This is very good! I've made it twice now. Both times I've mixed the cheese in with the meat. The first time, I used the beef & pork mixture and it was good, receiving a great reaction from my husband and son, "Please *only* make this meatloaf from now on!". The second time I used half ground sirloin and half ground turkey, plus Italian bread crumbs. I also made a "channel" in the top of the loaves (fills two pans w/ two lbs.) and added some Italian tomatoes before I baked them. Scrumptious! Other reviewers are correct - this makes a GREAT meatloaf sandwich. Also, FWIW, I didn't taste the onion soup mix much. Others may not be using two lbs. of meat to one packet??? I added in a LOT of black pepper, too.
Boyfriend's words, "Unbelievably good! Best meatloaf I've ever had!" We put three strips of bacon along the top, too. Mmmmmmmmm.
My family loved this recipe. I would recommend definitely letting it set the 10-15 minutes before slicing as I got impatient and my cheese ran out of the sides. Maybe I will try to seal the edges better next time. I used cheddar as other's suggested. It made a dense meatloaf that didn't fall apart. I also put a little ketchup mustard brown sugar mix over the top. I will probably stick to my old favorite but this would be worth making again.
I used colby and cheddar cheese in lieu of mozzarella and I mixed it throughout. The mozzarella was too bland the first time. I also used lean ground beef and turkey instead of pork and added a little ketchup. Serve with a rich brown gravy and mashed potatoes... Not a low-cal meal but fun comfort food - really yummy recipe.
5 stars (with a couple of alterations). I used Italian flavored bread crumbs and a combination of 1 cup provolone and 1 cup mozzarella cheeses. It's definitely not your ordinary meatloaf! We're not big fans of sweet meat (like the typical meatloaf that has ketchup on top) so this was great. SO tasty!
I have made this meatloaf 3 times now the first time I followed the instructions except I used two pounds of ground beef since that's all I had and sharp cheddar for same reason it was oily and most cheese drained out when I tried pouring oil out but otherwise it was good. I think it's because I tried poorly to make my own bread crumbs since I didn't have any and instead of onion soup mix I used half an onion which ended up being too much. So first time not too great but the second time I had all ingredients again used two pounds ground beef and I mixed the sharp cheddar cheese in with the meat I used Italian bread crumbs onion soup mix and it turned out a lot better. I did the same thing the third time and all three times I added a layer of ketchup on top because my husband likes meatloaf better that way and it added just enough tang. Also my husband and I hate pepper so I used garlic salt all three times and the third time I also added season salt since those are my two favorite seasonings.:) Over all very creative idea and really good when made properly I'd definitely recommend it.
I only had 1/2 lb ground pork but no problem - there was plenty of meat in this loaf! However 60 min definitely wasn't long enough to cook to temperature. I recommend 1:30 to 1:45 cook time. In my opinion the center cheese layer (that which is not mixed into the meat) did not add much to the flavor of this meatloaf. Instead it just caused the slices to break in half when plated. My husband loved it but I'm sure he'd like it just as well without the added calories/fat of the full 2 cups of cheese.
The cheese didn't do anything for me I thing a little cheese to the top would have been sufficient. The cheese in the middle was rubbery as it cooked for an hour. If I make this again I'll put a layer of sauce in the middle and mix all of the cheese with meatloaf (or just add cheese to the top at the end of cook time). I don't care for onion mix so I used 3 little green onions and some italian salad dressing for kicks instead of the soup mix and that worked out great. It was juicy and stayed together nicely. My mind says meatloaf needs something red or gravy. Without it something is just missing. I had ground pork and beef but really couldn't tell. Overall good but I didn't like the cheese in the middle.
This is D-lish! I used marble cheese as thats all I had and it was wonderful. I loved the beef/pork combo. The only thing I did differently is that I flattened the meat mixture to about 1/2" thick and put the cheese on the meat then rolled it up into a log. I sealed the ends really well so the cheese wouldn't ooze out. This worked really well. THX.
