I always remember my grandma cooking in cast iron skillets, and her old fashioned skillet meatloaf recipe made in her cast iron skillet was one of my favorite dishes.
To be honest, I don’t have a ton of experience cooking with cast iron. I picked up a few Lodge cast iron skillets
from their outlet in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (great products!) last year, and I’ve been making an effort to use cast iron more often.
Old Fashioned Skillet Meatloaf Recipe
This old fashioned skillet meatloaf is perfect for your 10″ cast iron skillet. It’s such a simple and classic meatloaf recipe. My whole family loves it when I make this for dinner. It’s such a warm and satisfying comfort food.
With so many great meatloaf recipes swirling around on the internet and in cookbooks, it can be hard to know which one to choose. Sometimes it’s good to stick to the tried and true recipes using ingredients that you know your family will love—like old fashioned oats and ketchup. Gotta love meatloaf with ketchup. What can I say, it just tastes GOOD!
Of course, if you don’t have a cast iron skillet, this recipe still works great in a bread pan!
This skillet meatloaf is so moist and full of flavor. Be sure to save the recipe below and pin it for later.
What is your favorite thing to cook in a cast iron skillet? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!
Old Fashioned Skillet Meatloaf
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. Ground Beef (80/20 or 85/15)
- 1 1/2 cups Old Fashioned Oats
- 1 cup Ketchup
- 2 eggs
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce Topping
Topping
- 1/3 cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl whisk the eggs. Add the onion, salt, pepper, 1 cup ketchup and the Worcestershire sauce to the eggs stir until blended. Add the ground beef and the oats mix well using a wooden spoon or your hands ( I used my hands).
3. Dump mixture into a 10in. cast iron skillet, press to shape. If you don't have a cast iron skillet, you can follow the same instructions for a bread pan. Bake for one hour, remove from oven, spread on the topping and bake for 25 more minutes or until the center reaches 160 degrees.
57 Comments on “Old Fashioned Skillet Meatloaf Recipe”
This looks awesome and I have and use regularly several sizes of cast iron skillets. I use the small one for eggs only, that way it never looses its cure. I bake in both of the other two, 10” and 12”, and I absolutely love cooking in them. Only problem for me, the older I get the heavier they get. I’m afraid eventually I’ll have to find another way to cook. My favorite dish to make, pork chops simmered in Italian tomatoes and rice, the pork falls off the bone and is so flavorful.
My favorite thing to make in a cast iron skillet is Apple Pie!! Have an awesome recipe and my husband loves it! Have your meatloaf in the oven right now! Can’t wait for it to come out!
This 2 years after your comment LOL so I hope you get this!! Is there a way I find the recipe for this cast iron skillet apple pie you speak of? Sounds so yummy!!!
Can I use quick oats
I have a 12” skillet. How do I adjust the recipe?
My family loved this recipe! Super easy for a weeknight dinner too! Thanks!!
Fabulous meatloaf recipe! It is a family favorite. I have even made them into meatballs, baked in a cast iron skillet, put the slightly undercooked meatballs in a crock pot and added the topping (which I modified slightly by adding a tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce and 1/2 cup water). The church families loved them!
Hi Crissy,
Do you think I could use ground turkey instead of beef? Thanks in advance!
absolutely! of course, I’d go for the 85% lean vs. the 99% fat free, just so you have some more fat and flavor, but either would work depending on your taste preference :)
Hi Chrissy. This meatloaf looks yummy. I intend to make it soon! Cornbread is something I have baked in an iron skillet.( Never had an iron skillet meatloaf.) I used to cook with it on the stovetop. However, last year I got a new porcelain stove that has flat burners. (I’m not sure if I can use cast iron skillets on this type of stovetop.)
BE CAREFUL using cast iron on porcelain stovetops. Just make a habit of lifting/placing(NEVER drag!) to avoid scratches…
My family does not like “sweet.” We use Hunts Tomato Sauce instead of Ketchup. Never add sugar to any recipe. Be aware that Hunts Tomato Sauce has its own flavor. And a trace of ‘hot.’
We make our own Spaghetti Sauce with (1 jar) Ragu Traditional and (1 can) Hunts Tomato Sauce mixed together for a not-sweet sauce that is quick and unique. With browned lean hamburger to taste. This will not work with any other tomato sauce.
Made this tonight! I added green peppers and a little bit of cheddar cheese to it. So yummy! Even the kids approved (which is saying A LOT lol) We will definitely be having this again!
Hi LeAnna, thank you so much for commenting. I’m glad that your kiddos loved this meatloaf. Green peppers and cheese sound amazing, I’m going to have to try that! :)
will this still turn out good if you don’t have Worchestershire sauce?
I love this recipe like it is but l als like it with cubes of cheddar cheese. (or any cheese you like)
This meatloaf is great my wife and my dad love it!
I make it in an early 1900s slant logo Griswold no.8 skillet
My daughter made it last night and it was awesome
A new family favorie!
Just got a cast iron skillet for Christmas. Although I grew up up eating from the cooking mom and grandma done using them, I’ve never tried.
I used your recipe above. Added diced green peppers, diced mushrooms, panko crumbs, little more ketchup and brown sugar and wrap the sides of skillet in thick cut applewood bacon. I also added crushed red pepper flakes to spice it up.
Do you just wipe the pan out when you’re done? Or how do you clean the pan?
You just scrub it with hot water – maybe boil the water a little to loosen any food. Never use soap. After you get it rinsed well, put it briefly on a hot burner to quickly dry it. Then add a very very light coating of cooking oil – maybe wipe it down with a rag/dishtowel and then store for next use.
This looks and sounds so good.
Want to try this recipe. Do you grease and preheat the cast iron before adding meatloaf? Concerned about sticking to pan. Thank you!!
Can you use the quick cooking oats or the original Old fashion Oats?
I have only Cast Iron skillets, Inherited from Grand Mother and Mother. All very old
I do not like the new ones. I also have 2 bean pots and 1 Bundt Cake Pan.
question on the brown sugar : light , brown or regular ?
thanks
I tried this recipe last weekend and it came out great! However, the bottom was a bit burnt because of the ketchup, I’m guessing. Any way to avoid/prevent the bottom from burning. I just removed the burnt part and the flavor wasn’t impacted. Thank you,
Made this tonight. Used one pound ground beef and cut everything else in half, and used my little cast iron skillet. It did not cut into slices; just crumbles. But it was tasty! My topping was ketchup, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Hubby (who loves sugar!) thought it was too sweet, so probably just tomato paste with water next time.
I’m going to try it.
My family always uses a few bacon strips across the top so I’m thinking of making it with bacon.
How can I go wrong?
I always make “meatloaf gravy” to pour on top of the meat. Just cook sliced medium onion (white or yellow) with stewed tomatoes in sauce pan and add little olive oil to it and I add a dash of Italian herbs..
Can’t wait to try it. Always remember my mom and gramma cooking with cast iron skillets. Brings back such nice memories. I was always in awe, how they could hold that skillet up with one hand. HEAVY. Will be making this recipe this week for dinner and there’s nothing better than a meatloaf sandwich with lots of ketchup. Thanks! :)
Topping I use:
3 Tbsp. Brown sugar, 1 Tbsp. dry mustard, 3/4 cup catsup – Mix & pour over meatloaf & bake. It adds just the right flavor. I add at the beginning but never tried the skillet process.
I use honey in place of brown sugar, but have used brown sugar before. I think the honey is less sweet than the brown sugar, but that’s just my opinion!
I’d never thought of a skillet, what a great idea! We’re only about 35 miles from the Lodge factory, so a great big “How ya’ll doin’?” from southeast Tennessee!
Thanks for the recipe, I’m going to try it out soon.
why does everyone think meatloaf has to have catsup on it…maybe ok for a sandwich…but not for dinner with gravy or mashed potatoes…
I agree..tomato sauce w/ Worcester & brownsugar combined will do fine, without all that high fructose syrup in ‘ketchup’
I have used a cast-iron skillet for my meatloaf for over 20 years. I love meatloaf with oats instead of some type of bread. Although I will add green pepper to the onions and saute them before adding to the meat mixture, gets rid of the ‘raw’ flavor. I also add several cloves of roasted garlic smashed. For the meat mixture, I use 1 lb of ground pork and 1 lb of ground lamb along with 1 lb of ground beef (73/27) in my meat mixture. Before dumping the meat into the skillet, I line the bottom and sides with a layer of bacon and then more bacon on top latticed. I will pour the additional grease off at 30 minutes and an hour of cook time. Will spread a thin layer of ketchup on top for the final 30 minute bake. If I am not going to serve straight from skillet, I will place a circle of parchment paper (NOT waxed paper) before the bacon.
Recipe looks great! Any idea on the macronutrient value?
Use MyFitnessPal and log the recipe in and it will give you your macronutrients
I am a fan one day I’m going to make your neat loaf sounds delicious and so bad for you lol !
Looks like a great recipe and I’m going to try it. Silly question though… when a recipe calls for a onion and does not specify what kind of onion, do I just use whatever kind of onion I want or is there a certain type that would go best with this recipe?
Try cooking the onions in a bit of butter before adding them. A friend of mine taught me this and it makes the dish even better.
What about the fat that cooks out from the meat? Should it be poured off at some point?
Betsy, I just made this tonight for the first time. As I expected, the oats soaked up the fat from the 80/20 meat. It was delish, but it did come out in crumbles, instead of slices, so I wonder if it was leaner meat in the pics. I won’t use the topping again; too sweet for us.
Going to try this soon.
Congrats on going viral! :) This does look delicious!!
I saw the recipe on yahoo and I am going to try it. Thanks
You wanted to know where I saw this-it was on my yahoo news feed. Looks yummy! I never thought of fixing meatloaf in a cast iron skillet.
hello, i found the recipe on yahoo
I noticed that 1 cup of ketchup is listed in the ingredients and 1/3 cup is listed in the topping. I understand that the 1/3 cup is spread over the top after 1 hour of cooking but there is no mention of what to do with the 1 cup of ketchup. I assume the 1 cup is added to the meat mixture?
Sorry about that Jamie, yes, it goes in the mixture. All fixed now. :)
This sounds like a great recipe, but I have a question.
The ingredients list called for 1 cup of catsup, but the instructions never reference it. Should it be added when the onion, salt etc are added?
Thanks, David
Woops! you’re right about that. I fixed it in the recipe, thanks for letting me know! :)
I only have quick oats on hand. Can I use quick oats or do I have to use regular oats?