6 Hairy Bikers Meatloaf Recipes

Hairy Bikers meatloaf recipes turn up in six of their cookbooks, and no two are the same loaf. So you get a three-meat loaf with gravy, an American one with Parmesan and a chicken one hiding Gruyère. Then there’s an Austrian pork loaf, a lighter spicy one and one with no meat at all.

I’ve put all six side by side here, with the book each comes from, the calories and how long it takes. Four already have full recipes on this site, so I’ve linked to those, while the Austrian and meatless ones are written out below.

Which meatloaf should you make?

1. Meatloaf with gravy (the three-meat one)

They call it “the tastiest thing ever”, and it started at Arnold’s Country Kitchen in Nashville, famous for its “meat and 3”. So they turned the idea round and used three meats: 300g of minced beef, 300g of minced pork and 450g of sausage meat.

The loaf is shaped by hand in a small roasting tin, then glazed with ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and dark brown sugar. And the juices it releases in 45 minutes become the gravy, so nothing goes to waste.

Full recipe: Hairy Bikers meatloaf with gravy

2. American meatloaf (“Mom’s hockey puck”)

Nancy Davis, an American living in England, gave them this one for Mums Still Know Best, and the name is a family joke. Her mum’s meatloaf was so hard it bounced off the floor, which is why her dad called it “Mom’s hockey puck”.

Nancy’s version is a good one though, made with a kilo of minced steak, brown sauce and between 50g and 100g of grated Parmesan. It bakes for 50 to 60 minutes and is just as good cold with potato salad.

Full recipe: American meatloaf from Mums Still Know Best

3. Chicken meatloaf with Gruyère

This is the free-form one from Chicken & Egg, shaped on a baking tray with 100g of Gruyère hidden down the middle. Then streaky bacon is stretched over the top and brushed with a glaze of ketchup, Dijon, Worcestershire sauce, maple syrup and cider vinegar.

It uses 750g of chicken mince, ideally a mix of thigh and breast, and bakes for an hour in two stages. So if you want a Hairy Bikers meatloaf with cheese, this one has a cheese-filled middle, though Nancy’s has Parmesan mixed in too.

Full recipe: cheesy chicken meatloaf with bacon

4. Austrian pork meatloaf with soured cream

They cooked this one at an Austrian pumpkin farm, and they call it “probably the moistest meatloaf we’ve ever tasted”. Its Austrian name is Faschierter Rahmbraten, which is 500g of minced pork, or pork and beef, with marjoram and caraway seeds.

What makes it different is the 500ml of beef stock poured round it as it bakes at 190°C, in two goes over 30 minutes. Then the reduced juices are stirred with 150ml of soured cream to make the sauce, which is strained into a jug to serve hot.

Serves 4 | Prep 15 mins | Cook 35 mins | About 560 calories (my estimate)

For the meatloaf:

• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 large onion, finely diced
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 500g minced pork, or a mix of minced beef and pork
• 175g fresh white breadcrumbs
• 1 tbsp dried marjoram, or 2 tbsp chopped fresh
• 1 tsp caraway seeds
• 1 tsp flaked sea salt
• 1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
• 2 medium eggs, beaten

For the soured cream sauce:

• 500ml beef stock, preferably fresh
• 150ml soured cream
• marjoram sprigs, to garnish (optional)

1. Soften the onion: Heat the oven to 190°C/Fan 170°C/Gas 5. Then gently fry the onion in the oil for 5 minutes, add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more.
2. Mix the loaf: Tip the onion and garlic into a large bowl with the mince, 150g of the breadcrumbs, the marjoram, caraway, salt and pepper. Then mix well with clean hands, add the eggs and mix again until it forms a rough ball.
3. Shape and coat: Shape it into a long loaf about 4cm high in a sturdy roasting tin, then pat the last 25g of breadcrumbs over the outside. And pour 300ml of the stock around the loaf.
4. Bake: Bake in the centre of the oven for 20 minutes, then pour in the rest of the stock and bake for 10 minutes more. Then hold a metal skewer in the centre for a few seconds, which should feel hot when you pull it out. And when you press the spot, the juices should run clear, but if there’s any pink, give it 10 minutes more and test again.
5. Make the sauce: Lift the loaf onto a warmed platter and cover it with foil, while the tin juices simmer down to about 100ml. Then stir in the soured cream, warm it through, season and strain into a jug.
6. Serve: Garnish the loaf with marjoram sprigs if you have some, then slice it and serve with the hot sauce.

5. Meatloaf with spicy tomato sauce (the lighter one)

This is the Hairy Dieters version from Eat for Life, and at 343 calories it’s the lightest of the five with meat. They joke that it won’t make you “end up looking like Meatloaf”, because it uses 400g each of lean beef and lean pork mince.

It bakes in a 900g loaf tin for 40 minutes at 190°C, while a sauce with a teaspoon of chilli flakes simmers for 15. And it serves 6, so it’s the one I’d pick for a family midweek meal.

Full recipe: meatloaf with spicy tomato sauce

6. Meatless meatloaf

The Eat Well Every Day loaf has no meat at all, and it’s built on cooked lentils, grated carrot and courgette, halloumi and seeds. So it comes in at 362 calories a portion with 9g of fibre, and it serves 4.

The trick is a dry mix, so the veg are salted and squeezed and the lentils kept not too wet, or the centre turns claggy. Then it bakes in a small lined loaf tin, covered for 30 minutes and uncovered for 15 to 20 more to brown the crust.

Serves 4 | Prep 20 mins plus 30 mins salting | Cook about 1 hr | 362 calories

For the vegetables:

• 1 large carrot, coarsely grated
• 1 large courgette, coarsely grated
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, very finely chopped
• 1 celery stick, very finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 rosemary sprig, leaves finely chopped
• a few parsley sprigs, finely chopped
• 1 tsp dried oregano

For the loaf:

• 200g cooked lentils, not too mushy
• 75g wholemeal breadcrumbs
• 100g halloumi, coarsely grated
• 4 tbsp mixed seeds (sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, chia)
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 egg
• salt and black pepper

1. Salt the veg: Toss the carrot and courgette with 1 tsp of salt in a colander and leave for at least 30 minutes. Then squeeze out as much liquid as you can.
2. Fry the base: Fry the onion and celery in the oil until translucent, then add the carrot and courgette and cook until they start to colour.
3. Add the flavourings: Stir in the garlic, lemon zest and herbs for a couple of minutes, then tip everything into a large bowl. And add the lentils, breadcrumbs, halloumi, seeds, tomato purée and egg with plenty of pepper.
4. Mix and season: Mix thoroughly and check the seasoning, since the salted veg and the halloumi mean it may need no more salt.
5. Bake covered: Heat the oven to 180°C/Fan 160°C/Gas 4 and line a small loaf tin with baking parchment. Then press the mixture in, cover with oiled parchment or foil and bake for about 30 minutes.
6. Brown and serve: Uncover and bake for 15 to 20 minutes more, until piping hot with a lightly browned crust. Then let it stand for a few minutes before turning it out and slicing, and serve with tomato sauce.

FAQs

Which Hairy Bikers meatloaf is the lightest?

The Eat for Life meatloaf with spicy tomato sauce is the lightest one with meat, at 343 calories a portion. But the meatless meatloaf from Eat Well Every Day is close behind at 362, and it brings 9g of fibre a portion.

What is the Hairy Bikers 3 meat meatloaf?

It’s the British Classics meatloaf with gravy, made with minced beef, minced pork and pork sausage meat. So the three meats are the whole point of it, since they built it as a twist on the Nashville “meat and 3”.

Was there a meatloaf on their Route 66 and Mississippi trips?

The British Classics loaf came from filming at Arnold’s in Nashville, and that book links their Nashville filming to the Mississippi series. But there’s no separate Route 66 meatloaf in any of the books I cook from, so I’d start with the three-meat loaf or Nancy’s.

Do you need a loaf tin for meatloaf?

Not for most, because the three-meat and Austrian loaves are shaped in a roasting tin and the chicken one sits free-form on a tray. Nancy’s loaf works in an ovenproof dish or a loaf tin, but the spicy loaf and the meatless one need a lined loaf tin.

How do you know when a meatloaf is cooked?

The Eat for Life recipe says the middle should reach at least 75°C on a digital thermometer. But the Austrian recipe uses a skewer test instead, which works for the other meat loaves if you don’t own a thermometer.