Old-fashioned meatloaf is easy, delicious, and comforting. This small meatloaf recipe uses ground beef and a few simple ingredients for classic homemade flavor we've loved for nearly 50 years.
The 1-pound recipe makes four servings—perfect for two with leftovers. Easily scale down to a mini meatloaf or up to a full-size family meal.
⏱️ Quick Answer: How Long to Cook Meatloaf
At 350°F, bake meatloaf until it reaches 165°F internally:
- 1-pound meatloaf: 40–50 minutes
- 2-pound meatloaf: 60–75 minutes
Cooking times are estimates and vary by thickness. Always check the internal temperature with an instant-read thermometer.
Jump To (scroll for more)
- 👨🍳 TL;DR — Recipe Summary
- 🐄 Ingredients
- 👨🍳 Quick Overview: How to Make Meatloaf
- ⏰ How Long to Cook Meatloaf
- 🐄 Ingredient Options and Variations
- ↕️ How to Scale This Meatloaf Recipe
- 🧁 Individual Mini Cupcake Meatloaves
- 🍽️ Serving Meatloaf
- ❄️ How to Store Leftover Meatloaf
- 📖 Other Ground Beef Recipes
- ❓ FAQs
- 📖The Recipe Card
Featured Comment by Catherine:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Great Recipe. I grew up making this and remember fondly my mother and grandmother making this. "
👨🍳 TL;DR — Recipe Summary
What it is: An easy small meatloaf recipe using 1 pound of ground beef to make 4 servings—perfect for two with leftovers. Scale to any size.
Why make it: Simple ingredients, classic old-fashioned flavor, and a delicious ketchup glaze.
How to make it: Mix, shape, top with ketchup, and bake at 350°F to an internal temperature of 165°F.
🐄 Ingredients
- Ground beef
- Egg
- Onion
- Bread crumbs
- Ketchup
- Milk
- Seasoning salt and black pepper
👨🍳 Quick Overview: How to Make Meatloaf
1. Mix: Chop the onion. Add all ingredients to a large bowl—except the ketchup for topping—and mix gently until combined. Don’t overmix.
2. Assemble: Move the mixture to a prepared pan and form a 1–1½ inch thick loaf. Spread ketchup (or your preferred topping) over the top.
3. Bake: Bake at 350°F until the internal temperature reaches 165°F.
4. Drain and serve: Remove any drainage from the pan or lift the meatloaf out to serve. Discard the drainage.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
⏰ How Long to Cook Meatloaf
Cooking time depends on the size and thickness of your meatloaf. At 350°F, approximate cooking times are:
- ½-pound mini meatloaf: 30–40 minutes
- 1-pound meatloaf: 40–50 minutes
- 2-pound meatloaf: 60–75 minutes
- 3-pound meatloaf: 75–90 minutes
These times assume a loaf about 1–1½ inches thick. Thicker loaves take longer, while thinner loaves cook faster. Always cook to a final internal temperature of 165°F, not by time alone.
🐄 Ingredient Options and Variations
Meat options: Ground beef (80/20 recommended) gives the best flavor and moisture. Leaner beef works but may be drier. You can also mix in ground pork or substitute ground turkey or chicken.
Vegetable options: Add finely chopped celery, bell pepper, or carrots. Chop vegetables small so they cook through. Onion and garlic can also be adjusted to taste.
Glaze options: Ketchup is the classic topping, but you can add brown sugar or mustard, or substitute barbecue sauce.
Seasoning options: Seasoning salt (Lawry's recommended) and black pepper provide the classic flavor. You can also add thyme, Worcestershire sauce, or tomato sauce. If using tomato sauce instead of ketchup, add extra seasoning since it has a milder flavor.
↕️ How to Scale This Meatloaf Recipe
This recipe is written for a 1-pound meatloaf, but you can scale it from a ½-pound mini meatloaf (2 servings) up to any size. We usually bake a 2-pound loaf for our “for two” household—one dinner and a couple of rounds of leftovers.
- Adjust servings in the recipe card to the amount you want.
- Use the ingredient amounts from the adjusted ingredient list (round up to a whole egg if needed).
- Form a 1–1½ inch thick loaf in a baking pan that doesn’t crowd the sides.
- Bake to 165°F, using the cooking times listed above as a guide.
🧁 Individual Mini Cupcake Meatloaves
Cupcake meatloaves are an easy way to make individual portions or freeze servings for later. A 1-pound meatloaf mixture makes about 6 mini cupcake meatloaves.
- Prepare the mixture: Make the amount of meatloaf you want.
- Portion: Divide the mixture into the wells of a cupcake or muffin pan, forming each portion about 1–1½ inches thick.
- Bake: Cook at 350°F for about 20–30 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 165°F.
- Choose leaner meat: Use leaner ground beef or poultry, since you can’t drain fat from a cupcake pan after cooking.
🍽️ Serving Meatloaf
Serve meatloaf with vegetables like Baked Green Beans, corn, or peas. Add Twice Baked Potatoes or Old Fashioned Scalloped Potatoes for a classic comfort-food dinner.
Round out the meal with Everyday Stand Mixer Bread or Easy Dinner Rolls.
Leftover meatloaf makes excellent sandwiches or can be reheated for another meal.
❄️ How to Store Leftover Meatloaf
- Refrigerate: Store leftover meatloaf in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
- Freeze: Slice the meatloaf, wrap portions tightly, and freeze for up to 4 months.
- Reheat: Warm individual slices in the microwave or covered in a 325°F oven until heated through.
📖 Other Ground Beef Recipes
❓ FAQs
Plan on ¼ to ⅓ pound of ground meat per serving. This 1-pound recipe makes four servings—perfect for two with leftovers. For larger appetites or more leftovers, make a 2-pound loaf.
No. Meatloaf should be baked uncovered. It will stay moist without foil.
It depends on the size:
• A small onion (lemon-sized) gives about ½ cup
• A medium onion (baseball-sized) gives about 1 cup
• A large onion (grapefruit-sized) gives about 2 cups
For this recipe, you’ll generally want about ½ cup per pound of meat.
A meatloaf is a mixture of ground meat combined with a panade (bread, crumbs, oats, or crackers soaked in liquid) to keep it moist and tender. The mixture is shaped into a loaf and baked. It became popular during the Great Depression as a way to stretch inexpensive ground meat.
A panade is a mixture of bread, breadcrumbs, oats, or crackers soaked in a liquid like milk or broth. When added to ground meat, it provides moisture and prevents the finished meatloaf from becoming dense or dry.
📖The Recipe Card
Small Meatloaf Recipe (For Two or More)
Video Slideshow
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 egg
- ½ cup chopped onion
- ⅜ cup bread crumbs
- ¼ cup ketchup
- ¼ cup milk
- 1½ teaspoons Lawry's Seasoning salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ cup ketchup
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a shallow baking dish with cooking spray.
- Chop about ½ cup of onion (one small onion or half a medium).
- Add all ingredients—except ¼ cup of the ketchup for topping—to a large bowl.
- Mix gently until well combined; avoid overmixing to keep the loaf tender.
- Move the mixture to the baking pan and shape it into a 1 to 1½-inch thick loaf. Spread the remaining ketchup over the top.
- Bake at 350°F until the internal temperature reaches 165°F—about 40–50 minutes for a 1-pound loaf or 60–75 minutes for a 2-pound loaf.
- Remove from the pan for serving and discard any drainage.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- ½ cup of chopped onion = one small or half a medium onion.
- Good ketchup matters—use Hunt’s or Heinz for the best flavor.
- When scaling the recipe, use one egg per pound of meat. Round up if needed when adjusting servings.
- Reheats well in the microwave when sliced; also great cold for sandwiches.
- Store in the refrigerator for 4 days or freeze for up to 4 months.
- You can make it ahead and refrigerate for a day before baking.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You can adjust the number of servings above; however, only the amount in the ingredient list is adjusted, not the instructions.
Nutrition Estimate (may vary)
Editor's Note: Originally published on February 17, 2010. Updated with refreshed photos, options and variations.
Darlene says
Am I the only one that gets a red circle with a sorry thru it when I open your emails? The message then says that the image is copyright protected. Please visit the original website.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Darline,
Answered by private email.
Dan
Judy says
Have you ever made this a freezer meal by putting the ingredients together and shaping into loaves and freezing?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Judy,
Yes, it should freeze well either cooked or raw. While some suggest cooking frozen meatloaf without thawing, I suspect it is hard to get right without over cooking the surface and getting the center to a safe 165°—a must do with the ground meat and the egg. So thaw first overnight in the refrigerator. Be sure to seal extra well when freezing.
Dan
Janet says
Hello, wanting to make this tonight.. how can I add bell pepper and celery to this mix? I'd like to not have to reduce the amount of onion, but I'm not sure if I'd end up with too much bulk. Thanks! Love your site!
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Janet,
Sorry, I missed your comment earlier today. Just put some in. Be careful with the bell pepper, although we don't think of it as having much taste, it can take over a meatloaf. Both can release some fluid during cooking, so mix a little dry.
Dan
marcy youker says
love your recipes, easy to change to two, simple ,plain, just like I like ,Thanks a lot.
EFT3 says
Super quick and easy and great recipe. If, however, you have destroyed a meatloaf trying to get the meatloaf out of the pan, as I have, a recommendation. Make two sheets of foil or parchment, one as wide as the pan is long and one as wide as the pan is wide. When placed in the pan each should be higher than the loaf pan by about 1”. After the meatloaf is done let it sit for 10 minutes to set. Then you can easily lift the meatloaf from the pan.
Debra says
Lol on the proof read! I do love your recipes and your pups!! In fact your pulled pork recipe is the Best!!
Mary Kissell says
Hi Dr. Dan, Thank you for sharing, I look forward to your posts as I get tired of trying to figure out what to cook for my husband and myself. Your recipes are always keepers.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Mary,
Welcome to the blog.
Glad you are enjoying the recipes.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Thanks for the proof read. That exact sentence has been in this post since February 2010.
Fixed and thanks again.
Dan