Juicy, tasty Irish inspired meatloaf with Irish cheddar and stout.
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- Read on for a few relevant tips (1 min)
Texture, flavor and moisture are happily married in this Irish meatloaf, locked in a union so harmonious you might end up having a few helpings. You have got to make it and see for yourself. To start, gather up the following.
Ingredients
- Ground meat. We use a mix of ground pork and lean ground beef. The beef really benefits from the richer flavors of the fattier pork.
- Egg. The classic binder.
- Irish Cheddar. We like to use this delicious rindless cow’s milk Irish white cheddar (see picture below), with subtle grassy notes, sweet and fruity flavors and a moderately sharp finish. Use your favorite. Shred the cheese while still cold, it is much easier.
- Oats. Some rolled oat instead of bread crumbs contribute a delicate sweetness and help with the texture.
- Onion & garlic. For the zesty flavors they contribute. Chop the onion finely and mince the garlic.
- Herbs & spices & seasonings. Traditional Irish flavors from caraway seed, parsley, thyme. The obvious salt & pepper seasoning to taste and a bit of sugar, as needed, to offset any excessive bitterness in the stout you use.
- Stout. If you’d like to use Guinness, by all means do, beware of the roasted barley bitterness in it. Our top choice is milk stout or a sweeter oatmeal stout. A mild porter also works great.
How to Make Irish Meatloaf
- Line a loaf pan with parchment paper (dab or spray a bit of cooking oil underneath the paper to make it adhere to the pan and not move around). Preheat your oven to 350 F.
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In a mixing bowl combine the ground pork and beef, egg, grated Irish cheddar, onions, garlic, parsley, thyme, oats, stout, sugar, ground caraway seeds, salt and pepper. Mix (best by hand) until homogeneous and transfer to the lined loaf pan, press and shape to fit.
- Bake for about an hour and let it rest for a few minutes before you slice and serve it. Colcannon or Irish mashed potatoes are great contenders as sides.
Other Recipes You Might Like
Champ Irish Potatoes
Beef in Guinness
Half and Half Beer (the way the Irish call Black & Tan, find out why)
Beer Brats (use Irish bangers and Guinness, same great results)
Guinness Lamb Stew
Stout Meatloaf with Irish Cheddar & Oats
This stout meatloaf is possibly the juiciest meatloaf you will ever eat. Shredded Irish cheddar and whole grain rolled oats join stout ale and ground pork and beef for an incredibly moist loaf.
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 1/2 lbs ground beef, lean
- 1 cup onion, diced small
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 2 tsp thyme
- 1 egg
- 1 1/4 cup grated Irish cheddar
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 cup stout*, possibly increase amount by 1-2 tbsp, as needed
- 1 tsp sugar (more if your beer has a lot of roasted barley)
- 2 tsp ground caraway seeds, more if you like this spice, sub with cumin if you don't like it
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- chopped parsley for garnish
- cooking oil to grease parchment paper lined loaf pan
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350°F.
- Line a 5 x 9.5 inch loaf pan (or similar) with parchment paper and grease it well with cooking oil. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl combine the ground pork, ground beef, egg, grated Irish cheddar, onions, garlic, parsley, thyme, oats, stout, sugar, ground caraway seeds, salt and pepper.
- Roll up your sleeves and get to work - mix all the ingredients until very well incorporated. There should not be any excess moisture, nor should the mixture be sticky.
- Transfer the mixture to the lined, greased loaf pan and press it down to assist it to take the shape of the loaf pan.
- Bake at 350°F for at least 50 minutes, most likely a full hour. When the internal temp of the loaf reaches 155°F it is done. Use a food thermometer (http://amzn.to/2oKbVoY).
- Remove the stout meatloaf from the oven and carefully pour out and reserve the abundant juices that will be surrounding it in a small bowl or a ramekin. (You can either thicken the reserved juices in a sauce pan with some flour for a gravy or simply drizzle over the slices of meatloaf when serving.)
- Let the meatloaf rest for 5-10 minutes before removing it from the loaf pan and slicing. While slicing, more delicious liquid will gently ooze out from the stout meatloaf.
- Serve garnished with chopped parsley.
Notes
* In order to make sure the stout you choose does not impart bitterness that cannot be balanced by the sugar, choose one that has been brewed in the sweet British stout style, or simply does not include roasted barley in the grain bill (these are quite common). A milk stout will work perfectly too.
Alternatively, you can use a porter - again, be sure that roasted barley was not included, some porters actually are brewed with it.
Read more about Stout vs Porter and the different contemporary styles.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 2Amount Per Serving: Calories: 641Total Fat: 37gSaturated Fat: 14gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 19gCholesterol: 192mgSodium: 888mgCarbohydrates: 21gFiber: 2gSugar: 3gProtein: 53g
Christina says
I wanted to drop back in and let you know I made this recipe! The hubbers and I both LOVED it! I bookmarked this recipe so we can make it again soon. Awesome job 🙂
CraftBeering says
Yes!!! Thank you for circling back:) Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
John b says
Can this be put in freezer? Make 2 freeze 1?
CraftBeering says
Yes, you certainly can freeze one. Let it cool down completely first. Thaw in fridge overnight, warm up at 375 F, in loaf pan again, for about 20 mins.
Marvellina|what tocook today says
It looks incredibly moist for real !! Definitely bookmarking this.
CraftBeering says
Thank you, Marvellina:)
Leslie says
I have a love/hate relationship with meatloaf. I crave it sometimes, but don’t care for the ketchup-slathered version that most think of. Love the idea of adding a nice cheddar and some beer to a meatloaf and looking forward to giving this recipe a try!
CraftBeering says
Hope you try it:) It tastes pretty good.
Christina says
Holy moly – will you just LOOK at that meatloaf, it’s glistening for crying out loud! I, like you, ate too much meatloaf as a kid so I never crave it but this recipe looks too damn tempting! Ugh, I’m dying of hunger right now and want this recipe… up in my mouth. Pinning!
Speaking of my mouth… let me know if you need help with the beer fridge full of ridiculously delicious home brewed oatmeal stout because I can catch and flight, head on over, and help you with that 🙂
CraftBeering says
Come on over then! We are very sharing people:) Plus, Chris just brewed me a Helles and a rye amber. Both are in second and first fermentation respectively and we need to take care of the stout pronto!
Kelsie | the itsy-bitsy kitchen says
I never thought I’d say this but what a gorgeous meatloaf. Only you could take such pretty pictures of a not-so-pretty food :). And I can’t believe how juicy it is! If my mom had made meatloaf like this I might not have dreaded the nights we had it for dinner when I was growing up.
CraftBeering says
Thank you, Kelsie! I was so happy about the sun! Because, yes, the appearance of meatloaf is not so great:)
annie@ciaochowbambina says
I cannot believe how juicy this is!! I made a lot more meatloaf while the kids were growing up and now I realize I miss it! This looks incredible!
CraftBeering says
Thank you, Annie. Once in a while it is quite comforting to have meatloaf, right?
Leanna says
This recipe looks so good and I am sure that every man on the planet would want to eat this recipe. Pinning to make it or hubs he will love it.
CraftBeering says
Thank you, Leanna! I think men and meatloaf definitely make good companions, lol.
Dawn - Girl Heart Food says
So I’m pretty confident that you posted this just to tease me, lol. Just kiddin’! This looks unbelievably juicy and I would SO love to try that cheese! Bet it is awesome in this meatloaf! And imagine leftovers fried crispy on some wicked bread and maybe a smear of bbq sauce or your beersamic. Ok, now I’m hungry…..Pinned!
CraftBeering says
OMG, I know you can at least reintroduce cheese in your diet beginning in April:) Thank you, Dawn!
Mary says
Meatloaf is my jam. Ground beef must have always been on sale because I swear we had meatloaf 4-5 times a month. Our meatloaf never looked as delicious as this one! Omg Irish cheddar, you really pulled out all the stops for this one. It looks crazy moist 🙂
CraftBeering says
Too funny! It must have been on sale always, because we also had meatloaf all the time. Thank you, Mary!