The gentle heat of the barbecue pit and a few clever ingredients keeps this smoked meatloaf incredibly juicy while cooking.
If you conducted a random survey to determine America’s greatest comfort food, you’d end up with a LOT of votes for meatloaf. I think there’s a lot of folks out there that have great memories associated with meatloaf. Maybe their mom’s secret recipe. Maybe their grandmas classic meatloaf loaded with a side of mashed potatoes. Or maybe it’s just that we love any kind of ground beef formed into a shape!
If you thought you loved meatloaf before, you are going to go crazy for this smoked version. The smoke sort of acts like an extra ingredient, giving an incredible bonus aroma and flavor to the beef. And while a traditional meatloaf has a tomato glaze, it makes total sense to give this one a barbecue sauce twist. You can make this on any kind of smoker, BBQ pit, pellet grill and even a regular grill set up for indirect cooking with some wood chips.
I’m particularly proud of this recipe because it produces such moist results. Too often you see an overworked, sad, dry and crumbly meatloaf slice. And that’s NOT my idea of a delicious dish. This version is so juicy it’s nearly like a slice of sloppy joe! And best of all, it tastes like beef, not just ‘filler’ ingredients.
Keep scrolling for my written recipe for how to make smoked meatloaf. But here’s a bonus video version:
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Smoked meatloaf with sweet BBQ glaze
- Total Time: 4 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: serves 4-6 1x
Ingredients
2lb ground beef
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ onion, finely diced (about 1 cup)
¾ c bread crumbs
2 tablespoons tomato paste, divided
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoon dried or fresh parsley
½ cup bbq sauce
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1–2 tablespoons of Hardcore Carnivore Red seasoning
Instructions
- Pre heat a smoker or pellet grill to 250f.
- In a small pan, heat the oil over medium heat and add the onion. Cook until softened, 7-10 minutes. Allow to cool completely.
- In a small bowl, combine milk and breadcrumbs to form a thick paste, stirring well. Leave 5 minutes to allow crumbs to absorb all the milk and swell.
- In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, cooled cooked onion, breadcrumb mix, eggs, garlic, paprika, Worcestershire, 1 tablespoon of tomato paste, salt and parsley. Work quickly to mix the ingredients thoroughly, but be carefully not to overwork or overmix the meat.
- Carefully scrape the meat out onto a wire rack, and shape into a loaf. Sprinkle the top with Hardcore Carnivore red seasoning.
- In a bowl, combine remaining tomato paste, BBQ sauce and cider vinegar to make a sauce. Brush meatloaf with the sauce during cooking every 35-40 minutes.
- Cook the meatloaf until it reaches an internal temperature of 165f, about 3-4 hours.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 4 hours
- Method: BBQ
can’t wait to try this tomorrow on my Camp Chef
setting in the icebox for tomorrow’s smoke. I added a bit of cayenne and green chilies to it. I stuffed it with extra sharp chedder
so let see what it turnes out after the smoke. live up north close to Kansas city. so we know BBQ. too
My son loves this recipe. Easy and the smoke flavor is a great enhancement!
This is the BEST. I make it all the time to consistently rave reviews. We camp and I smoke this and everyone now calls me “Mrs. Meatloaf” and I have to take it to every potluck. I use different rubs on it depending on what I have on hand. Adobo Honey is my favorite. Always a winner. Highly recommend making this!!
Um? 250 degrees for 3-4 hours? No way. I was at 170 degrees at 2.5…..glad I looked at my grill
Chad,
my ML is 3.5 lbs. putting on @250. Thanks for the word of caution.
I’m not sure why any recipe calls for smoking over 225 but at 225 it’s about 3-3.5 hours
Plus if you 30 minute glaze with brown sugar and BBQ it’s going to take your temp over 165. Curious though if you were adding sauce every 35-40 minutes I’m wondering how you missed it hit 150 at 1.75 hours
I’ve tried two other smoked meatloaf recipes, this was by far my favorite. My smoker took a full 4 hours the first time I cooked this. The second time I did it, I bumped my smoker up to 300F after two hours, which shaved an hour off my cook time. It actually turned out better that way. I got a nice bark on top thanks to the sauce.
I’ll try different bbq sauce and seasoning on top next time. Meatloaf a little soft as instructed. Will change that as well, but Amazing!!
Will smoke again. hubby loves meatloaf!!!
Not sure how to be able to form a loaf right out of the mix. Seemed super soft. Stuck it in a mold and put it in the fridge to firm up.
Great recipe, I used 3lbs of meat and about 1 3/4 cups of bread crumbs to get the consistency I wanted before placing on the smoker. Cooked first 2 hours at 350 then cut back to 275 for 2 more hrs and it hit 165 at that point. Was amazed at how easy it was to get this off the grill in one piece. This meatloaf was amazing through and through! Wow!
The absolute BEST meatloaf I have EVER had in my entire life! YUM!!!!!!!
would love to try but have an egg allergy, what would be a good substitute?
This is totally legit! I’ve never made meatloaf before because it dredges up memories of a big blob of boring ground beef with ketchup slathered on the top. I cooked this in my Pit Barrel Cooker and it was done in two hours. Next time I plan to manage the vents a little more so I can extend the cook and let the smoke penetrate better. I’m also going to cook a ground turkey meatloaf at the same time because I think it would be interesting to compare them.
Jess, Great recipe! This was my first attempt at smoking a meatloaf and it was outstanding. I did not have any Hardcore Carnivore Red seasoning so I made a few small adjustments to the recipe that turned out great. Another thing that I did was cold-smoke the meatloaf for just under 2 hours prior to cooking the meatloaf. Whether or not that was the kicker is hard to prove but the smoke flavor throughout the meatloaf was excellent. I currently have a Masterbuilt smoker and the max temperature is 275 degrees so I cooked it to the desired internal 170 degrees (a little under 3 hours) and it came out perfect. I will definitely be using this recipe again.
absolutely incredible! this recipe is easy to make and tastes amazing.
I know it says cook it on the grill or smoker but can you make that in the oven?
Why the wire rack?
First try at smoked meatloaf. Followed the recipe other than cook time. Would recommend pulling it a little before 165*. End of the story is my wife and I ate on it for three days, it was good.
Made this with a couple small modifications but it still turned out fantastic! I would recommend this to anyone to try. We are very new with smoker grilling and this turned out great! Went the full 4 hours. Only basted 3 times. We also tried to be very quick when opening the grill to baste!
Meat was extremely loose and hard to form into loaf after mixing
I laid it out on paper rolled it and threw it in the freezer while smoker was warming
Worked out well
I also substituted a good balsamic vinegar for the apple cider
Turned out amazing!!!
I made this on an older smoker, the kind that uses charcoal & wood chunks. I stuck to the recipe to the tee especially the part about not over mixing. Smoker was a little hot at first but was between 225-250 the entire time. Meatloaf was done in 4.5 hours and was outstanding. I basted every 30 minutes until the sauce was gone.
I made this on an older smoker, the kind that uses charcoal & wood chunks. I stuck to the recipe to the tee especially the part about not over mixing. Smoker was a little hot at first but was between 225-250 the entire time. Meatloaf was done in 4.5 hours and was outstanding. I basted every 30 minutes until the sauce was gone.