How to Make a Healthy Meatloaf

Healthy, colorful, tasty (Photography by John Paul Urizar)

Meatloaf is never the same for everyone, especially if it’s homemade. Family recipes may have been handed down, with variations, some perhaps even originating from a cookbook source. Unless the diner has an issue with textures, meatloaf still remains a standard, a standard for an American dinner, a classic. It’s a main dish that can be made differently each time it’s put together. With that in mind, you can still eat this hearty comfort food and have it be healthy. It can, most assuredly, be made without fatty beef and artificial fillings.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

There are many variations to making healthy meatloaf

1. 

   Take your favorite recipe or one you find on the Internet and made adjustments. Experiment to see what works best for you. If you are a beef eater, switch out the ground chuck for 93% sirloin. Pick a roast and have a butcher grind it for you. Lean meat is drier, so consider A way to add moisture and make it healthy is to finely cut (dice, grate, even blend) vegetables, like onions, garlic, green onions, carrots and bell peppers (green, yellow or red). You can also substitute 98% ground turkey or chicken for recipes that normally call for meat. .

2. Another way to add moisture is to add heart-healthy olive oil, a teaspoon to a loaf should be fine. Olive oil is a great substitute for what was the fat in your previously used ground chuck.

3. It may be tempting to completely comfort-out and eat meatloaf with ketchup and heavily buttered and salted mashed potatoes, but it can be just as yummy with these colorful (and very healthful) veggie side options.

   Seasoning a healthy meatloaf may mean you have to put aside that packet of onion soup, but it’s surely easy enough to add pepper and sea salt, as well as the aforementioned garlic, onions and even tomatoes. Other spices can be chosen based on your and your family’s preferences.

4. 

   As a binder, most of us use beaten eggs and cracker crumbs. Did you know that using Egg Beaters will give you the same results as whole eggs? Take a cue, as well, from grandma, and try oatmeal instead of cracker crumbs (it’s also a fantastic source of fiber!). You can also try adding wheat germ, shredded spinach or kale and get benefits from their antioxidant properties.

5. Here's another way to serve "muffin meatloafs" -- colorful and your portions are controlled.

   Cooked barley adds fiber and is great for the texture of meatloaf.hat protect against cardiovascular disease and cancer.

6. 

   Mix in rolled oats and you have fiber and vitamin B. Only three grams of soluble oat fiber per day can lower cholesterol 23 percent.

7. 

   The internet is full of variations on healthy meatloaf, including those that are suitable for popular diets (like Weight Watchers -- one recipe features meatloaf cooked in muffin tins, a great way to control portions).

Tips & Warnings

• Experiment with various veggies rich in antioxidants. Add these to give your meatloaf moisture (eggplant is great one).

• Try using whole grains instead of sliced bread as a binder.