Is Meatloaf Better on a Sheet Pan or Loaf Pan? (2024)

FAQs

Is Meatloaf Better on a Sheet Pan or Loaf Pan? ›

If you want to make the best meatloaf possible, a sheet pan is a much better medium. Not only will it be easier to clean, but the meatloaf will hold its shape just fine with the correct ratio of ingredients. Just make sure it's firm enough when it goes into the oven, and it should come out the same way.

Loaf pans corral the juices and fat to create a moister, more steamed, texture. The steamed texture can often be more reminiscent of a school cafeteria meatloaf, which some people are averse to, but it will look more like a typical meatloaf when it's cooked this way as meatloaf in a sheet pan tends to be flatter.

Meatloaf should have a delectable outer crust

Whether it's coated in a traditional ketchup glaze or layered with strips of bacon, the outside is where a lot of flavor development happens. By free-forming a meatloaf—not cooking it in a loaf pan—we get maximum surface area exposure, and therefore maximum flavor.

Glass loaf pans act as insulators, and take longer to heat up than metal pans which may prolong the time it takes to bake the loaf. The glass pan also holds onto heat longer, cooking the edges of the loaf longer than the center of the loaf.

Parchment paper is a great option to line your pan the next time you cook meatloaf. It prevents the meat from sticking to the pan resulting in a meatloaf that is evenly cooked all the way through and looks ready to eat.

When choosing a baking pan, avoid a small loaf pan or baking dish. A tight fit means that the loaf will steam — think school cafeteria meatloaf. Instead, use a sheet pan or a large baking dish and leave some breathing room so the edges will caramelize nicely.

The meatloaf can be cooked uncovered. However, if you are concerned about it burning, you can cover the meatloaf with foil for the first 45 minutes and uncover it for the final 15 minutes to allow the meatloaf to brown on top.

Milk and other dairy products, like heavy cream and buttermilk, contain both water and fat, adding two types of moisture to our meatloaf. There's a long-held theory that milk can tenderize ground meat, and this is the reason often cited for cooking ground meat in milk to make a Bolognese-style ragù.

The oven temperature is typically set at 350 degrees F for making meatloaf. That's the temperature you want to be sure to use so the meatloaf cooks and doesn't dry out. Too high, and the outer crust will burn before the interior is cooked all the way, too low and you don't get that delicious crust.

If you don't have any bread, you can substitute it for breadcrumbs, crackers, cereal grains, oatmeal, instant rice, instant barley, or even potato flakes! However, bread is still the best choice of all the potential options.

Do you grease a loaf pan for meatloaf? ›

Add to loaf pan: Add the meat mixture to a greased loaf pan and gently pat into an even layer. Eggs and breadcrumbs are the secret to keeping meatloaf moist.

Cooking paper-bag meatloaf on parchment paper is a neat and tidy technique, but also produces a crisp, delicious crust. Cooking in parchment gives this “paper-bag” meatloaf recipe a crisp crust and moist interior.

Here's a simple trick to reduce the grease in your homemade meatloaf. When making meat loaf, line the bottom of your pan with slices of bread. Place the meat mixture in the pan and bake as usual. The bread will absorb most of the fat from the meat as it cooks.

I recommend cooking meatloaf on a baking sheet rather than in a loaf pan, as it allows for better heat circulation and more surface area for browning. Using a baking sheet also allows any excess fat to drain away, resulting in a healthier finished dish.

And to make it even better, it's a sheet pan dinner, making it a for-sure winner that couldn't be easier. Rather than making an entirely separate side dish, I added thickly sliced sweet potatoes around the meatloaf that cook at the same time.

When this happens, it's because you didn't use enough. Next time, try adding in an extra egg and/or some more breadcrumbs. Alternatively, rice, barley, corn flakes, crackers, and dried soup mix can also stand in as binding ingredients as well. Including larger quantities of these items should help solve the problem.

I recommend cooking meatloaf on a baking sheet rather than in a loaf pan, as it allows for better heat circulation and more surface area for browning. Using a baking sheet also allows any excess fat to drain away, resulting in a healthier finished dish.

Disposable loaf pans are rectangular and commonly used for baking bread, meatloaf, or cakes.

A bread pan, also called a loaf pan, is a kitchen utensil in the form of a container in which bread is baked. Its function is to shape bread while it is rising during baking. The most common shape of the bread pan is the loaf, or narrow rectangle, a convenient form that enables uniform slicing.

Today's recipe came about, in part, because I found mini ceramic loaf pans at a local HomeGoods store. They are the perfect size for making individual, but generous meatloaves. They are also ideal if you're trying to pay attention to portion control.