Simple Keto Meatloaf Recipes

Meatloaf is classic comfort food, but most recipes call for heaps of breadcrumbs and a glaze of ketchup and brown sugar. While it’s definitely delicious, it’s also definitely forbidden on a keto diet. Fortunately, it’s not that hard to swap them out for keto-approved ingredients, and the results are every bit as tasty as the old-school recipes, if not more so.

Keto Friendly Meatloaf

Rather than trying to imitate the ketchup glaze, this recipe forgoes it completely. Instead, the meatloaf is wrapped in sugar-free bacon. Be sure the bacon is sugar-free, or this isn’t a keto recipe.

You don’t have to follow the recipe exactly. The important part is that instead of breadcrumbs you use half a cup of almond flour, a quarter cup of grated parmesan, and a cup of shredded cheddar. A tablespoon or so of soy sauce adds a depth of flavor that you really want. Mix that binder with two pounds of ground beef and all the rest of your usual meatloaf ingredients from your favorite recipe, then put it in a loaf pan, top with bacon slices, and bake at 400 for an hour.

Keto Meatloaf Muffins

These meatloaf muffins use ground pork rinds as the binder, providing the perfect keto solution for a tasty meatloaf recipe. They are then glazed with low-carb ketchup. In addition to being a great binder, the Pork Panko also adds a subtle, but delicious, flavor.

Combine one pound of ground beef, one chopped onion, one egg, one cup of Pork Panko, onion powder, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Scoop out a quarter cup of the mixture, pack it into a cup shape, and add it to a greased muffin pan. Do this with all of the remaining meatloaf mixture. Top each muffin with ketchup and bake at 350 for fifteen minutes.

Or, more accurately, Keto Cheese Stuffed Turkey Meatloaf. The problem with turkey is that it’s so lean it dries out quickly. Adding cheese to this meatloaf solves that problem deliciously. 

Combine two pounds of ground turkey, three-quarters of a cup of shredded parmesan, and your favorite seasonings. Again, you can follow their recipe if you like, but it will taste great with whatever seasoning you like.

Pack half of that mixture into a loaf pan and make pocket in the middle of it. Add one cup of shredded mozzarella to that pocket. Now, put the remaining meatloaf mixture on top of that and seal the edges. Spread marinara sauce over the top of the meatloaf, and add just a little bit more mozzarella. Bake for an hour at 375.

Low Carb Keto Meatloaf

For an extra low carb version of meatloaf, this recipe uses golden flaxseed meal instead of almond flour or coconut flour. It uses two pounds of ground beef, and half a cup of golden flaxseed meal. The only problem is it doesn’t hold together well. It’s tasty, but it won’t have a traditional meatloaf texture or appearance. Using two-thirds of a cup of golden flaxseed meal will bind everything together much more firmly. 

Bake for an hour and fifteen minutes at 350, and then wait ten minutes before slicing. This helps everything firm up for easier slicing.

The binder in this meatloaf is equal parts almond flour and parmesan (half a cup of each) plus one egg for two pounds of ground beef. Mix these with your favorite seasonings, glaze with unsweetened ketchup, and bake at 350 for an hour. 

For any of these recipes, the seasonings that are being used are less important than the choice of binder. Most of them are pretty similar, and when most people are looking for a keto meatloaf recipe what they’re really looking for is a way to take their favorite childhood meatloaf and make it keto. Any of these binders will do that.

Conclusion

Almond flour combined with parmesan seems to be the most popular choice for keto binders. If you go that route, go easy on the salt when you’re seasoning: parmesan is a very salty cheese. The golden flaxseed meal is a unique choice but the Pork Panko will have the fewest carbs, along with great flavor. Choose whichever sounds best to you, and enjoy!