This recipe is one that my wife brought to our family from her childhood, and it is definitely a good one that will never fail. I've tweaked around with it a little bit, and will note those tweaks below, but they aren't necessary for a great meatloaf.

Here's a shot of what you need:



For this preparation, we used three pounds of our good, local beef, a large onion, a large can of vegetable beef soup, bread crumbs (toasted and torn bread also works well, as does oatmeal or crushed crackers), 3 eggs, bacon and - the secret ingredient - Worcestershire sauce.

Not pictured are salt, pepper, catsup and optional cheese.

Pretty easy stuff, right?

First, chop your onion:



Big, small, in-between, chop it to a consistency that you like.

Next, you have a choice - you can simply make the meatloaf and top it with bacon strips (good), or you can cut up some bacon and put it in the meatloaf as well, reserving a few strips for topping if you like (really good). I chose to cut up some bacon:



And render out most of the fat:



In order to add a smokey goodness throughout the meatloaf.

Next, you have another choice - you can simply work the onions into the meatloaf (just fine) or you can carmelise them first and let them cool a bit before adding them to the meatloaf:



This step, in my opinion, takes it up another notch, but like the bacon step above, it is not necessary.

From here, it's a piece of cake - add the soup, eggs, salt and pepper (to taste) to the gound beef:



Also bread crumbs and Worcestershire sauce:



The amount of bread crumbs you add is rather subjective. I'd say at least a half-cup per pound; a lot of recipes i see call for a cup per pound, but when we try this, the meatloaf seems pretty dry - it could be because our good, local beef tends to be much leaner than most. Use enough so that it looks like your meatloaf is binding well, I'd say.

For the Worcestershire sauce, add an amount that is "to taste;" I'd prefer 2 tablespoons per pound, but start with 1 tablespoon per pound and go from there.

Anyway, mix it all together very thoroughly:



A wooden spoon is fine, but to be honest, there is no substitute for getting your hands in there and doing it right.

Next, add in your onions and, if you choose, bacon:



And continue mixing until it is all in there and all distributed. Some people like it to be mixed very vigorously, beaten until the meatloaf mixture is almost fluffy. I tend to like it this way, but it's not for everyone. Others prefer it to be as loosely-mixed as is possible. It's up to you!

Sometimes we add some catsup and/or shredded cheddar cheese at this point, say half a cup per pound of meat - but it is another one of those things that isn't necessary.

For this preparation, i chose to make the meatloaf in our cast-iron skillet, pressing the ground beef mixture into the bottom of a large "popcorn" bowl and turning it out onto the cast iron:



Looks pretty good, I'd say!

If you didn't add bacon into the actual meatloaf, then go ahead and lay a few strips on top now. Heck, even if you did add bacon to the actual meatloaf, you can go ahead and lay a few strips on top now, if you want. Also, a lot of times people like to cover the top with catsup and/or cheese. this is all ruled by personal preference or whim. For this preparation, I chose not to add bacon, catsup or cheese.

Now, just slip the pan into a pre-heated, 350-degree oven and bake the meatloaf to your preferred done-ness. There are a lot of factors here, but if you use 20 minutes per pound as a base, you will get a good estimate. As I recall, this particular meatloaf took about an hour and 15 minutes:



How's THAT looking?

Give it 7 or 10 minutes to rest, then cut it into wedges and serve it up:



The beautiful Mrs. Tas likes to add catsup to hers when it is served, and I usually will too, if there isn't already some on top.

That's about it ~ as you can see, you can take the "basic" recipe and go in several directions with it; also, you can add just about anything you want to it of course, or make substitutions. If there are no breadcrumbs handy, then simply toast a comparable amount of bread and tear the slices into cubes - our use cracker crumbs, or oatmeal. One variation I like is to use cream of mushroom soup and oatmeal in place of vegetable soup and bread crumbs. When I do this, I usually also add a package of lipton onion soup, eliminating any added salt.

Thanks for looking - I hope you like it if you give it a try. Feel free to share your meatloaf recipes here!

Your basic meatloaf has a zillion variations, and each are as good as the others. I cannot imagine someone calling themselves a cook and not be able to make a meatloaf. Your wife's recipe is actually more than basic and your suggestions are equally good.
I will use 1/3 italian sausage to 2/3rds ground chuck on occasion, and when just using ground chuck I top the finished meat loaf with a slather of Heinz 57.
Now you have got me hungry!
And don't forget the mashed potatoes and green beans.

Try doing your next meatloaf on a charcoal grill, since I did, I will ever do it in the oven again!

Peter