Low Carb Meatloaf & Sweet Tea
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Let me introduce you to the best-tasting low carb meatloaf you’ll ever have. Serve with a side of sweet tea for the ultimate tasty Southern comfort food.
This past weekend I taught a low carb cooking class and a sweet lady named Susan emailed me ahead of time and promised a sampling of the best meatloaf I’ve ever had in my life, as well as the recipe. She was right, as this low carb meatloaf recipe makes the tastiest meatloaf I’ve ever eaten. I have since made it twice and forced everyone I come into contact with to try it and they have admitted the same thing.
Folks, your life has been missing something and it is this meatloaf. The flavor, tenderness, juiciness, and beauty of it are the stuff of legends. Plus, it’s both a low carb and keto meatloaf recipe, so no guilt necessary! So if you want a no-fail, easy to make, comforting dinner that’s packed full of flavor, look no further. Now let’s stop lallygagging and hightail it into the kitchen folks because there is no time to waste when you have something as delicious as this meatloaf waiting on ya!
Recipe Ingredients
- Ground turkey or chicken
- Ground beef
- Eggs
- Pork rinds (plain) or parmesan cheese
- Onion soup mix
- Reduced sugar or sugar-free ketchup
- Water
How to Make Low Carb Meatloaf
First, crush your pork rinds or sub with parmesan cheese. I just put them in this bag and rolled a can of something or another over them. A rolling pin works, too.
Then mix all meatloaf ingredients together using your hands in a large bowl. Mix, mix, mix until it is really well blended. I guess you could use a stand mixer to mix this if you like but I’ve always seen it mixed with hands so I just keep with old habits. If it ain’t broke…
Susan’s recipe calls for taking the end pieces of a loaf of bread and placing them up against each other in the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. I love that this uses up the part of the bread that sometimes gets discarded. I decided to use my little baking dish that I use for these glorious rolls. It worked out okay but I recommend going with Susan’s suggestion. Use a 9×13 because a 9×13 is going to give you plenty of room for any grease or liquid to accumulate. Mine almost overflowed the pan a bit because I used a shallow dish.
Turns out, there is something to be said for following a recipe!
Using your hands, form the meat mixture into a loaf on top of the bread in your baking dish. Press it together a bit as you do so. Squiggle a little additional ketchup on top again if you like (this is additional to what the recipe calls for).
Bake this at 350 degrees for an hour.
Allow it to sit for ten minutes before cutting. After ten minutes, it cuts beautifully.
To make this meal complete, check out Southern Breeze Sweet Tea
While the low carb meatloaf is cooking is the perfect time to brew up some Southern Breeze Sweet Tea. This is the sugar-free, zero-carb sweet tea that is as simple to make as pouring hot water over the bags and letting them steep for a few minutes. This stuff is the real deal, made in Marietta, Georgia. Let me show you how easy it is to make! I actually brew mine right in the pitcher.
- I pour about an inch of cool water in the bottom of a 2-quart pitcher (one that can handle heat). This is an old habit of mine, you can skip it if you like.
- Bring some water to a boil in my electric kettle (click here to see the one I have), toss two family size tea bags in the pitcher, and pour the boiling water over.
- Let it sit for 3-5 minutes, then remove my bags and fill the pitcher up the rest of the way with water for perfectly sweetened Southern iced tea every time. This photo is just before removing the bags and adding more water.
These three simple steps will yield perfectly sweetened Southern iced tea every time, which is great with my low-carb eating. Be sure you visit their website for a coupon to use when you go out hunting for it later on today (click here and then choose Sweet Deals at the top of their page). They also have a tool that will tell you what stores in your area carry their tea.
A glass of Southern Breeze Original Sweet Tea makes this meal complete.
Storage
- Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.
- You can also freeze slices of meatloaf for up to three months. Just make sure every slice is tightly wrapped or sealed to avoid freezer burn.
Recipe Notes
- I was surprised by the turkey/chicken in this recipe. Really surprised. This beefy-tasting meatloaf doesn’t give away that half of the meat is poultry but it sure does add a tender texture to it. Note that the original recipe called for chicken, but I didn’t see ground chicken at my grocery so I used ground turkey and it tasted the same to me.
- If you don’t want to use pork rinds, I’ve found parmesan cheese to be a great substitute that adds flavor and acts as a binder.
Recipe FAQs
What do you serve with meatloaf?
This meatloaf goes perfectly with a side of mashed potatoes and fresh green beans or brussels sprouts. Other options include mashed cauliflower, mac and cheese, or a simple side salad.
Can this meatloaf be made gluten-free?
Yes, you can adapt this recipe to make a gluten-free meatloaf. You’ll just have to use gluten-free bread crusts and gluten-free onion soup mix, which you can easily make at home.
Ingredients
- 1 onion soup mix
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/3 cup ketchup
- 3/4 cup pork rinds crush, then measure * or use 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 lb. ground chicken or turkey
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°
- Using clean hands, mix together all ingredients in a large bowl until well blended.1 onion soup mix, 2 eggs, 3/4 cup water, 1/3 cup ketchup, 3/4 cup pork rinds, 1 lb. ground beef, 1 lb. ground chicken
- Place two ends from a loaf of bread, end to end, onto the surface of a 9’x13’ baking dish.
- Form the meat mixture into a loaf on top of the bread slices.
- Squeeze a little more ketchup on top of the meatloaf.
- Bake for one hour.
- Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing
Notes
To take this meatloaf over the moon, heat each slice on a sizzling hot cast iron griddle skillet, putting a crusty sear on both sides!
Peel off the bread, from the bottom of each slice of meatloaf, and give it to your 4-legged children. Tails will wag, and they will love you forever!!!
*We no longer eat pork but I've parmesan cheese to be a great substitute that adds flavor and acts as a binder. I add about 1/2 cup.
Nutrition
The only time my prayers are never answered is on the golf course.
~Billy Graham
Special thanks to Southern Breeze Sweet Tea for sponsoring this post and helping me bring this wonderful recipe to you!
I wanted to try this meatloaf recipe. Every time I buy pork rinds my husband eats them before I can use them in the meatloaf!
Where is the nutritional information? How can you call this low carb when you are adding bread AND ketchup?
She’s not using bread, the recipe calls for pork rinds as a substitute for bread crumbs and the ketchup is not regular ketchup either. If you’re referring to the two slices of bread on the bottom, that’s used soak up excess grease. She literally says you can fry it a bit and feed it to the dog for a treat. All you have to do is read the recipe.
Thank you, Amber! 🙂
Joe, please do read the recipe and calculate nutritional information for yourself. There are great websites like MyFitnessPal that can do it for you. I can’t give you nutritional info because I don’t know how many slices you are going to eat, how big you will cut each slice, etc. However, I have faith that you are able to do this on your own but reading the recipe and instructions is a great place to start.
Quick question, what is the serving size and how many carbs per serving? For the low carb meat loaf.
Christy how would this work in an IP which is all the craze now. Working and busy moms are using the IP a lot now.
I’m always behind on my acronyms as there are so many that pop up each day nowadays! I had to figure out what you meant and think you are referring to the Instant Pot. I believe this would work fine in it if that is what you mean, on the slow cooker setting. I love that you are looking at using regular recipes in it as I feel that is the only way to go with the Instant Pot and that is exactly what I do. I’m going to have to do a video on it soon explaining how to use it with every day recipes as so many people are asking me for instant pot specific recipes and I really think the key is to just learn how to use it for what you already make 🙂
never used pork rinds before (in any recipe). This will be interesting and I like the idea of ground poultry! I am enjoying your website because I enjoy cooking and using new ideas like this. Thanks for posting!
Thank you so much Shane, I am so glad you are enjoying the recipes!!!
Any ideas for making this in muffin tins? Would you just put a little chunk of bread in the bottom of each tin to absorb the excess fat?
Do you have the carb count for this or did I overlook it?
Thank you