Perfect for Sunday dinner with your family this recipe for Crock-Pot Meat Loaf comes out moist and delicious when made in your slow cooker!
Crock-Pot Meat Loaf
I love making meat loaf in my slow cooker because it always comes out moist and never dry. And the ketchup and brown sugar glaze has to be my favorite part.
They key to making a good meat loaf in your slow cooker is to use extra lean ground beef. I used a 96% lean ground beef as that the leanest I can find at my local grocery stores.
Using extra lean ground beef means that your meatloaf won’t come out greasy. In fact there really should be very little fatty drippings left in your slow cooker if you use a nice lean hamburger meat.
I kept the seasonings in this classic meat loaf pretty basic with some Italian seasoned bread crumbs, a little Italian cheese and salt and pepper. You could of course play with the flavor profile by adding some additional spices and herbs. Sometimes I notch up the Italian flavor by adding a teaspoon or two of my homemade Italian dressing seasoning mix.
For Sunday dinner (or any night of the week really) this meat loaf is nice when served with mashed potatoes and your favorite vegetable side dish. Green beans would be fantastic and a classic combination I think.
Give this recipe a try for dinner this week!
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| Servings | 8people |
| Prep Time | 30minutes |
| Cook Time | 330minutes |
- Meat Loaf Mixture
- 2 Pounds Extra Lean Ground Beef I Used 96% Lean
- 2 Large Eggs
- 1 Cup Italian Cheese
- 3/4 Cup Milk I Used Fat-Free Milk
- 2/3 Cup Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs
- 1/2 Cup Grated Carrots
- 1/4 Cup Minced Yellow Onion
- 3 Cloves Garlic Minced
- 3/4 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1/2 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- Topping:
- 1/2 Cup Ketchup
- 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
- 1 Teaspoon Prepared Yellow Mustard
- 1/2 Teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
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Ingredients
Servings: people
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- In a large mixing bowl, add the ground beef, eggs, Italian cheese, milk, bread crumbs, minced onion, garlic, salt and pepper and mix together with your hands until everything is well incorporated together.
- Place meatloaf mixture inside a 6 quart or larger oval slow cooker and shape the meat mixture into a loaf shape, keeping it away from the sides by about 1/2 to 1 inch all around.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 5 to 6 hours or until an instant read meat thermometer registers 160° F (72° C).
- In a small bowl, whisk together the ketchup, brown sugar, mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Spoon topping over the top meatloaf.
- Recover slow cooker and continue to cook for an additional 15 minutes.
- Turn off slow cooker, remove the lid and allow the meat loaf to rest for 15 minutes before removing the meat loaf from the slow cooker and cutting for serving.
To make clean up easier you may wish to either line your slow cooker with a slow cooker liner or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Recipe Collections:
| Ground Beef Crock-Pot Recipes | Beef Slow Cooker Recipes |
| Frugal Slow Cooker Recipes | Comfort Food Crock-Pot Recipes |
| Meatloaf Crock-Pot Recipes | Easy Slow Cooker Recipes |
Products Used In This Crock-Pot Meat Loaf Recipe:
Nancy says
February 29, 2012 at 12:07 AMI made a one pound meatloaf in the crockpot and after 3 hours on high I tested the temperature. It was over 200 degrees but the meatloaf still had spots of pink inside when I sliced it. What did I do wrong? I placed the meat in the bottom of the cooker and put on the lid.
Lady Sarah says
February 29, 2012 at 7:25 AMI think to cook it evenly you have to cook it on low, for this recipe. Most crock-pot Meat Loaf recipes actually take all day on low (8-9 hours), or half day on high…I just don’t think it’s at all possible to do only 3 hours on high.
Liz says
February 17, 2015 at 8:54 AMI only want to make a pound of meatloaf. Should I just cut in half the other ingredients. I’m a beginner cook. Help!
Lady Heidi says
February 17, 2015 at 7:41 PMYes you can cut the ingredients in half if you are cutting the meat in half. Your cooking time may also need to be adjusted slightly too.
BakerAnne says
April 5, 2012 at 11:39 AMYour recipe calls for 1/2 Worcestershire Sauce, 1/2 what? Teaspoon? Thanks. I am anxious to make this and see how it turns out.
Lady Sarah says
April 5, 2012 at 2:02 PMI can’t believe I didn’t notice that! Thank you for catching it. 1/2 teaspoon.
Lady Sarah
debra harmon says
April 12, 2012 at 9:59 AMHELP!
#3 in your instructions lists milk, but your ingredients doesn’t have milk…….I already had it mixed up before I noticed this. Am I just not seeing it?
BakerAnne says
April 12, 2012 at 12:13 PMYou use just a splash of milk to make it moist. I wondered the same thing. I just made this last weekend and that’s what my mom told me. It turned out wonderful. Big hit and I will definately make it again. I used Mozarella because I had it in the frig.
debra harmon says
April 12, 2012 at 3:26 PMThank you! That’s what I did. Just about ready to eat…..smells great!
debra harmon says
April 12, 2012 at 10:00 AMAlso, what is Italian cheese?
Lady Sarah says
April 12, 2012 at 5:45 PMDebra I just looked up on Walmart.com a pic so to help you (you don’t have to get it at walmart though) http://www.walmart.com/ip/Kraft-Shredded-Classic-Italian-Cheese-9.6-oz/20550654
Lady Sarah says
April 12, 2012 at 6:06 PMOkay I have now poured over the recipe to make sure i haven’t forgotten anything. Luckily with meatloaf it’s easy to add or omit things and it often will turn out great. I think Mozzarella would be a fabulous idea as well! So would Parmesan!
debra harmon says
April 13, 2012 at 12:10 PMThank you for the info on the cheese. I thought it must be Mozzarella or Parmesan, but I wasn’t sure. I didn’t use any cheese at all, and it was quite delicious, even better today for a meatloaf sandwich!
Lady Sarah says
April 17, 2012 at 11:59 PMGlad you enjoyed it!
Melissa says
May 22, 2012 at 12:12 PMJust wondering, listed under ingredients, it says 3/4th milk, I assumed it was 3/4th cup of milk? but then in the comments someone else said they used just enough to make it moist.
Lady Sarah says
May 23, 2012 at 1:52 PMYes it’s 3/4ths cup Milk….meat loaf is one of those meals that you don’t have to be “perfect with”. You can add or skimp on extra ingredients and it normally comes out tasting good as well. And apparently even though I have read and read and read this recipe making sure I have picked up every error..I still missed this one!! Thanks for catching it!
LesliJoy says
August 28, 2012 at 1:40 PMI would need to double this for my family, any idea how that will increase the cook time. I am looking for meals that take about 10-12 hours to cook. After football season I can start with meals that take 8 + hours. Thanks
Mary says
February 2, 2014 at 9:11 AMMade this last night, came out GREAT, very moist and tasty!
tahara says
May 15, 2015 at 2:50 PMhi I like the slow cooker meatloaf first time cooking it do put led on the crock pot or no
Lady Sarah says
May 17, 2015 at 10:58 PMNot sure what you mean by led? Do you mean lid? If it’s lid..yes I put the lid on.
Kay says
January 6, 2017 at 11:52 AMIf you don’t have the renolyds slow cooker cover insert can I use aluminum foil?
Lady Heidi says
January 6, 2017 at 8:27 PMYou can use foil if you want to Kay. We like to make a foil “sling” if you will for meatloaf…it helps get the finished meatloaf out of the crock-pot when done cooking.
Susanne says
September 25, 2017 at 11:15 AMExcellent recipe I will never make a meatloaf any other way!! Thank you
Susanne says
September 25, 2017 at 11:17 AMThis recipe is excellent!! I will never make a meatloaf any other way. Thank you
Lady Heidi says
September 25, 2017 at 12:01 PMAwesome!
Gemma says
September 28, 2017 at 4:32 AMI have a couple questions please! I have very limited mobility and have to have someone bring my groceries to me. I only have a crockpot to cook with though. I remember a recipe I used to use but am unsure how to make it in a crockpot. I have not quite a pound of meat, eggs, breadcrumbs. When making in the oven I would use half a can of golden mushroom soup in the meatloaf and add the remaining about 15 minutes before taking it out of the oven. Because of multiple seizures, simple things are difficult for me. Would you mind telling me how to adapt my recipe, how many eggs, breadcrumbs and how long to cook this for? Thank you!
Lady Heidi says
September 28, 2017 at 6:57 PMI don’t know Gemma. Without knowing your recipe I don’t know how to convert it to a slow cooker recipe. You can use this meatloaf recipe as a base and go from there. Meatloaf is rather forgiving.
Shelley Henderson says
July 2, 2018 at 9:03 AMI want to use my 1.5 qt. for making this meatloaf. I have 1/2 hamburger and 1/5 sausage. I will cut other ingred. in half. About how long should I cook.
Lady Heidi says
July 2, 2018 at 11:35 AMWe have not tested this recipe in a 1/5 quart slow cooker so cannot guarantee the results but I would thing 2 to 3 hours should do the trick. I would start at 2 and check for doneness and cook longer if needed.
Debbie says
February 13, 2019 at 12:44 PMCould you please tell me what cheese is needed? Its not listed in the ingredients but mentioned in the instructions.
Thank you so much!!!
Heidi says
February 17, 2019 at 8:48 AM1 cup of Italian cheese. I have edited the recipe.
Denise Brewer says
February 16, 2019 at 8:54 PMYour recipe mentions adding cheese, but there is no cheese in the list of ingredients. I’ve read through the comments and noticed others seem to know about the cheese. Can you tell me what kind of cheese and how much?
Heidi says
February 17, 2019 at 8:45 AMHi Denise, Thanks for your comment and bring this to my attention. I don’t know what happened but there was supposed to be 1 cup of Italian cheese in the ingredient list but it somehow went missing. I have added it back in. Sorry about that!