We have had a blissful cool snap in Florida this week – I even got to break out the sweaters and fuzzy socks!  Cool weather means it’s not as much of a chore to slave away in front of a hot stove (it keeps me toasty!)  So for dinner last night, I broke out the BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf.  WARNING: This is not healthy – but it is yummy! 

Start by chopping up some bacon and frying till crispy.  Drain well on a paper towel.  Save some of the bacon drippings in the pan. (Note – the smaller you chop the bacon, the more pronounced the bacon flavor will be.  The smaller pieces will spread through the loaf more and be in every bite compared to larger pieces where you will taste the bacon when you bite into it.)

Next, saute some chopped onion in the left over bacon drippings – sauteing the onion will give it a milder, sweeter flavor that compliments the BBQ sauce wonderfully!

Allow both the onions and the bacon to cool off and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Assemble your meatloaf ingredients and get mixing!  The lineup includes ground beef, breadcrumbs, egg, bbq sauce, bacon, onions and cheddar cheese…

Pile all the ingredients in a large bowl and get mixing!  I use clean hands as my mixer of choice for meatloaf – I find it easier to mix everything evenly that way…

Shape into a loaf and bake at 350 degrees for about an hour…about 15 minutes before it’s done, spread some more bbq sauce over the top and let that get all hot and bubbly and good!

This is how it looked when done…mine ended up kinda crumbly…so that means I needed more eggs/breadcrumbs to bind the loaf together – the bbq sauce added some extra moisture.

Now, here are some options to try to make this a little bit lighter…

1. Substitute turkey bacon for regular bacon.
2. Use ground turkey in place of some or all of the beef.
3. Use a low fat cheese product.
4. Use cooking spray to saute the onions.
5. Cut down on amount of bacon and or cheese.

RECIPE

BBQ BACON CHEESEBURGER MEATLOAF

• 1-2 lbs. ground beef (or turkey)
• 1/2 lb. bacon
• 1 medium onion
• 2 cups cheddar cheese
• 1 – 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• 1/2 bottle bbq sauce

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Chop bacon into pieces and fry. Drain on paper towel.  Reserve 1-2 tsp bacon drippings.
3. Chop onion and saute in reserved bacon drippings.  Allow to cool.
4. Mix ground beef, onions, bacon, egg, breadcrumbs, and bbq sauce – meat mixture should be able to hold shape – add more breadcrumbs as needed.
5. Shape into loaf on jelly roll pan.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour.
7. About 15 minutes before finished, spread extra bbq sauce on top of loaf and continue cooking until done.