Recipe | Crockpot (or Instant Pot!) Meatloaf & Taters

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Meatloaf seems like such an old-school dish and often people imagine a dried out slab of ground beef shaped in a loaf and smothered in ketchup.

I don’t do boring.  Or dry.  Ugh.

I’m always looking for a shortcut; a way to work smarter, not harder.  No one wants to come home at the end of the day and wait around for over an hour for a slab of meat to cook in the oven.  Also, that’s around the witching hour in my house when the kid and the dog get extra sassy.  We don’t have time for that.

If you (like me) think about food from the moment you wake up, it’s easy to put your meatloaf together in 10 minutes in the morning and put it in your crockpot, where it’ll be ready to serve at suppertime.  Ooooor, if you forget to prep in the morning, your meatloaf can still be ready in under an hour with an Instant Pot.

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I adore mashed potatoes.  I find, personally, that the correct meat to potato ratio is equal.

Meatloaf & taters (with crockpot & Instant Pot directions)

Ingredients:

  • 2 lbs ground beef (I sometimes use 1 lb ground beef, 1 lb ground pork)
  •  1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup ketchup
  • 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tbsp parsley
  • salt and pepper, to taste

    For the sauce:
  • 1/2 cup ketchup
  • 3 tbsp brown sugar
  • 3 tbsp mustard
  • 2 tsp rice wine vinegar

    For the mashed taters:
  • 2 1/2 lbs potatoes, quartered (peel if you want – I don’t)
  • 2 cups chicken broth or water
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 1/4 cup whole milk or heavy cream

Directions:

  1. In a large bowl, mix the meat, onion, and garlic together.
  2. Add the eggs, ketchup, Worcestershire, parsley, salt and pepper.  Mix with a big wooden spoon or use your hands if you’re not afraid to get dirty.  Shape into a loaf.
  3. In a small bowl, mix the sauce ingredients together well.  Brush about half the sauce over the meatloaf.  Save the rest of the sauce for serving.

If you’re using the crockpot:

  • Place your meatloaf in the crockpot, add the quartered potatoes around the loaf, and cook on low for 6-7 hours.

If you’re using the Instant Pot:

  • Toss your quartered potatoes and chicken broth (or water) in the bottom of your 6 qt Instant Pot.
  • Place the steam rack (this is an accessory included with most Instant Pot  models) on top of the potatoes.
  • Place your meatloaf on a piece of tinfoil and fold the edges up to create a pocket to hold the fat while it cooks.  You don’t want the fat falling down in your potatoes.  Place it on the steam rack; it should be a snug fit.
  • Make sure the steam release is closed, secure the lid, and turn Instant Pot on to Manual/Pressure Cook mode for 35 minutes.
  • Use the quick release method to open your Instant Pot.
  • Use oven mitts to transfer the steam rack to a baking sheet.  Be careful not to spill the fat collected in the tinfoil!  Cut your meatloaf into slices to serve.
  • Mash the potatoes and add the butter and milk.  Season to taste.


Other variations:

Feel free to add other vegetables.

If you don’t like the sauce I made, you could always use your favorite BBQ sauce, or keep it traditional with just ketchup.