This delicious brown sugar meatloaf is a rich, comforting loaf with a caramelized brown sugar crust. It’s sweet and savory, perfect for cozy weeknight dinners.
I love putting fun twists on this classic comfort food, like pizza meatloaf and today’s version with brown sugar!
Adding a crust of brown sugar to the base of a meatloaf is the flavor booster you’d least expect. It may sound a bit odd, but trust me, this brown sugar meatloaf is delicious! I mixed crushed Ritz crackers into the meat mixture, and the result is a sweet-savory, buttery loaf that you can slice and serve with a salad, mashed potatoes, or in a meatloaf sandwich.
What Makes This Brown Sugar Meatloaf Recipe Special
- Sweet meets savory. The subtle sweetness of brown sugar next to the smoky BBQ sauce and seasoned ground beef takes your classic meatloaf over the top.
- Easy to make. With very little hands-on prep time, this meatloaf recipe is ideal for weeknights. You can even make it ahead, since it stores and freezes well.
- Serious comfort food. Meatloaf is all in the seasonings and flavor, and this recipe has plenty! It’s a hearty, satisfying meal no matter the season.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Brown Sugar – This can be light or dark brown sugar. I highly recommend brown sugar over white sugar! If you don’t have brown sugar, I’d try a drizzle of honey instead.
- BBQ Sauce – Your favorite store-bought BBQ sauce, or you can use homemade.
- Onion and Garlic – White or yellow onion, diced, and freshly minced garlic. A quick way to finely mince garlic is to use a microplane or the small holes in a box grater.
- Spices – I season the meatloaf mixture with a combination of paprika and cayenne pepper in addition to salt and pepper.
- Ground Beef – I use lean ground beef so the meatloaf doesn’t come out too greasy.
- Eggs and Milk – Eggs help bind the meatloaf ingredients, while milk adds moisture.
- Ritz Crackers – Instead of breadcrumbs (which also work in this recipe), I use crushed Ritz crackers crumbs. I just love how salty and buttery they are. You can crush the crackers quickly in a food processor or crush them inside a plastic bag with a rolling pin.
How to Make Brown Sugar Meatloaf
This is sort of a reverse meatloaf glaze, since we’re adding the brown sugar to the pan before adding the meat. It creates a sweet crust on the bottom of the loaf while it caramelizes against the hot pan.
- Prepare to bake. Grease a 9×5 loaf while the oven preheats to 350ºF.
- Add sugar and BBQ sauce. Spread the brown sugar into the greased pan, followed by a layer of BBQ sauce.
- Make the meat mixture. Next, combine ground beef and the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Get in there with your hands and mix until it’s well combined.
- Assemble. Press the meat mixture evenly on top of the BBQ sauce in the pan. Bake the meatloaf for 60-70 minutes. It’s done when the internal temperature reads 160ºF on a meat thermometer.
- Rest and serve. Rest the meatloaf for 10-15 minutes before draining the fat. Remove the meatloaf from the pan and serve!
Tips for the Best Meatloaf
- Don’t overwork the meat mixture. Just like making meatballs, be careful not to overmix. It makes the meatloaf dense.
- Drain excess grease. After resting the loaf, you may notice extra grease. Gently tip the pan to drain it before you remove the meatloaf.
- More flavor. I’ll sometimes mix ground Italian sausage in with the ground beef for more flavor in the loaf. For a leaner option, substitute beef with ground turkey.
- Don’t overcook. Overcooked meatloaf will be dry. Use an instant-read meat thermometer to check that the internal temperature of the loaf reaches 160º-165ºF.
What to Serve With Brown Sugar Meatloaf
This brown sugar meatloaf pairs well with homemade garlic knots or fluffy butter swim biscuits on the side. I’ll serve it with mashed potatoes or baked potatoes for a comfort food meal, or with sweet potato fries or air fryer green beans for a lighter dinner. Why not enjoy a slice of retro pineapple upside-down cake for dessert?
How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
- Refrigerate. Store any leftover cooled meatloaf in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Reheat. Warm up the brown sugar meatloaf in the oven, or you can reheat individual slices in the microwave.
- Freeze. This meatloaf freezes well either whole or in slices. Just wrap it in a double layer of plastic wrap and foil, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw the meatloaf in the fridge before reheating.
More Ground Beef Recipes
Brown Sugar Meatloaf
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
Sweet meets savory in this delicious brown sugar meatloaf recipe. It’s a rich, comforting loaf with a caramelized brown sugar crust on the bottom, perfect for cozy weeknight dinners.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup BBQ sauce
- 1 small onion, small diced (about 1 cup)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- 2 pounds lean ground beef
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 cup finely crushed Ritz Cracker crumbs
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Lightly spray a 9×5 loaf pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- Spread the brown sugar into the bottom of the pan evenly. Top the brown sugar with the BBQ sauce. Set the pan aside.
- In a large bowl combine the remaining ingredients and using your hands mix everything together evenly. Try not to over work the meat, which will result in a dense loaf.
- Place the meat on top of the BBQ sauce and press evenly into the pan.
- Bake the meatloaf for 60-70 minutes until the juices run clear or a meat thermometer inserted in the center reads 160°F.
- Allow the meat to rest for 15 minutes. Drain the excess fat and transfer the meat to a platter to serve.
My mother always put crushed saltine crackers in her meatloaf. Texture is much better than with bread crumbs. This looks really good.
Damn Ritz Crackers….just can’t stop eating them.
Love this meatloaf recipe. Gotta see how it tastes,
maybe even tonight, if I get home in time!
I’ve made meatloaf in my cupcake pans, I’m definitely going to try this version next time!
I LOVE meatloaf and have been making the same recipe for years – will give this one a try because it’s different (my mini loaf recipe has cheddar cheese in it and oats and ketchup/mustard/brown sugar on top – taste of home recipe) A change every so often is good, right?!
I LOVE a good meatloaf and I can’t wait to try this one. But I have to ask, why would you put the brown sugar and BBQ sauce on the bottom and not the top?
When you flip it out it will be on top 🙂
I personally like my sause (usually ketchup) a little on the burnt on side. This seems like that may be the result. I may try putting my ketchup mixture on the top AND bottom next time.
i agree …i wouldnt “flip it” put it on the top for sure 🙂
This sounds SSSOOO good!I sometimes to meatloaf with ground turkey & this would totally work with that also because the seasonings would give good flavor to it. And I’m with the Cookbook Queen, Meatloaf Nachos must be done.
We LOVE meatloaf — it’s the boys’ favorite! And meatloaf nachos TOTALLY need to be a thing!
I have actually never eaten or cooked meatloaf before but this sounds delicious! I think I will have to give it a go!