Lipton Onion Soup Meatloaf (Classic Recipe!) (2024)

FAQs

Should you saute onions before adding to meatloaf? ›

I later learned how I could avoid this problem and make a fully smooth meatloaf by pre-cooking any vegetables, especially the onion, before adding them to the ground meat. This way the meatloaf gets the flavor without the rawness -- a method from the smart people at Cook's Illustrated.

You're Not Sufficiently Seasoning the Meat

This is crucial. Unseasoned meat, as you can probably guess, doesn't taste like a whole lot once baked into a loaf, so it's important to add ample salt in order to bring out the inherent savory flavors of the ground meat.

Properly mixing a meatloaf prior to forming not only assures an evenness of flavor, but it also facilitates the linking of myosin in the meat, creating more of the protein network that will help to hold the slices together. However, overmixing can cause meatloaf to become springy, rubbery, and too dense.

Fat Is Your Friend

This is the reason most cooks choose ground chuck since it has this ideal proportion of fat to meat. During cooking, the fat will liquefy, making the meatloaf moist.

Milk and other dairy products, like heavy cream and buttermilk, contain both water and fat, adding two types of moisture to our meatloaf. There's a long-held theory that milk can tenderize ground meat, and this is the reason often cited for cooking ground meat in milk to make a Bolognese-style ragù.

Adding more to your mixture is always easier than taking some out. Another common reason meatloaf is mushy is too much filler, like breadcrumbs, bread, and oatmeal. Too much filler will stop it from baking correctly and becoming a fully formed meatloaf.

Cool before slicing: Let the loaf cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. If you baked your meatloaf in a loaf pan, carefully drain off the liquid fat before transferring the meatloaf to a cutting board. Cut into thick slices and serve.

They're “fake” and full of sodium, the critics say, and so we remove them from our pantries in the pursuit of “eating healthier,” and replace them with more “natural” options, like painstakingly caramelized onions.

Unopened packets of onion soup mix can last up to two years when stored in a cool, dry place. This is subject to the 'best by' printed date. However, it will not become harmful after this, but may lose flavour over time. Once it has been opened, try to use it within a few weeks for maximum flavour.

Is there MSG in Lipton onion soup? ›

Lipton Onion Soup Mix

MSG. Just about all powdered soup mixes, from Lipton or otherwise, contain the flavor enhancer.

If you want to make the best meatloaf possible, a sheet pan is a much better medium.

If you don't have any bread, you can substitute it for breadcrumbs, crackers, cereal grains, oatmeal, instant rice, instant barley, or even potato flakes! However, bread is still the best choice of all the potential options.

When this happens, it's because you didn't use enough. Next time, try adding in an extra egg and/or some more breadcrumbs.

Once the skillet is hot, add the diced onions and cook until they become translucent and slightly caramelized. Then, crumble the ground beef into the skillet and cook until it is browned and cooked through, stirring occasionally to break up any clumps.

Cook for 1-2 minutes. Note we like to start cooking the pepper first (before the onion) because it takes longer for pepper to cook down to the same softness. Add the onion to the same pan and continue cooking for another 3-4 minutes until it's just starting to soften. Add salt and pepper to taste.

To help cooks avoid burning their garlic, a lot of recipes call for sautéing other aromatics first, like onions, carrots, and celery, and then adding the garlic for the last few minutes.

Sauteing onions: Softens them, most people prefer not to run into raw onions in their sauce. Onions will cook in a sauce, but very slowly, so frying them before makes sure they will be soft even if your sauce has a fast cooking time. Releases sugars, making them taste sweeter.