Juicy beef meatloaf with eggs, an easy and delicious recipe using leftover hard-boiled eggs.
This meatloaf with eggs is comfort food at its best. Ground meat, eggs, tomato sauce, all smothered together in the oven, served with mashed potatoes and veggies. Food that both kids and grown-ups looooove!
While I do make lots of meatballs, using all kind of meats, pulses, grains or vegetables, I rarely make meatloaf.
I don't know why actually, when I do make one and we eat it I always like it and wonder why am I not doing something so easy and delicious more often. But then I think of the mile-long cooking list I already have and realize that there is only so much time left for making meatloaf...
But this particular recipe is something special, I actually think I make this meatloaf with eggs more often than I make a regular “unstuffed” meatloaf.
It was a happy coincidence of me finding the recipe for the egg-stuffed meatloaf in one of my recipe notebooks and having an abundance of eggs in the house.
Although this is a recipe I found in an old Romanian cookbook, I realize that meatloaf is one of those international recipes that seem to exist in lots of other countries. We have the Falscher Hase in Germany for instance and I have seen many American, British, Italian or Greek recipes for meatloaf as well.
What do you need to make a meatloaf with eggs?
Eggs:
- I often use leftover hard-boiled eggs to make the egg-stuffed meatloaf. This is a good time for a recipe containing hard-boiled eggs, I always seem to have millions of them in my kitchen after Easter.
How to cook hard-boiled eggs:
- If you don't have leftover eggs, you will have to cook some. The following method is the best, most energy-saving way of cooking them.
- Place them into a saucepan, cover with water. Bring to a boil, turn off the heat and let the eggs sit in the water, covered, for 12 minutes. Drain and rinse. Let cool slightly before you peel them.
Ground meat:
- You can either use ground beef or a mixture of ground beef and pork.
Herbs:
- I often use dried savory to make meatloaf or meatballs. It is the most used dried herb in Romania and I just think it is a perfect fit for ground meat. I also use it in large quantities when making Romanian cabbage rolls, for instance, another traditional ground meat (pork) dish.
- If you cannot find dried savory, you can replace it with dried thyme or other dried herbs of choice.
How to make meatloaf with eggs inside?
- If you don't have leftover hard-boiled eggs, cook the eggs as instructed above. Let cool until needed. Peel.
- Tear or cut the white bread into small pieces. Soak it in milk while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- Combine beef, very finely chopped onions, soaked bread, grated garlic, the two raw eggs, dry herbs, chopped parsley, paprika powder, salt, and pepper. Mix well with your hand.
- Place about half of the meat in a roasting tin, form a long shape of about 23 cm/ 9 inch. Arrange the peeled eggs on top and cover with the rest of the meatloaf mixture. Oil your hands lightly and press the meat around the eggs to enclose them. Press around the egg-stuffed meatloaf to give it a nice shape.
- Pour the canned tomatoes and the oil around the meatloaf, add some salt, pepper, and more dried herbs.
- Bake in the preheated oven at 200 degrees Celsius/ 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 to 60 minutes or until the juices run clear.
How to serve?
- Let the meatloaf rest for about 15 minutes before slicing.
- Serve with potatoes and vegetables or salad of choice.
Here are some good side dish ideas:
- Best Garlic Parmesan Mashed Potatoes
- Brussels Sprouts with Bacon
- Buttered Green Peas
- Simple Roasted Whole Carrots
- French-Style Green Beans
More hard-boiled egg recipes:
- What to Do with Hard-Boiled Eggs
- Easter Deviled Eggs
- Spicy Deviled Eggs with Tuna
- Mexican Deviled Eggs with Guacamole
- Scotch Eggs
- German Eggs in Mustard Sauce
- Peruvian Aji de Gallina
Easy Meatloaf with Eggs
Ingredients
- Meatloaf:
- 4 hard-boiled eggs
- 60 g/ 2.1 oz white bread
- 150 ml/ 5 oz/ ¾ cup milk
- 1 kg/ 2.2 lbs ground beef or half beef and half pork
- 2 medium onions
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons dried savory or thyme or other dry herbs of choice
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika powder
- 2 teaspoons fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Sauce:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 can chopped tomatoes 400 g/ 14 oz
- ½ teaspoon dried savory or thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
- fine sea salt and pepper
Instructions
Meatloaf:
- To boil the eggs place them in a small pot, cover with water, add some salt and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and let the eggs stand, covered, for 12 minutes. Drain and rinse well with cold water. Let cool and peel.
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius/ 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Break the white bread into small pieces, place it into a bowl, cover it with the milk and let soak until needed.
- Grate the onions or chop them very finely. Grate the garlic. Chop the parsley.
- Place the ground meat in a large bowl. Add the onions, garlic, soaked bread, the two raw eggs, dried herbs, chopped parsley, paprika powder, salt, and pepper. Mix well with your hand.
- Place about half of the meat in a roasting tin, form a long shape of about 23 cm/ 9 inch, arrange the hard-boiled eggs on top and cover with the rest of the meatloaf mixture. Give the meatloaf a nice form, oiling your hands lightly for this purpose.
Sauce:
- Pour the canned tomatoes and the oil around the meatloaf, add some salt, pepper, and more dried herbs.
- Bake for 40 to 60 minutes or until the juices run clear. Let rest for about 15 minutes and serve with potatoes and vegetables or salad of choice.
Angie@Angie's Recipes says
My husband loves meatloaf, frikadellen, meatballs...you name it. I used to make falscher Hase very often for him, but he complained about the eggs inside (he only eats eggs with runny yolk)..so now I just simply make Hackbraten.
Balvinder says
Amazing recipe and a must try for me. Love the eggs in there.
Cheyanne @ No Spoon Necessary says
Growing up meatloaf was one of my favorites! But I have to admit, I haven't had it in YEARS. I'm loving this one! It's kinda like Scotch eggs in meatloaf form! So clever! Cheers!
allie says
Hi Adina - loving this tender, juicy meatloaf with the eggs hidden inside. Reminds me of Scotch eggs too. So flavorful and a surprise with the hidden hard boiled eggs. I hope you and your family are well my friend and having a great week - one more week 'til Easter! xo
Valentina | The Baking Fairy says
This looks absolutely delicious! I'm the same way, I rarely ever make meatloaf but when I do it's such a treat. I will have to try your recipe!
Denise Browning says
Adina: This looks simply fantastic. In Southern Brazil where there is a lot of German immigrants, the meatloaf is stuffed with boiled eggs and topped with bacon. A similar recipe is on my blog too. My children and I are fans of it!
Dawn - Girl Heart Food says
Meatloaf is such a classic! It's definitely something I had growing up and total comfort food to me. I've never had with egg inside there before, but it makes for a lovely presentation! I'll have to give this one a try next time I make it! Looks delicious 🙂
Kate @ Framed Cooks says
I love the surprise of an egg in the meatloaf! A perfect Easter week supper!
rosita vargas says
El pastel de carne se ve jugoso y tentador y como siempre todo perfecto ,mi paladar sufre mirando ricas comidas y sabrosas,saludos y abrazos.
Shashi at Savory Spin says
When I was younger, I used to not be a huge fan of meatloaf but, when my mom would stuck an egg in it, I loved it! Your meatloaf reminded me of that bit of my childhood - thank you! Glad I stumbled by here today. Hope you have a wonderful rest of the week.
Laura Dembowski says
I love meatloaf but have never made it with eggs. I usually make it with ketchup and cheerios which is fun and tasty!
Agness of Run Agness Run says
This seems so yummy! It's so mouthwatering, Adina!
grace says
what a unique meatloaf! i'd love to find an eggy surprise inside. 🙂
Sissi says
Gorgeous Easter dish, Adina! I must remember your recipe for next Easter. Especially if it's easy!
vickie says
My Mom and her Mom and so on have made meatloaf with ground beef and pork saug. corn flakes and boiled eggs in the middle. Now I am the last to have all the recipes to pass on but it is hard since none of them ever measured and I want to write it all down and make a family cookbook.
Adina says
That's a great idea, family recipes are always the best. And I know about having old recipes with vague measurings, I really had to "work" hard to find the right measures on some of my grandmother's recipes. 🙂
Robyn Garrett says
This looks wonderful and a must try. I noticed the ingredient list calls for tomato sauce, but I don’t see where it’s used in the instructions. Did I miss something?
Adina says
@Robyn Garrett, Hi Robyn. Thank you for your comment. The tomato sauce should be listed as a heading, unfortunately the recipe card doesn't allow headings or bolds to make things clearer. So actually,Tomato sauce should only be the heading for the following ingredients, which you will need to make the sauce itself.