Planked Meatloaf Recipe

By
Joshua Bousel
a photo of Joshua Bousel, a Contributing Writer at Serious Eats
Joshua Bousel
Joshua Bousel is a Serious Eats old-timer, having started sharing his passion for grilling and barbecue recipes on the site back in 2008. He continues to develop grilling and barbecue recipes on his own site, The Meatwave, out of his home base of Durham, North Carolina.
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Updated April 29, 2019
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Nothing like meatloaf in the dead of winter. As I've been getting into planking more, a meatloaf seemed the perfect thing to put on a plank and let sit on a covered grill for about an hour, while warmly waiting indoors.

My instincts were right on here; this "barbecue" interpretation of meatloaf was pretty killer. The plank ended up being more of a platform to be able to grill a meatloaf—the subtle flavor of the plank didn't really transfer o to the heavily seasoned loaf—but the addition of some smoking wood did impart a little smokiness.

While that made the use of the grill worthwhile, the real standouts here were the herb stuffing, which I substituted for normal breadcrumbs on a whim, and the simple barbecue sauce glaze that formed an amazingly tasty crust.

Recipe Details

Planked Meatloaf Recipe

Active 20 mins
Total 0 mins
Serves 6 servings

Ingredients

  • For the Glaze
  • 1/2 cup ketchup
  • 3 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
  • 1 teaspoon hot sauce
  • 4 ounces herb stuffing
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1/2 red pepper, finely chopped
  • 3 medium cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
  • 2/3 pound ground beef chuck
  • 2/3 pound ground veal
  • 2/3 pound ground pork
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 wood plank, soaked in water for at least 1 hour prior to use
  • 1 small chunk of light smoking wood, such as apple or cherry
  • Type of fire: two-zone indirect
  • Grill heat: Medium-high

Directions

  1. To make the glaze, mix together ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and hot sauce in a small bowl. Set aside.

  2. Place stuffing, chili powder, black pepper, cumin, and cayenne pepper in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until stuffing is finely chopped. Transfer to a large bowl.

  3. Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add in onion and red pepper and cook until onions have softened, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add in garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Transfer to bowl with stuffing mixture.

  4. Add beef, veal, pork, milk, eggs, parsley, and salt to bowl and mix with hands until thoroughly combined.

  5. Line a loaf pan with wax or parchment paper. Pour out meatloaf mixture into pan and press down, forming a loaf. Turn loaf out wood plank and remove pan and paper.

  6. Light one chimney full of charcoal. When all the charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and arrange the coals on one side of the charcoal grate and place wood chunk directly on top of coals. Set cooking grate in place, cover grill and allow to preheat for 5 minutes. Place planked meatloaf on cool side of grill, cover and cook for 15 minutes.

  7. Brush meatloaf all over with glaze, cover, and continue to cook until an instant read thermometer registers 155 degrees when inserted into middle of meatloaf, about 40-60 minutes more. Remove from grill, lest rest for 15 minutes. Slice and serve.

Special equipment

Grill

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