When it comes to comfort food, our Smoked Meatloaf will not disappoint. The tender, juicy, beefy flavors combine with the rich, smoky flavor, creating a dish that will tantalize your tastebuds.
Perfect for a weeknight meal, game day, or family gathering, this easy smoked meatloaf recipe will have you questioning why you haven’t tried making it sooner.
Your family is going to love this tender and juicy smoked meatloaf. It takes a traditional meatloaf recipe to a whole new level of deliciousness.
If you love meatloaf, try our recipes for Diner-Style Meatloaf and Spicy Meatloaf with Collard Greens.
Ingredients to make Smoked Meatloaf
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make our delicious smoked meatloaf recipe. In Chef Speak, this is called the Mise en Place, which translates into Everything in its Place.
Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed the cooking process, but it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
How to make Smoked Meatloaf
- Place the ground meat into a large bowl.
- Add the panko bread crumbs, whole milk, eggs, chopped parsley, chopped onion, kosher salt, black pepper, chopped fresh garlic, Worcestershire sauce, sweet paprika, and dry oregano to the large mixing bowl.
- Use your hands or a spoon to combine the ingredients together, making sure not to overhandle the mixture.
*Overmixing will result in a tough meatloaf. - Wrap the meat mixture with cling wrap. or aluminum foil and place it in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes or overnight if time permits.
- In a small bowl, combine the barbecue sauce, ketchup, apple cider vinegar, table salt, and black pepper.
- Stir to combine and set aside until needed.
*If making the sauce in advance, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.
Preheat the smoker to 250 degrees F. Let the meatloaf come to room temperature as the smoker preheats.
Add your favorite wood chips to the smoke tube. For this recipe, we used hickory wood chips.
Continue to add wood chips to the smoker throughout the first hour to allow the meatloaf to get as much smokey flavor as possible.
- Remove the meat mixture from the refrigerator, then turn it onto parchment paper and form it into a loaf.
*Do your best to make it an even size loaf so it cooks evenly. - Place the uncooked meatloaf on a wire rack over a foil pan to catch the drippings. Cooking it this way allows the entire surface of the meatloaf to be smoked.
*You can also place the meatloaf directly on a sheet pan or baking dish. I don’t suggest using a loaf pan as it will limit the amount of smoke flavor absorbed during the cooking process. - Place a probe into the center of the meatloaf and place it in the smoker.
- After one hour, remove the meatloaf from the smoker.
- Apply a good coating of the sweet and tangy glaze to the top of the meatloaf, then return it to the smoker. Continue cooking until the internal temperature of the meatloaf is 155 degrees.
- At 155 degrees, remove the smoked meatloaf from the smoker and brush it again with the glaze.
I love my electric smoker, but you can also use a pellet smoker or a gas or pellet grill cooking it over indirect heat to make this classic recipe.
You can also serve this delicious smoked meatloaf with brown gravy. Serve it up with mashed potatoes, peas, or green beans and you have a dinner that will fill your belly and soothe your soul.
Store any leftover meatloaf refrigerated in an airtight container for 4-5 days. It can also be frozen and well-sealed for up to 2 months.
The leftovers also make amazing hot sandwiches.
Recipe FAQ’s
Absolutely. I used ground beef, but you can use ground pork, ground veal, Italian sausage or any combination of them to make our ground chicken or ground turkey to make this our smoked meatloaf recipe.
Yes, it can definitely stall, but it usually won’t last as long as a large piece of meat would.
The added fat in the milk will add richness and moist texture to the meatloaf, and the added milk proteins encourage additional browning reactions (which means more flavor).
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Smoked Meatloaf
Ingredients
Meatloaf
- 2 lbs ground beef 80/20
- 1 cup sweet onion finely chopped
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup panko bread crumbs
- ⅓ cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon garlic finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon Italian parsley finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon dry oregano
Glaze
- ¼ cup ketchup
- ⅓ cup bbq sauce
- ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ⅛ teaspoon table salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
Meatloaf
- Place the ground beef into a large bowl.
- Add the panko bread crumbs, whole milk, eggs, chopped parsley, chopped onion, kosher salt, black pepper, chopped garlic, Worcestershire sauce, sweet paprika, and dry oregano to the bowl.
- Use your hands or a spoon to combine the ingredients together making sure not to overhandle the mixture.*Overmixing will result in a tough meatloaf.
- Wrap the meatloaf mixture with cling wrap and place it in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes or overnight if time permits.
- While the meatloaf mixture is resting in the refrigerator, make the glaze.
- Add the barbecue sauce, ketchup, apple cider vinegar, table salt, and black pepper to a small bowl and stir to combine. Set aside until needed. If making the sauce in advance, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.
- Remove the mixture from the refrigerator, then turn the mixture onto parchment paper, and form it into a loaf.*Do your best to make it an even size loaf and not too thick in different parts this will allow for a more even cook
- Place the meatloaf on a wire rack placed over a foil pan to catch the drippings. Cooking it this way allows the entire surface of the meatloaf to be smoked. *You can also place the meatloaf directly in a baking dish.
- Preheat the smoker to 250 degrees F. Let the meatloaf come to room temperature as the smoker preheats.
- Add your favorite wood chips to the smoke tube. For this recipe, we used hickory wood chips.Continue to add wood chips to the smoker throughout the first hour to make sure the meatloaf gets as much smokey flavor as possible.
- Place a probe into the center of the meatloaf and place it in the smoker.
- After one hour, remove the meatloaf from the smoker and coat it with the glaze. Return it to the smoker and continue to cook until it reaches an internal temperature of 155 degrees.
- At 155 degrees, remove the smoked meatloaf from the smoker and brush it again with the glaze.
- Serve with mashed potatoes and green peas, or your favorite side dishes.
- You can also serve the meatloaf with brown gravy.
Lisa says
That looks like one incredibly flavorful meatloaf!