Smoked Paprika & Roasted Garlic Meatloaf with Caramelized Onion Jam
👨🍳 Chefy Tip: Cook the onions low and slow — if they brown too fast, they're burning not caramelizing. Roasted garlic paste goes straight into the meat — no water, no raw edges. Caramelized onion jam is the one topping that makes any meatloaf worth eating twice.
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Ingredients
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Roast the garlic: cut the top off the head to expose the cloves, drizzle with olive oil, wrap in foil, and roast at 400°F for 40 minutes until soft and golden. Squeeze out the cloves and mash into a paste. You can do this ahead of time.
Make the onion jam: melt butter in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add sliced onions and a pinch of salt. Cook for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until deep golden brown. Add balsamic vinegar and brown sugar, stir until thick and jammy — about 3 more minutes. Set aside.
Soak the panko in milk for 5 minutes until soft — this is your panade and it keeps the meatloaf tender.
In a large bowl, combine ground beef, ground pork, roasted garlic paste, soaked panko, eggs, smoked paprika, thyme, Worcestershire, salt, and pepper. Mix with your hands until just combined — don't overwork it or the loaf gets tough.
Shape the mixture into a loaf on a foil-lined sheet pan. Don't use a loaf pan — freeform lets the edges get caramelized on all sides and the fat drains away.
Spread the onion jam evenly over the top of the loaf.
Bake at 375°F for 50-60 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 160°F. The onion jam will darken and get sticky — that's what you want.
Rest for 10 minutes before slicing. This lets the juices redistribute so it doesn't fall apart when you cut it.
The panade technique — soaking breadcrumbs in milk before mixing into meat — was popularized by Cook's Illustrated and works by coating the meat proteins in starch, which blocks them from linking together and squeezing out moisture during cooking. It's the single biggest difference between a dry meatloaf and a juicy one.