloaf
- 5 Pounds Extra Lean Ground Beef
- 4 Large Eggs (Beaten)
- 2 Packages Stuffing Mix (Such As Stove-Top Brand)
- 1 Cup Water
- ¼ Cup Prepared Mustard
- ¼ Cup Ketchup
- 3 Cloves Garlic (Minced)
- 1 Teaspoon Liquid Smoke (Optional)
- 1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 1 Teaspoon Dried Oregano
- 1 Teaspoon Dried Rosemary
Glaze
- ¼ Cup Ketchup
- ¼ Cup Brown Sugar
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients for the meatloaf mixture with your hands until well mixed and all of the dry stuffing mix is incorporated into the meat mixture.
- Dump meat mixture into a 6 quart or larger slow cooker and pat down evenly.
- In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the glaze and mix until combined.
- Pour glaze over the top of the meatloaf and spread evenly with a silicone spatula.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours, or until the internal temperature of the meatloaf registers 155 to 160° F (68 to 71° F).
- Turn slow cooker to the OFF setting and let the meatloaf rest for 10 minutes in the slow cooker. Carefully lift meatloaf out of the slow cooker and place on a serving platter or large plate to serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Made this for my boyfriend and it is now the ONLY meatload recipe he wants to eat!!
Thanks Jennifer for dropping by and leaving a comment, I am glad your husband loved this meatloaf as much as mine does. It really is so good and makes a ton!
The last couple times I made meatloaf – it bombed. I had never made it in the crockpot, so I tried this.
I cut the recipe in half – and it was awesome !!!
Thanks for posting it…..
thank you becky. we aim to please.
I’ve got two big eaters in this house (football players!) who love meatloaf so I am eager to try this. I have a question: of I half the recipe, do I need to adjust the cook time? As the meat loaf won’t take up as much surface space in the crock pot. Thanks!
Hi Sarah, if you have big eaters this recipe is for YOU! This is one of my go-to recipes and we make it like once a month. We love it because it feeds our large crew plus some leftovers.
If you half the recipe you can cut down the cook time by about 1 to 1/2 hours. I have never cut the recipe in half myself but that should work just fine.
I asked my guys about trying a new meatloaf recipe this coming weekend that had FIVE pounds of beef in it. I mentioned cutting the recipe in half and they both said “Why?!” LOL so I’m going with the full recipe this weekend, I’ll comment on the results when they do! Thanks!!!
LOL that is awesome!
Just wondering if you just use the bread out of the stuffing mix or the seasoning packets as well?
You use both. I personally use Stove Top brand and the bread and seasoning is mixed together and not separate. But if the brand you use is separate you use both.
I may just have to try this. My husband and I were just talking about meatloaf. I love it and he doesn’t like it. I think he just hasn’t tried the right one yet. Lol If I can talk him into giving it a try then I will let you know what he thinks. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Let us know if your husband likes this one Stacy!
This awesome, but I added a brick of Monterey Jack cheese to the middle 🙂
~Tess
Oh that sounds good Tess!
This may be a silly question … what do we do to the garlic? Do I crush it or just chop it? Thanks!
I use minced garlic. I will adjust the recipe. Sorry about that!
Not a problem! I’m really looking forward to making this and wanted to make sure I got it all right!
I’m so excited to try this recipe!! But should I prepare the stuffing mix prior to adding it to the meatloaf?
You just add the dry stuffing mix to the meat mixture. It acts as the binding ingredient.
What about the grease from the hamburger meat? Is there alot?
The leaner your hamburger the less grease there is. However I just pull it out slices of the meatloaf and let them drain on a bit of paper towel is there is alot of extra grease. I try and use the leanest hamburger meat I can buy.
I really want to try this recipe but I have a question. Whenever I have made a meal in the crockpot I have cooked it in a liquid. Does this cook in a liquid as well, or do I just ace the meatloaf in the crockpot and cook without a liquid?
There is no liquid. The meat has enough fats and juices in it that it will make it’s own liquid as it cooks.
I make one like this add some cubed Monterey cheese and cheddar. It’s awesome!
Yum, the addition of some cheese sounds great Michell
I’ve never made meatloaf in a slow cooker before so I’m anxious to try this. I like using either a combo of 80/20 ground beef with mild sausage or a classic meatloaf mix of ground beef, pork, & veal…either of which would produce a bit more grease than 100% lean beef. Will the meat hold together well enough to use aluminum foil balls (a trick I learned when cooking fattier meats in the crock pot) underneath it to keep it out of any grease? Thanks for what sounds like a yummy recipe!!
This is a pretty sturdy meatloaf and I think it would hold up well with a rack under it…or your balled up foil trick. I try to avoid cooking with foil touching my food whenever possible and really need to invest in a rack that will fit in my slow cooker. I know they make them I just keep forgetting to order one.
I have to say that this is THE BEST meatloaf. There’s only two of us so I did cut the recipe in 1/2 The only change I made, as I had it on-hand ,was that I used 2 lbs of ground beef & the remaining 1/2 lb was Italian sausage. I definitely prefer the stuffing mix to the usual bread crumbs. Thanks for such a great recipe!!! :).
That just makes my day Karen to hear you say that. This recipe is one we make over and over again in our family. Always a hit and always plenty for our big family. I am going to be keeping my eyes peeled for a great Italian sausage deal so I can give your idea a try…it sound amazing!
I am going to try this!! Have you ever added onions and/or celery to this recipe?
Onions yes…celery no. Simply because I am not a big fan of celery. But I see no reason why the addition of celery would not work!
Just made this yesterday in my 8 Qt. 3-1/2 lbs. ground beef, 1 lb. ground turkey, 1 lb. ground Italian sausage. Added sauteed onions, green peppers and mushrooms. Used beef broth instead of water and 5 eggs. 1/2 Tsp. Ancho powder. Mixed everything then chilled for 3 hrs. to let the flavors blend. Cooked for just under 8 hrs. Temp. measured 200F. I would leave out the Oregano and Rosemary next time since the Stuffing Mix has seasoning in it already. Mabe half the mustard. Slightly overpowering.
Omg my son ate so much I thought he was going to get sick my husband and daughter hate meatloaf but I begged them to just try it and they are now asking for this dish once a week !!!!thank you
So glad y’all enjoyed!
Hi again. My Wife and I have been having fun modifying this recipe. We now use a pkg. of Meatloaf Mix, add 93% Ground Beef to make 5 lbs., then add 19 0z. pkg. of skinned Hot Italian Sausage. We use Panko soaked in Beef Broth and a can of Tomato Soup. Then add slightly fried veggies. Various seasonings.
We use an 8 Qt. Crockpot. My Wife found a small cardboard box that just fits inside. We line it with plastic wrap, squeeze in the mix and chill for 12 hours. Then we unmold it onto an aluminum sling. This gets lowered into the Crockpot onto a silicone trivet. While cooking, we usually end up with 5-8 cups of grease. We use a Turkey Baster to suck out the grease while cooking. Oh…this meatloaf weighs in over 11 lbs. when we add everything to it. Great.
p.s. Our oven died this Thanksgiving, so we made this meatloaf. Never missed the Turkey.
That is awesome Walter, I love hearing how readers love and adapt a recipe to suit their tastes or what they have on hand. And meatloaf for Thanksgiving sounds amazing too!
Instead of stuffing we use oatmeal in our meatloaf. It is a great binder also. The ketchup, mustard and brown sugar in a small saucepan to combine them together.
I have used oatmeal in meatloaf too Jeanene. My family just prefers the stuffing mix as it adds a different texture and some addition flavorings!