This Eggless Meatloaf recipe is a favourite with the whole family, even the picky non-meatloaf eaters. A great hearty main course for a large family.
Jump to:
- Why Does our Family Love this Eggless Meatloaf Recipe?
- Easy Meatloaf Recipe Ingredients
- The Secret to Eggless Meatloaf is in the Glaze
- Our Cooking Method for Eggless Meatloaf
- To Remove the Eggless Meatloaf
- What Kind of Pan and How to Keep This Gluten Free Meatloaf From Burning
- Other Meats for Egg Free Meatloaf
- Leftover Eggless Meatloaf Meal Ideas
- Storage and Reheating
- Other Recipes You May like
- 📖 Recipe
Why Does our Family Love this Eggless Meatloaf Recipe?
Our kids can be picky eaters, saying this can be an understatement. Every meal we make battles with so many issues. Battling food restrictions is hard to begin with just from the cooking side of things. We have to have our taste just as delicious as our food did before our food restrictions or better.
Texture is a HUGE issue for our kids as well. Meat is a food that can be a struggle for people with EoE. It is one that can feel hard to swallow and many kids with Eosinophilic issues struggle with aversions to it as a result. Our eggless meatloaf had to be tasty and the right texture for our kids to tolerate. Lucky for us they go further and love this dish.
Easy Meatloaf Recipe Ingredients
Ground beef, lean - The lean ground beef but not extra lean or regular fat works best for this recipe. We talk more about other meats further down.
Ketchup- safe for you ketchup or the same amount of tomato paste with a teaspoon of granulated or brown sugar and a squirt of lemon juice to add acidity works, if tomato ketchup isn't safe for you.
Gluten free bread crumbs (we use rice based ones)- the finely ground ones work best not the panko rice breading. If you use the panko it needs grinding to make it finer to bind better. Leaving the panko as it comes will cause the loaf to fall apart and to have dry hard chunks in it. We like to use Plum.M.Good Rice Breading Crumbs.
Spices- salt, pepper, Fresh thyme (or ground dried but fresh tastes best.), Chilli powder, Garlic powder, Smoked paprika, Onion powder. These are for the loaf, the glaze, or both.
Aquafaba, chilled - THIS is the binder and what replaces the eggs in this eggless meatloaf recipe. It is either the water from a can of chickpeas or from white beans. Here we use it chilled as it gets a bit gelatinous and binds the best to form an egg free meatloaf.
White onion - really finely minced is best. If your kids are not fans of onions and you want to hide them the smaller the better.
Coconut aminos - If both coconut aminos and tamari (soy based) are restricted foods for you you can use water that has had dried mushrooms boiled in it for 10 mins and cooled. Alternatively apple cider vinegar will also be a great substitute here.
The Secret to Eggless Meatloaf is in the Glaze
Most meatloaf recipes have a few flavours on the inside of the loaf but ours have glazes we brush on before cooking. The glaze gives the meatloaf a wonderfully tasty crust. We all fight over who gets the end pieces. It creates a different texture in the crust from the inside of the loaf. For us this also means that if our kids are having an EoE flare they have the choice of different meat textures that may feel easier for them to eat. You can find more info on EoE at the Food Allergy Canada Website.
Our Cooking Method for Eggless Meatloaf
I don't know if as a kid you ever had the same experience but I hated meatloaf. It was always cooked in a loaf pan. This locked in the grease so that what you got was a slippery slice for dinner. I vowed to never cook mine in a pan and never have a meatloaf that could slide off the plate. The way to achieve this, I have found, is to choose a leaner ground beef and to cook the loaf on an oiled or non-stick oven safe rack on top of a pan.
To Remove the Eggless Meatloaf
When removing the loaves they may stick a bit in between the rack. Remove the rack with the loaves on them and place on a heat proof base, like trivets and let the loaf cool once the rack is cool enough to safely touch, lift the rack and push the part caught between the rungs up towards the loaf. When all the spots are freed, lift the loaf off the rack with the help of a silicone cooking spatula. It will then be cool enough to slice.
What Kind of Pan and How to Keep This Gluten Free Meatloaf From Burning
You can use any deeper pan that fits your oven safe rack. I place the rack in the pan and put the eggless Meatloaf on the rack, pop it in the oven and add a bit of water to cover the entire pan bottom. The loaves should sit above the pan bottom and water or they will boil in the water and not give the desired texture
The water helps keep the fat that drips off from burning on the pan and it helps the loaf stay moist. With the fat dripping off and not putting water under you risk a dry crumbly loaf. When checking the Eggless Meatloaf every 30 mins you may need to add more water. This also allows you to use the drippings in a gravy, if you like to make your own gravy. You can find a recipe on how to make your own gravy in our turkey meatball recipe.
Other Meats for Egg Free Meatloaf
One question we often get is can you use other meats than beef for this meatloaf recipe. Yes, you can just keep in mind that the fat content will vary in leaner meats like ground turkey and chicken. Lamb is an option as well but for that I would change up the spices to ones that work better with the taste of lamb. Game would also work, if ground but would need more fat, as well.
Leftover Eggless Meatloaf Meal Ideas
This recipe is marvellous as a make ahead meal. Feeding a family of 6 can be a huge endeavour when coupled with the logistics of getting everyone where they need to be with their after school activities. What we frequently do is double the recipe and break it into 3 medium sized loaves. We will eat anywhere between one loaf to one and a bit in one night now that the four kids are getting older and their appetites are crazy huge.
Second night leftovers
We do the standard second night of eggless meatloaf and mashed potatoes with a vegetable like steamed broccoli as leftovers from time to time.
Easy meatloaf Sandwiches
The preferred use we have for our meatloaf recipe is to let half a loaf chill completely in the fridge. Then slice into ½ inch slices and serve on safe for us bread with ketchup and our homemade mustard substitute condiment as a school lunch.
Diner style meatloaf sandwiches
A huge hit for weekend lunches for us. One slice of bread with a ½ inch slice of meatloaf bathed with gravy and sauteed mushrooms and caramelised onions piled high. A great “eat with a knife and fork” warming sandwich lunch or leftover dinner.
Pasta topping
We cut the meatloaf into ½ inch cubes after slicing. When making pasta pan fry the cubes until slightly crispy and place a top cooked pasta. Spoon cooked sauce over meat cubes and pasta.
Pizza topping
Dice the meatloaf into small cubes and place them on a homemade pizza with cheese and all of your favourite toppings.
Storage and Reheating
Fridge
Once chilled completely, place the meatloaf in a sealed container or zippered storage bag. The loaf will keep in the fridge for up to 48 hours. It is best sliced after chilling in the fridge.
Freezer
The other loaves get frozen for up to 2 months in sealed containers once they have cooled fully from cooking.
Reheating
When the plan rotation has meatloaf in it again we thaw the loaves in the fridge the day before we want to eat them. Once thawed the meatloaf cannot be refrozen.
Oven
The day of we cook them wrapped in tinfoil in the to bring them back up to a safe temperature. To crisp up the crust they then are broiled in the oven under a watchful eye so the egg free meatloaf doesn't burn.
Stove top/pan fry
In a large lid covered pan with a couple of tablespoons of water, heat the meatloaf in slices for 3-4 mins over medium/high heat. Remove the lid and let the water boil off. Add a bit of oil to the pan and crisp up the meatloaf slices by cooking each side for 2-3 minutes.
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If you make this Eggless Meatloaf recipe please leave a comment and let us know! We'd love to hear from you.
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- Loaf ingredients
- 2.5 Lbs ground beef lean
- ½ C Ketchup
- ½ teaspoon Sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon Fresh ground pepper
- 1 ½ C Gluten free bread crumbs we use rice based ones
- ½ teaspoon Fresh thyme picked from the stem
- 1 tablespoon Chilli powder
- 3 Tbsps Aquafaba chilled
- ¾ C White onion minced (roughly half a large onion)
- 2 tsps Garlic powder
- Glaze ingredients
- 3 tbsps Ketchup
- 1 ½ Tbsps Coconut aminos
- ¾ teaspoon Onion powder
- ¾ teaspoon Garlic powder
- ¾ teaspoon Smoked paprika
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Put an oven safe rack in a casserole dish or cooking pan with sides deep enough the fat won’t run off.
- Combine all loaf ingredients in a large bowl and mix well with your hands. (We use food safe non latex gloves for this step)
- Split the loaf mix in 2 equal parts and form a loaf out of each with your hands. Place the loaves on the rack so they don’t overhang the pan and spaced apart from each other.
- Combine all the glaze ingredients in a small bowl and stir with a spoon. Spoon the glaze equally on each loaf, roughly 2 Tbsps each.
- Using a silicone cooking brush, brush the glaze all over the top, sides and ends of the loaves.
- Pour a bit of water in the base of the pan to cover the pan ensuring the meat isn’t touching the water.
- Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 1-1 ¼ hours. Checking each half hour to refill the water in the tray. If the loaves start to brown too quickly, cover with aluminium foil and return to the oven until the interior temperature reads at least 165°F for food safety.
- Let the loaves cool before slicing. If they are sticking between the rungs of the rack check the section above entitled “removing the loaf” for tips.
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Notes
- Use an oven safe rack over a larger deep pan to cook and let the fat drip off. Freezes well if wrapped tightly.
Have you made this recipe? Please leave a comment and us know how much you liked it.