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I made this chunky, hunky family sized Clean Eating Meatloaf for dinner tonight. Went down a treat. Only two slices left and they are already fighting over the leftovers

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Clean Eating Meatloaf

PLEASE NOTE: This is a FAMILY SIZED Meatloaf. It’s a biggie. Extremely generous and serves 6 people with ease (with a couple slices for leftovers).

This Clean version of a family sized Meatloaf is more than gimme-some-more delicious. It’s also Gluten free. I use quinoa to add more of a loaf texture, instead of traditional breadcrumbs, as my daughter is gluten intolerant.

I’ve also snuck a little zucchini in the mix, just because I could. You can easily replace the zucchini for carrot, squash or any other chopped up leftover veggies. Not much skill required for this family dinner recipe either. It’s not going to flop no matter how many cooks are in the kitchen.

It really is a great meal to know how to whip up quickly.

Serve it up with some easy sides. Our favourite is mashed potato, but we had that last night. So I made these crispy roast potatoes and grilled the rest of our Zucchini. YUM!

Meatloaf For Kids

Having a meatloaf recipe I know the kids will eat means this versatile can always be on hand as a last minute dinner if there’s leftovers. It tastes just as good the following day as it does the day you made it. It’s seriously delicious and when there’s a slice or two of this in the fridge, I know I’m covered.

If your kids are anything like mine, they can pick out flavors I’m not even aware of but this is a simple, inoffensive to little taste palettes recipe that I make pretty often. It’s just so more-ish. Most of the time there’s never quite enough!

Recipe Notes

This is a hand shaped loaf. It keeps it shape really well in the oven
Use UNCOOKED Quinoa when mixing your meatloaf. As the quinoa cooks it absorbs some of the liquid in the meatloaf. This gives it a more ‘loafy’ texture and structure.
I only apply about 2/3 of the glaze before I put the meatloaf in the oven. The remaining glaze gets spread over the meatloaf about 10 minutes before taking it out the oven. I honestly have no idea if this makes any difference to the recipe. It’s just the way I’ve always done it :)
Leftover Meatloaf is just as good the next day.

More Clean Eating Dinner Recipes

How To Make Clean Eating Meatloaf

Ingredients

Meatloaf

1 tbsp olive oil
1 Onion finely diced, medium sized, 140g
2 cloves garlic crushed, about 1 teaspoon
2 lb Beef Mince
3 eggs free range
1 zucchini grated, approx 120g
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
2 tsp salt
1 tsp wholegrain mustard or dijon
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp Oregano dried or fresh
1/2 tsp Ground black pepper
1/2 tsp chilli powder leave this out if the kids are small

Glaze Topping

1/2 cup tomato paste
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp maple syrup

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 F / 190C
Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
Heat a pan on the stovetop and heat up olive oil. Fry onions and garlic until soft. This adds to the flavour and results in no crunchy bits in the meatloaf. Which always seems to please my fussy kids.
In a large bowl: Add all Meatloaf ingredients (not the glaze ingredients).
Mix together (best way is to use your hands) until well combined.
Tip your meatloaf mix onto the baking tray and use your hands to shape into a loaf.
In a bowl: Mix together apple cider vinegar, tomato paste and maple syrup.
Spoon the sauce onto your meatloaf and spread it over the top. Keep about a third of it in the bowl and spread it over the meatloaf about 10 minutes before removing it from the oven.
Bake your glazed meatloaf for 1hr at 375F / 190’C.
Allow your cooked Meatloaf to rest for about 10 minutes before cutting into slices. It gets easier to cut when it’s a bit cooler.