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
Made this meatloaf last night…delicious, loved the gravy even though mine did not come out at thick as I had hoped. My husband said it was the best meatloaf I ever made (and I make it often)! Served it with homemade vegetable bird nests and a simple salad. Perfect!!
Hey Amy! This gravy is on the thin side, I kind of like that, but if you crave a thick gravy you could either cook it down longer, or add a little more flour. I would love to get your recipe for the bird nests, I used to love those from Trader Joes!
I thought the texture and flavor was great, but I would decrease the salt to a teaspoon. I only used 2 teaspoons, and that was still much for me. The gravy is to die for, I’m going to make it for Thanksgiving. Thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, and salt is a tough one to predict with raw meat because you can’t taste as you go.
This is a lovely recipe and I plan to make it often in the future. Beware the salt though- 2T of regular table salt is way too much. I didn’t think about it until after I dropped it in. Perhaps 2T kosher salt would have been ok? The other thing to note is that Ina Garten’s recipe calls for 2T kosher salt for 3lbs of meat.
Definitely over salted on my first attempt but not inedible!
In my recipe I’ve got 1 Tbsp, Miya, even though Ina specifies 2. I agree, the 2 is too much!
I saw that episode also! I love Ina. I can’t wait to try this. ..the list from your site is growing! !!
Haha, well, at least you know this is going to be good!
Easy and delicious, comfort food at its best; the gravy sent it over the top!! Thank you, Sue!
my husband loves meat loaf. Funny, but one of my most viewed and reviewed recipe is my meatloaf. Like you, I use only beef and pork and leave out the veal. I’m an Ina Garten lover, so this version with the gravy is definitely worth adding to our fall comfort food repertoire. Great shots, as always, Sue.
Meatloaf is highly under valued if you ask me. It is quintessential comfort food.
What type of bouillon do you add? Chicken or beef?
I actually added a mushroom cube, because that’s all I had, but I think you could literally use anything you had, chicken or beef. I just think the gravy needs that little boost of flavor.
I do eat veal, but it’s sometime too expensive an indulgence so I often replace it with turkey in meat loaf and meatballs. It adds the same soft textural notes as veal without being veal! Pretty pics here too. GREG
Thanks for that tip Greg, I never thought of that. I often leave veal out of ground meat recipes, so I’ll try it!
Hi Sue, I make her turkey meatloaf and it is a family favorite, will have to try this one, looks amazing!
You know I’ve never made a turkey meatloaf, I need to check one out!
Sue, I have seen this recipe on the Barefoot Contessa show too, but haven’t gotten to it yet. Your rave reviews are making me wish I had tried it sooner! Meatloaf is my husband’s favorite, so I’m sure he’s going to love it!
I really do recommend it Mary Ann, the texture is very tender and the gravy makes it super cozy!