1770 House Meatloaf — this Ina Garten meatloaf recipe with a roasted garlic gravy is moist, tender, and full of old world flavor. I highly recommend it!
ready for something new for dinner? try the 1770 House Meatloaf!
Reader Rave ~
“Easy and delicious, comfort food at its best; the gravy sent it over the top!! Thank you, Sue!” ~Jomarie
I saw Ina Garten make this 1770 House Meatloaf and I made a mental note to try it. She says it’s the best meatloaf she’s ever had, and that convinced me to give it a go. I’m so glad I did — now it’s my favorite too! The 1770 House is an Easthampton NY inn and restaurant famous for this dish which is served in the cozy ‘tavern’ downstairs. There’s nothing earth shaking in the ingredient list, but I think in this case it’s all about proportion. Specifically, more. More of the add ins that you normally use gives this meatloaf great texture. The original recipe calls for veal, as well as pork and beef, but I don’t eat veal, so I left that out. Didn’t seem to hurt it one bit.
ingredients for a classic meatloaf
- olive oil
- yellow onion
- celery
- ground beef
- ground pork
- fresh parsley, thyme, and chives
- eggs
- milk
- salt
- black pepper
- bread crumbs
- for the gravy: garlic, chicken stock, butter, and Wondra flour.
a meatloaf is only as good as the gravy!
I have to say the gravy really makes this interesting. It’s thin, and rather pale, but full of mellow roasted garlic flavor. It’s very old world. If you’re used to heavily seasoned packaged gravy mixes you might find it a little bland, but I recommend giving it a try as is. If you want to make a more traditional style gravy, I suggest adding your favorite bullion cube and maybe a splash of Worcestershire sauce.
Need extra gravy? Try my perfect gravy recipe, or for something special, cider and sage gravy!
make this meatloaf into a cozy fall meal
This is a wonderful fall meal, I love everything about it. I might put some roasted garlic in the meat mixture next time, too, just to emphasize that flavor. No need to worry about garlic breath, either, the roasting takes care of that. The 1770 House serves it with mashed potatoes and spinach — we had ours with roasted Brussels sprouts and pureed turnip. Hope you try it!
more meatloaf recipes for your dinner rotation
1770 House Meatloaf
Ingredients
meatloaf
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, peeled and minced
- 1 celery stalk, minced
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 heaping Tbsp minced fresh parsley
- 1 heaping Tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1 heaping Tbsp chopped fresh chives
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 Tbsp salt, feel free to cut this amount down a bit if you like
- 2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
- 1 cup bread crumbs
roasted garlic gravy
- 1 head garlic
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- Wondra flour
- optional;: a bouillon cube and a splash of Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350F
- Slice the tips off the end off the head of garlic, leaving the cloves all attached. Brush with olive oil and wrap loosely in foil.
- Saute the onion and celery in the olive oil for a few minutes until translucent. Set aside to cool.
- Put the rest of the meatloaf ingredients in a large mixing bowl, along with the sauteed veggies, breaking apart the meat as you put it in. Use your fingers to gently mix everything together, Make sure to get everything thoroughly combined without over-working the meat, which can make it tough.
- Turn the meat out onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and form it into a long even oval. Ina says to flatten the meat out first to get rid of any air pockets, and then bring it back together into a loaf shape. I like my meatloaves fairly wide and flat so the meat cooks evenly. Be aware that the mixture will feel VERY wet at this point. That’s good, it will give you a moist tender result.
- Bake for about 50 minutes or until a thermometer inserted in the center reads 155-160F. Roast the garlic packet alongside the meatloaf for the entire time.
- Let the meatloaf rest under foil for 10 minutes before slicing. Meanwhile, make the gravy by melting the butter in a saucepan and adding the chicken stock. Squeeze out the garlic from each clove, and add to the pan. Mash the garlic with the back of your spoon as you stir. Let the gravy come up to a boil, reduce the heat, and let reduce a bit. I like to add the bouillon cube and a splash of Worcestershire sauce for more color and flavor, but that’s optional.
- To thicken the gravy just a bit, sprinkle on a little Wondra flour while stirring. Strain the gravy through a mesh strainer and serve with the meatloaf.
Notes
I make this all the time and i5 is delish, but make sure to use less salt than it calls for!
Epic fail. I was so excited to try this recipe, and followed it to a T. What I got was a lump swimming in greasy liquid. I used quality meat, so I’m not sure what happened. Won’t be wasting 2 pounds of meat again to find out why.
Oh bummer, that doesn’t sound like the 1770 House meatloaf I know! Is it possible the meat got over-mixed and became tough? Not sure about the grease. It’s hard for me to diagnose without more details, but I hope you give it another try, and feel free to email me for further troubleshooting.
I found this 2lb version after I cut Ina’s in 1/2 resulting in 1-1/2 lbs of ground meat. Interestingly, my ingredients were almost the same as yours. And yes, I should have done the whole sauce recipe. Half wasn’t enough. What a refreshing change to those ketchup topped meatloaves. Not a fan. I’m savory, not sweet. I’ll try your measurements next time.
I have always made meatloaf gravy from the pan drippings. If the drippings are burnt and dried…….that is even better! I just add a small amount of boiling water and loosen the drippings from the pan, and make homemade gravy the usual way, by putting a couple of heaping TBSP of flour or cornstarch in a jar, along with a 1/2c of water or so (add salt and pepper) and shake the mixture. Then I slowly add this mixture to the drippings and heat over med-low until it’s the correct consistency. I add cold water as I go along. Season and add a drop or two of Kitchen Bouquet if desired. Yum.
This is the best meatloaf recipe. My husband and I asked many friends for their favorite recipe for meatloaf.
We made this one, and finally, something with some flavor. So sick of meatloaf that is drowned in ketchup.
I am a fan of your site and have made so many of your recipes! I also think meatloaf is one of my favorite winter time comfort foods. I have made more versions than you would believe and most of them are good as is this one, but for me there was just to much panko, it sort of covered the other ingredients. So far my all time favorite is Cook’s Illustrated (using gelatin!) If you ever give it a try I would love to know what you think. Ina’s sauce was wonderful though, I doubled it and thickened it a little. 😉 Carol
I’ll check out the Cook’s Illustrated recipe, thanks Carol!