Italian Meatloaf is a comfort food classic dinner. This meatloaf mixture includes spices, egg, Italian style bread crumbs, Pecorino Romano cheese, and my secret ingredient, shredded zucchini! This is the perfect way to sneak vegetables into your meal. Even the pickiest eater won't notice.
Mix the ground beef, bread crumbs, grated Pecorino Romano cheese, shredded zucchini, egg, Italian seasoning, dried onion flakes, garlic powder, ground black pepper into the bowl.
Spray a glass baking dish with cooking spray.
Shape the meat into a loaf in the glass baking dish. Bake for 35 minutes.
While meatloaf cooks, mix together the tomato sauce and the brown sugar until incorporated. Set to the side.
Remove the meatloaf from the oven. Pour half the sauce on top of the meatloaf. Bake for an additional 15 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
Remove the meatloaf from the oven, let sit for 5 minutes before slicing.
Heat the remaining sauce and serve on the side.
Notes
Sauce - You can make this homemade sweet tomato sauce glaze or you can simply top with ketchup. Or keep the meatloaf naked and top with brown gravy.
Moist Meatloaf - See my FAQs above about how I like to add both egg and some zucchini to the ground beef. These two items will help keep the meatloaf moist.
Double - To serve more people, simply double this recipe. Add an additional 20 minutes of baking time on to your meatloaf.
Substitutions - If you want to make this gluten free, simply use a gluten free breadcrumb for this recipe.