The Best Meatloaf Recipe (Beef, Pork & Veal) with a Fall Twist

The Meatloaf That Changed Everything

Meatloaf has a reputation problem. For too long it's been synonymous with dry, flavorless, budget-night dinners. This recipe is here to fix that.

It started with a gift. A beloved customer and friend, Pam, sent our family her freshly baked pumpkin bread — and something about that warm, spiced arrival triggered the most fall-appropriate dinner I could think of: a meatloaf worth celebrating. Butternut squash. Apple. Caramelized onions in bacon fat. And LOVIN' MY PUMPKIN Pumpkin Spice Infused Sugar woven through every layer.

My boys cleaned their plates. Thank you, Pam. 🎃

🥩 Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 lb ground veal
• 1 lb ground pork
• 1 large apple, cubed
• 1 small butternut squash, cubed
• 4 eggs
• 6 slices white bread, cubed
• 1 large red onion, sliced thin
• ½ cup bacon fat
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3 heaping tablespoons SALTOPIA LOVIN' MY PUMPKIN Pumpkin Spice Infused Sugar
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice salt (or your favorite SALTOPIA finishing salt)
• 1 teaspoon MOUTH FULL OF MAGIC Garlic Salt
• ¼ cup sour cream

👩🍳 Directions

1. Caramelize the onions. Sauté sliced red onion in bacon fat with 1 cup brown sugar over medium heat, stirring often, until softened and golden. Lower heat if they start to darken too quickly.
2. Steam the squash & apple. In a separate pot, add butternut squash and apple cubes with ⅓ cup water. Cover and steam for about 15 minutes until very soft. The apples will soften faster — that's fine. Stir in the LOVIN' MY PUMPKIN sugar and mix well.
3. Mix the loaf. In a large bowl, combine ground meats, bread cubes, eggs, sour cream, the onion sauté, the squash and apple mixture, pumpkin spice salt, and MOUTH FULL OF MAGIC. Mix and mash until well blended. If the mixture feels too loose, add more bread cubes.
4. Form & bake. Shape the mixture into a loaf on a baking pan. Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 155–160°F. Oven temps vary — always use a meat thermometer.
5. Finish it. Top with sliced cheese in the last few minutes of baking and let it melt. That's the move. 🧀

✨ Pro Tip

Reserve your bacon fat whenever you cook bacon — it's liquid gold for recipes like this. The combination of bacon fat and brown sugar in the onion sauté is what gives this meatloaf its deeply savory-sweet base that no other recipe can replicate.