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
Keywords: meatloaf, bbq, smoker
can’t wait to try this tomorrow on my Camp Chef
My son loves this recipe. Easy and the smoke flavor is a great enhancement!
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’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!!!