Real Recipes From Real Home Cooks ®

tillie's meat loaf

(4 ratings)
Blue Ribbon Recipe by
Donna Brown
West TN, TN

Do you remember the school lunches years ago when we had fried chicken or meat loaf and mashed potatoes with homemade rolls? You could smell those rolls all a.m. while in class. I don't know who Tillie was, but she was one of the cooks who made the meat dishes at an elementary school when students had those kinds of lunches to look forward to. The sauce recipe makes quite a bit, so I often reduce it, but in keeping with the original recipe, I've stated it like it is. (Thankfully, it has been reduced to a family sized recipe.) My daughter-in-law didn't like meat loaf until she ate this one.

Blue Ribbon Recipe

I LOVE the sauce in this recipe! We had a little extra left over, so spooned it over the slices on our plates... What a treat! Like Donna's daughter-in-law, I was never one to have been mistaken for the world's biggest meatloaf fan. Now, though, I do believe my colors have changed! Thanks, Donna.

— The Test Kitchen @kitchencrew
(4 ratings)
method Bake

Ingredients For tillie's meat loaf

  • 1 1/2 lb
    ground beef (I use ground chuck in order to cut down on the fat - plus I have made this with ground turkey)
  • 1
    chopped onion
  • 1/2
    chopped bell pepper
  • 4
    eggs
  • 2 Tbsp
    powdered milk
  • SAUCE:
  • 1
    small can tomato sauce
  • 1
    cup tomato ketchup
  • 1/2
    box brown sugar
  • 1/4 c
    worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 - 3/4 c
    vinegar

How To Make tillie's meat loaf

  • 1
    Preheat oven to 350F.
  • 2
    Mix ingredients and shape into a loaf. Place in a loaf pan. Cook until almost done (sorry I don't have a time).
  • 3
    Remove from oven and pour sauce over. Return to oven and cook until done and sauce thickens.
  • 4
    Remove from oven and let set for a few minutes before slicing. **Sometimes, I'll slice the meatloaf before putting the sauce on top, so the sauce will run down between the slices while cooking.
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