Instant Pot Meat Loaf

Finishing Mashed Potatoes In The Instant Pot

Meanwhile, add a few simple ingredients to your perfectly cooked potatoes and mash them right in the instant pot!

• Taste and season the potatoes how you would like
• Serve alongside the perfectly cooked meatloaf and enjoy!

You guys, lets talk about how many dishes we saved in this one meal! So genius!

Make Ahead Meatloaf In Instant Pot

You can easily prep meatloaf and potatoes ahead for cooking and then keep warm until serving later. Here is how:

Instant Pot Meatloaf Recipe Tips

• When mixing up the ground beef mixture, dont overwork the meat mixture or the meatloaf may turn out tough.
• The broiling step is optional but highly recommended to brown the outsides of the meatloaf and caramelize the glaze on top.
• You can halve this recipe to make a 1 pound meatloaf. To do so, halve all of the meatloaf ingredients. You can use the full amount of potatoes or reduce them to 1.5 or 2 pounds. Be sure to use the full 1 cup of water, regardless, so that the pot can pressurize . Cook a 1 pound meatloaf for 20 minutes at high pressure, followed by a 10 minute natural pressure release.

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Instant Pot Turkey Meatloaf Recipe

The Spruce Eats / Diana Rattray

This turkey meatloaf is an excellent alternative to ground beef or other red meat alternatives, and you don’t have to use the oven to cook it. The combination of ground turkey and complementary seasonings cooks in the Instant Pot in half the time, and there’s no pre-cooking required. The loaf is finished with a tangy topping made with ketchup, brown sugar, and mustard.

For a tender meatloaf with good texture, choose ground turkey thighs, or look for a ratio of about 93 percent lean in the ground turkey mixture. Very lean ground turkey is fine to use, but the meatloaf won’t be quite as tender and flavorful.

This recipe is fast and easy enough to make on a weeknight after a busy day of work or play. Just mix the ingredients, pop the loaf into the Instant Pot, and prepare vegetables or sides. Mashed potatoes and mac and cheese are excellent choices for side dishes, or serve the loaf with rice and steamed vegetables.

Instant Pot Keto Meatloaf Recipe

This Instant Pot meatloaf is so good, so easy, and so, so keto friendly. I know so many people doing the keto thing, an they’ve either given up meatloaf altogether or they eat it without any glaze. Shocking, I know.

Rather than give up meatloaf, stay on your keto track with this delicious recipe. It has all the flavors of classic meatloaf but without all the carbs, allowing you to enjoy this classic comfort food without derailing yourself.

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How Long To Cook Meatloaf In An Instant Pot

You will probably never make meatloaf any other way after you have tried this! Its perfect every single time!

Tips And Tricks For Pressure Cooker Meatloaf

Create a foil pocket thats small enough to fit into your instant pot and place your shaped meatloaf inside.

• You dont have to use foil, you could also use a small meatloaf pan that fits inside your pressure cooker.
• Keep in mind that there will be fat and juices that run off of the meatloaf and you want enough room around the meatloaf for it to catch and not run into the potatoes.
• Carefully remove the meatloaf and drain any fat and juices and then brush the top with the meatloaf glaze and finish in the oven.

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Should I Cover The Meatloaf With Foil When Placed In The Instant Pot

We are usually cooking with aluminum foil the loaf because sometimes we go for a bigger sized loaf. However, there is an alternative way to this, which we have used many times, and it works just as fine.

You can use a mini loaf pan, that fits just right perfectly in the pot. Also, if you are using an 8 quart IP, you can even use two mini loaf pans and position them side by side when placed on the trivet. This way you could cook the meat and the potatoes in each pan if preferred.

What To Serve With Meatloaf

I tried to add some Brussels Sprouts to the instant pot , but because Brussels Sprouts take only a few minutes to cook in the pressure cooker, the texture that resulted from being in there too long was less than desirable.

My kids still ate them though!

I think if youre going to try and cook some sort of vegetable alongside the meatloaf and mashed potatoes youll want a thick cut carrot.

Here are some more of our favorite vegetable side dishes to serve with meatloaf

• Sautéed Zucchini

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How To Make Meatloaf In An Instant Pot

It really couldnt be easier. We mix all the ingredients as we would for a normal meatloaf recipe, fill the mini loaf pans with the mixture, then place the pans on the trivet in the Instant Pot with 1 ½ cups of water. 25 minutes on high pressure, a quick release, and youre good to go! When mixing the meatloaf ingredients, you dont want to overmix. By that I mean gently use both hands to mix all the ingredients for about a minute, or until all the ingredients are well incorporated together. You dont need to keep mushing it into a paste. Once the mixture is all mixed together, you can separate it into two parts. This is the part too, where we would add any additional ingredients if we wanted to one of the meatloaf mixtures. Personally, I always love a little chopped onion, carrot and celery. Then gently shape each one by hand into the approximate size of the mini loaf pans, and place them in. Once in the pans, you can gently tap the pans on the counter to get the meatloaf mixture to settle in, and also gently use your hands to get it to fill out the pans.

What To Serve With Your Meatloaf

This is one meal that really pairs well with a variety of sides. I like to serve my meatloaf with either rice: like this mushroom rice, cauliflower rice, or sticking to the theme instant pot rice, or a potato: mashed potatoes, potatoes au gratin, or classic oven roasted potatoes are all great options. Add a side of veggies and youre all set!

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Why Meatloaf Is A Family Favorite

Meatloaf has a pretty interesting history. It’s also a bit contested because depending on what you consider meatloaf to be derived from It could either be 5th-century old, or only a couple hundred years old.

Meatloaf is definitely an American standard, but like many so-called American dishes, it may have come from Europe as far back as medieval times.

This version of meatloaf was sort of a prototype and you might not even call it that. It was diced meat scraps seasoned and joined with other ingredients such as fruit and nuts.

Apparently, while they watched jousts and ate soup from a bowl with a handle, they were also scooping up handfuls of meat and nuts, and whatever else was lying around.

Centuries of casserole dishes later, meatloaf eventually evolved into what we recognize today, but it’s always been a great way to reuse leftovers, so the spirit of its medieval origins is valid whether that original scrap heap is a clear meatloaf prototype or not.

Of course, feeding your family scraps is economical, which is why it probably rose in popularity during the depression, but the recipe had since been fine-tuned. The earliest recorded recipe for meatloaf as we know it today came from Boston in the late 1800s.

It was developed as a way to further stretch out the uses of meat and take advantage of cheaper cuts. However, the first use of starch and beef together in a meatloaf-like dish came from the colonial period in US History.

Instant Pot Meatloaf Ingredients

Hamburger I use regular ground beef for my meatloaf. You can use ground beef, turkey, pork or even a combination of them. Just be aware that the higher the fat content in your ground meat, the more fat will come out while it cooks. Go for about a 85/15 ground beef ratio.

Onion I love onion in, well, everything. Feel free to omit onion if you or your kiddos dont like it.

Spices I keep my spices pretty mild by using garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Use your favorite spices and make this easy Instant Pot meatloaf your own!

Bread crumbs I use just plain bread crumbs or sometimes even panko in my meatloaf. You can use whatever bread crumbs you prefer, or try making your own breadcrumbs!

Ketchup The ketchup in this recipe helps keep the meat juicy and tender throughout cooking. Without it, the meat drys out a bit. Use your favorite ketchup here.

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How To Make Meatloaf In The Instant Pot

This is where the easy part comes in

Step 1 Combine all the ingredients: Combine everything together in a bowl and mix it up.

Step 2 Make a pan for your meatloaf: Obviously, you cant put the meat right in your inner pot. So, use two pieces of tin foil to make a tin pan for your meatloaf that will fit in your inner pot.

Make a cross shape out of them, one piece of foil going vertical and one going horizontal. Fold over the edges.

Step 3 Shape your meatloaf: Add your meatloaf to the tinfoil pan and shape it the meat.

Step 4 Finish it up: Drizzle your meatloaf with ketchup. Add the trivet to your inner pot. Put 1 cup of water in the bottom. Place meatloaf on trivet. Then, set to manual pressure for 20-minutes.

Step 5 Natural Release: Allow your Instant Pot to naturally release the pressure. This may take about 20-minutes.

How to make meatloaf with ketchup in the oven

• Southern Green Beans

Instant Pot Meatloaf Without Mashed Potatoes

While I personally think that there is nothing much better than the combination of meatloaf and mashed potatoes, you prepare meatloaf in the Instant Pot without the addition of mashed potatoes.

• Prepare and shape the meatloaf as recipe directs.
• Pour 1.5 cups of water into the inner pot of the pressure cooker and place a rack/trivet over the water.
• Place the meatloaf on the rack and seal the pressure cooker.
• Set the Cook Time for 20 minutes on high pressure.
• While the meatloaf is cooking, prepare the glaze for the meatloaf.
• Once cook time has elapsed, allow pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes and then do a quick release of any remaining pressure.
• Carefully remove the foil packet from the inner pot and carefully drain off the drippings over a bowl.
• Place the meatloaf on a sheet pan and spoon the glaze over the meatloaf.
• Broil for 3-5 minutes until caramelized and warmed through.

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Why Use The Instant Pot

Im a big fan of set-it-and-forget-it cooking. Im also a big fan of saving time! So, natch, Im a big fan of Instant Pot recipes!

I especially love using my Instant Pot in the summer because, it allows me to create hearty, filling, homemade foods like meatloaf, without heating up my kitchen. During the cold winter months, sure Ill fire up the oven and enjoy the extra warmth. But, from July to September um, not so much.

Using the Instant Pot is very simple, too, which is great. All you have to do is mix up the meatloaf, form it into a round, and cook on high pressure for about 25 minutes. Release the pressure for 10 minutes, and youre done!

Top Tips For Making Instant Pot Meatloaf

• Although you may typically prefer a fattier blend of beef, like ground chuck, lower fat beef is better for this recipe, since the meatloaf bakes in an enclosed pan.
• Springform pans are easy to find online, or at your local home goods discount store.
• For extra flavor, use a blend of meats, such as beef and veal, or beef and ground pork.
• Substitute regular or Italian breadcrumbs for the panko, if desired.
• Store-bought fried onions are pretty crispy a food processor is the best tool to grind them.
• If you dont have a food processor, place the fried onions in a ziplock bag, and pound them with a rolling pin until finely crushed.
• The meatloaf releases from the pan easily, but for extra insurance, line the bottom and sides ofthe pan with aluminum foil before adding the beef mixture.

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How To Make Instant Pot Meatloaf

Making meatloaf in your instant pot is incredibly easy. Heres how to do it:

Variations To The Recipe

There are a few ways to change up this keto meatloaf recipe:

• Ground Turkey or Ground Pork: If you would rather have different ground meat, you can easily swap it for the ground beef.
• Seasoning: Some people prefer certain seasonings in their ground meat. If needed, you can change out some of these seasonings for ones that you like better.
• Veggies: For those who need help consuming their veggies, sneak in some spinach or zucchini into the mixture.

You can also add hard boiled eggs in the center of the loaf like the keto friendly meat loaf recipe at My PCOS Kitchen.

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Easiest Ever Instant Pot Meatloaf

Even during hot summer months, sometimes you just want a hearty, comforting dinner. And meatloaf is a total classic! My savory, all-beef version is tender and flavorful, thanks to a robust blend of ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, and sweet grated carrots. Its also easy to put together, and cooks up super-quick in an Instant Pot!