Flavorful ground beef stuffed with ooey gooey mozzarella cheese. This Mozzarella Stuffed Meatloaf is sure to become an instant family favorite!
This recipe has been making it’s way viral across the internet for the past 5 years. It’s a fun spin on an American classic that takes your meatloaf game to a whole new level of delicious. We’ve taken our recipe for Mom’s Classic Meatloaf and stuffed it with mozzarella cheese for an ooey gooey new family favorite.
Why does my meatloaf fall apart?
There can be many reasons why your meatloaf falls apart. The most common reason is that your meatloaf doesn’t have enough binding agents. To help your meatloaf stay together add things in like eggs and bread crumbs because they are key ingredients that bind meat and help the loaf stick together. Another reason why your meatloaf may be falling apart is that it is overcooked.
Do I have to use mozzarella? Can I make stuffed meatloaf with other types of cheese?
Fresh mozzarella cheese produces an amazing melted cheese center for cheese stuffed meatloaf. You can also use bricks of mozzarella cheese, or even shredded, but be warned that they don’t melt as well as the fresh mozzarella cheese balls do. In addition to mozzarella, you can also experiment with other types of cheese. Cheddar is always a classic choice, but feel free to be more adventurous with cheeses like pepper jack, provolone, havarti, gouda, and more!
Is it okay if my meatloaf is a little pink?
Don’t be fooled into over cooking your meatloaf just because there is a small pink spot. The color of your meatloaf will not tell you if it is done or if it is safe to eat. To tell if your meatloaf is fully cooked and safe to eat you need to take its internal temperature. For ground beef to be safe and fully cooked, it needs to reach an internal minimum temperature of 160 Fahrenheit. If your meatloaf is just a little pink but is 160 Fahrenheit, you are ready to eat.
Watch the video below where Rachel will walk you through every step of this recipe. Sometimes it helps to have a visual, and we’ve always got you covered with our cooking show. You can find the complete collection of recipes on YouTube, Facebook Watch, or our Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.
I just finished my first mozzarella meatloaf, and old my goodness , it is wonderful. My husband don’t like meatloaf, he said they are always dry. But he just finished eating this one and he loves it. For Louisiana girl who don’t use recipes we use a pinch of this or that. It came out most excellent.
Thanks
I tried this with smoked mozzarella (all I had) and it was amazingly yummy! Even my 8 year old loved it. Thank you for sharing. 🙂
Is there a reason to use a 9×13 vs a loaf pan for this? Would that affect the how it sets up/cooks?
In loaf pans your meatloaf sits in all the grease that is released from the ground beef. In a 9×13 pan the grease is allowed to spread out giving your meatloaf (in my opinion) a better texture.
My mother-in-law taught me to put a couple of slices of bread in the bottom of the loaf pan to soak up the grease, then just scoop out the loaf. Do not eat the bread!!
You can tear up four pieces of fresh bread into small bits and mix it in with the meatloaf that will help to absorb some of the grease is it and make the inside of the meatloaf a little more juicy and and allow the outside to Brown I have a meatloaf pan it’s a bread pan with a rack in the bottom this leaves about an inch of space for the grease to drip down away from the meatloaf as it Cooks and if you don’t like the ketchup topping the grease makes a good gravy just add the cayenne pepper and other ingredients to making the gravy into the grease and cornstarch
Will it work with shredded mozzarella cheese? I just happen to have on hand.
Yes. Fresh mozzarella just gives a better “ooey gooey” feel.
Can this be made in the crock pot?
Technically almost anything can be made in a crockpot, but that doesn’t mean it should be. Meatloaf is tricky because it uses ground beef. Ground beef has a lot of fat and grease and the meat just sits there in it in the crockpot and it doesn’t render properly. You CAN and it will cook, but I recommend using the oven for this.
You can ball up around 2 inch balls of tin foil. About 4-6 2inch balls should do. Place the preshaped meat loaf on top of the tinfoil balls placed in the bottom of the Crock-Pot. That should allow you to cook it in the Crock-Pot. Keeping in mind, the meat loaf will not brownie form a thin crust surrounding the meat loaf. Due to having the lid on top of the Crock-Pot. See Crock-Pot manual cooking suggestions to adjust time and settings per ounces/pounds of meat used. Hope that helps. Take care and God Bless!
Can I use ground chicken instead?
Ground chicken is much more lean and will produce a much drier meatloaf.
Just made this with ground chicken, my husband and I loved it, will be making this again.
Thanks for this great recipe!
Can u substitute the ketchup out with something else not a fan of it
That’s what I say. I’d use canned or stewed tomatoes ?.
Mozzarella, spinach & mushrooms also works
Excellent suggestion.
Would you sauté the mushrooms before adding it to the mixture?
You can do either. I prefer sauted myself.
If I wanted to make a three pound loaf of this what is recommended cook time
Surprisingly it is about the same. 1 hour should do.
That sounds amazing, I wish I would have read this before making it.
I had watched the video and had noticed that you didn’t put in the brown sugar that is noted in the recipe for the glaze. Should I omit it from the recipe?
Optional. If you prefer a sweeter glaze on your meatloaf then add the sugar. We don’t eat many processed foods or desserts so our sugar preferences are a little lower than some.
I only have 90% lean on hand. Will that work okay?
Yes, it should work fine.
Will the 1st part of the recipe work for meatballs?
Even though you didn’t use eggs, would it change the flavor?
Yup, it should work!