Old Fashioned Dairy-free and Gluten-free Meatloaf

I was driving and he was in the back seat of the van, we were chatting and somehow it came up in the conversation. And in his typical, adorable, processing of new information,  little boy voice,  he said,

                “What?! Wait a minute…Are you saying that the chicken we eat is actually from a chicken?! Like the animal?”

Where does meat come from?

Then he started to make further connections: “So where does beef come from?” he said. “Cow,” I replied . “And pork chops comes from pigs, as does bacon. ”

His little face crumpled. He’s a sensitive, sweet soul and this obviously really hit him hard. He immediately started to go down the ‘how does it die? And does someone kill it?’ path. I could hear the horror in his voice and at the time, I was not prepared to go anywhere near there. It was bad enough being the bearer of the initial bad news. And he was so visibly upset that in trying to soften the blow of this new discovery, I blurted out, “but don’t worry -the animals are really sick and old.”

Yep. Apparently we like to eat sick, old meat at our house….

Hey, at the time, it seemed like a good answer, as it always appeared to comfort my kids when an older person passed away. You would say they had a good, long life and they were very old and sick and the kids would sigh, and say, “oh, okay then, ” and be able to process it, deal with it and move on.

This explanation appeared to have garnered the same effect. You could trace the wave of relief as it washed over his little face. “Oh, okay then,” he said, “If it’s sick and old…”

I guess if I had to go hunting for my own meat then things would be different. I’m sure there’s a lot of people that feel that way.  But since I don’t….

Where does meatloaf come from:

There are many articles out there that talk about the history of meatloaf, so I’m not going to get into that. But if you want to learn more, check out Wikipedia. MY meatloaf comes from my Mom, of course , like most meatloaf does. Well, the base recipe anyway. I’ve made some changes, including making it a dairy-free and gluten-free meatloaf. It’s also an old recipe that she got the recipe out of the Five Roses Cookbook, which was originally published in 1913. It was my very first cookbook and I still use it all the time, as it houses many of my ‘go to’ recipes. You can see it’s been well loved.

Like I said, although meatloaf is a great make-ahead freezer weeknight dinner, it is easy to take for granted. However, I stopped taking this meatloaf for granted when I tried some other, not-so-good meatloaves. Like bad bran muffins, there are a lot of bad meatloaves out there. But this one is moist and flavourful with just the right balance of tomato. This traditional meatloaf is also the one I grew up on, yet it’s still one of my favourite comfort foods. And for those with allergies or aversions, it’s dairy-free and gluten-free so it contains no milk or bread. You can throw it together in 10 minutes and either freeze it to cook at a later date (right in the loaf pan) or cook ahead and then freeze.

Meatloaf comes from Mom:

Let’s just leave it at that.

My son is now 12 and although I’m sure he’s figured out the rest of the meat story by now,  for a year or so after that conversation, he’d often seek meat reassurance at the dinner table with statements like, “Oh, we’re having cow for dinner? But it was really sick and old, right?”

Right…..

This could become a little awkward, especially when we had guests. At that point I’d be wishing I had not taken that particular fork in the meat conversation path. But as a parent, it’s natural to try to protect our children from the cold, hard, cruel realities of the world. As adults, we can just choose not the think about them.

In the end, I’m just grateful that I don’t have to hunt for my own meatloaf.

If you are looking for other easy and quick, make-ahead weeknight meals, give my 5 Ingredient Caprese Sheet Pan Chicken Breast a try!

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Dairy-free & Gluten-free Old Fashioned Meatloaf

This classic meatloaf recipe is made without eggs, milk or bread crumbs. It is dairy-free, gluten-free,  easy and can be made ahead and frozen for a quick weeknight meal.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword dairy free meatloaf, egg free meatloaf, gluten-free meatloaf

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 8 people

Calories 219 kcal

Author Terri Gilson

Ingredients

• 2 lbs extra Lean ground beef
• ½ cup gluten-free ketchup
• ¼ cup gluten-free chili sauce
• 2 tbsp gluten-free relish
• ½ tbsp dry ground mustard
• ¾ cup gluten free quick oats
• 10 ounce can of mushrooms
• 1 small onion finely chopped * see notes

Garnish:

• sprinkle dried parsley
• additional ketchup (about 3 tbsps )

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and spray a 9X5X3 loaf pan with non-stick spray.
2. Mix ground beef, ketchup, chilli sauce, relish, dry mustard, oatmeal, onion and mushrooms together in a large bowl.
3. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees F.

4. Remove from oven and cool. Garnish with additional ketchup and sprinkle on parsley.

5. Then slice. Reheat as needed

Recipe Notes

*If you don't feel like chopping onion, you can substitute 1 tbsp dried/dehydrated onion

Nutrition Facts

Dairy-free & Gluten-free Old Fashioned Meatloaf

Amount Per Serving

Calories 219 Calories from Fat 54

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 6g 9%

Saturated Fat 2g 10%

Cholesterol 70mg 23%

Sodium 328mg 14%

Potassium 587mg 17%

Total Carbohydrates 13g 4%

Dietary Fiber 1g 4%

Sugars 8g

Protein 26g 52%

Vitamin A 1.5%

Vitamin C 2.9%

Calcium 1.8%

Iron 17.8%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

 

This recipe is part of The Country Cook’s Weekend Potluck link up!