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Caramelized Onion & Barbecue Meatloaf

June 6, 2014 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 6 Comments

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Caramelized Onion Barbecue Meatloaf

Sometimes I wish I blogged only about burgers. Just burgers, that is all.

Because I adore burgers…grilled at home, from a restaurant, even fast food (but Whataburger only!) burgers.

Here’s one of my all time favorite burger. I think you can see why.

Anytime there is burger on the menu that has caramelized onions, I’m sold. Because if I could blog about only caramelized onions, I would do that too. Except there wouldn’t be near as many posts as on my imaginary burger blog. Whatever, but to the recipe here…

Caramelized Onion BBQ Meatloaf

The key to this one is getting the onions perfectly caramelized. I sweetened up 3 white onions, in slices. I decided I would take half of them and chop them up after they caramelized and mix them into the meatloaf, then use the other half for topping. I had a hunch that the tangy-sweet BBQ sauce would be the perfect compliment to the sweet, caramelized onions both inside the meatloaf, as well as a garnish.

I was right. Plates polished, y’all!

This meatloaf is inspired by my love for burgers, specifically ones with BBQ sauce and caramelized onions on top. I hope you enjoy this as much as our family did 🙂

Caramelized Onion Barbecue Meatloaf-2

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Caramelized Onion & Barbecue Meatloaf

Delightful twist on a family favorite!
Prep Time40 minutes minutes
Cook Time1 hour hour
Servings - 8 servings

Ingredients 

  • 3 white onions, sliced
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp sugar
  • 1.5 lb. ground beef
  • 1/2 cup bread crumbs
  • 1/3 cup BBQ sauce
  • 1 tsp garlic powder, salt and pepper each
  • BBQ sauce drizzle/topping
  • Side dish idea - garlic toast, veggies

Instructions

  • Add the sliced onions, olive oil and sugar to a skillet and saute over high heat for about 3-4 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low and let the onions continue cooking and caramelizing, stirring often, for about 30 minutes. Once caramelized, chop half of the onions to use in the meatloaf.
  • Preheat oven to 350.
  • In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, bread crumbs (use GF bread crumbs or GF bread to make this a GF meatloaf!), BBQ sauce, garlic powder, salt and pepper. (I did not include an egg because of an allergy, but you could add 1 egg to the mixture if you prefer. The egg acts as a binder and holds the meatloaf together.) Form into a loaf and add to a 9x5 loaf pan, drizzle a little BBQ sauce on top and then cover with foil.
  • Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, covered in foil. Then remove the foil and cook for another 30 minutes, or until the meat has cooked through.
  • Meanwhile, prepare the toast, rolls, rice (whatever!) and veggies.
  • Serve Caramelized Onion and Barbecue Meatloaf with preferred sides.

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Filed Under: Beef Recipes, Budget Friendly Recipes, Dairy Free Meal Ideas, Freezer Recipes and Freezer Meal Plans, Homemade Recipes Tagged With: popular recipes

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Comments

  1. bernadene says

    June 9, 2014 at 4:10 pm

    So just to be sure, half of the caramelized onions are to go in the bowl with the other ingredients for the meatloaf? Yes? What a great recipe, all my favorites in one. It’s like a lityle slice of heaven fell down onto my plate. I recently bought a 25 lb bag of onions and have been enjoying onions on everything. Also onions are a great reliever for any chest colds, or asthma, I haven’t had to use my inhalers once since I’ve eaten onions on a regular basis. Thank you for the recipe. Love, love, love your blog.

    Reply
  2. Glen says

    June 16, 2014 at 9:08 am

    Half of the onions go into the meatloaf when putting the meat and breadcrumbs and etc together?? How about the remaining half?

    Reply
  3. Ace Viray says

    July 9, 2014 at 7:50 pm

    Nice good job! i love it. I also want to share my Philippines Food Recipes blog. http://philippinesfoodrecipes.wordpress.com This blog helps you to cook and prepare best Filipino Foods in easy way with no hassle. If you have any suggestion or question about the Filipino food recipe just let me know. I’m glad to help you. Follow me. Thank you.

    Reply
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  5. Kim Nelson says

    January 7, 2015 at 8:10 pm

    Hey Erin. What GF breadcrumbs do you like best? We are new to this GF world. I tried the Italian style Ians and did not like the flavor. Thanks for all you do!

    Reply
  6. Pam Stewart says

    December 6, 2018 at 4:15 pm

    The printed recipe fails to mention at what point you put the other half of the caramelized onions on top of the meat loaf. In the oven or after when the meatloaf is done?

    Reply

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