This is our Dad. He happens to be holding Lucy in this picture. He has 11 grandkids and another on the way, and today is his birthday! I won’t tell you how old he is, because even he can’t remember! (love you, dad!) One of his most favorite main dishes is meatloaf.

He has become quite the meatloaf connoisseur. So he was the perfect person to test this recipe out on. This is a classic, no frills, good, All-American meatloaf. I served to him as an early birthday gift last night. His response was simple, “It is better than average.” I’ll take it! Why? Because I really am not a fan of meatloaf. It does nothing for me. It is kind of gross to make and so honestly it’s not a dish I make a lot. However, I paired it with some salad, crusty bread, and yummy mashed potatoes. The perfect birthday dinner for my Dad.

I used red potatoes and kept some of the skins on. I always add about a half stick of butter, salt and 1/2 cup of sour cream to my potatoes. It is one of my favorite side dishes and so easy! So Happy Birthday, Dad! Thanks for eating my Classic Meatloaf and giving it a good review!

Classic Meatloaf

•          1 tablespoon butter
•          1/4 cup minced onion
•          2 cloves garlic, minced
•          1 1/2 teaspoons salt
•          1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
•          2 pounds extra-lean ground beef
•          3 slices bread, toasted and crumbled
•          7 Ritz crackers, crushed
•          1 egg, lightly beaten
•          3 1/2 tablespoons sour cream
•          1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
•          1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce, divided
•          3 tablespoons ketchup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat, and cook the onion and garlic 5 minutes, until onion is tender. Remove from heat, and season with salt and pepper.

In a large bowl, mix the onion and garlic, beef, crumbled bread, crushed crackers, egg, sour cream, Worcestershire sauce, and 1/2 can tomato sauce. Transfer the mixture to a 5×9 inch loaf pan.

Bake uncovered in the preheated oven 40 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees and continue baking 15 minutes, to an internal temperature of 160 degrees.

In a small bowl, mix the remaining tomato sauce and ketchup. Pour over the top of the meatloaf, and continue baking 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and let meat rest 10 minutes before serving.