Ingredients

• • Nonstick cooking spray
• • 1 lb ground beef
• • 1 lb ground pork
• • 2 large eggs
• • ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• • 1 cup fresh bread crumbs
• • 4 cloves of garlic, minced (about 4 teaspoons)
• • ¼ white onion, minced (about ¼ cup)
• • 2 tsp dried thyme
• • Salt and freshly ground coarse black pepper to taste
• • ¾ cup ketchup, divided

See below for Crispy Onions ingredients!

Meatloaf is my daughter Sarah’s favorite meal. One day, after John took her to a restaurant, she came home raving about the amazing meatloaf she’d eaten. “It had French fries on it!” she said. I’ve never loved meatloaf, but at the mention of French fries, my interest was piqued.

She and I experimented in the kitchen, but despite many tries, it never came out quite right. My mother suggested we try making it free form on a sheet pan rather than in a loaf pan to get a crispier texture. That made a huge improvement. But the French fry topping still wasn’t working. Finally, I fried up some onion rings instead. As Sarah excitedly sat down to eat, she said, “Oh yeah. It wasn’t French fries. It was onion rings.” Well, now we know! And it is amazing.

Ingredients

Meatloaf

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 lb ground pork
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup fresh bread crumbs (about 2 to 3 slices of bread, crusts removed)
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced (about 4 teaspoons)
• ¼ white onion, minced (about ¼ cup)
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• Salt and freshly ground coarse black pepper to taste
• ¾ cup ketchup, divided
  

Fried Crispy Onions

• 1 large Vidalia onion, thinly sliced (or other sweet yellow onion)
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 1 cup canola oil
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp salt plus more for sprinkling
• ½ tsp freshly ground coarse black pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven 350 degrees.
2. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Place a wire rack on top and cover it with foil. Using a knife, slit a few holes in the foil, so the meatloaf grease can drain down onto the baking sheet. Spray the foil lightly with the cooking spray.
3. In a large bowl, gently combine the ground beef, pork, eggs, Parmesan, bread crumbs, garlic, minced onions, thyme, salt and pepper, and ½ cup of the ketchup.
4. Shape the meat into a loaf (about 9 inches long) on the foil-covered wire rack on top of the baking sheet.
5. Top the loaf with the remaining ¼ cup of ketchup and bake for 45 to 60 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. Remove the meatloaf from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
6. While the meatloaf is baking, make the fried onions. In a medium bowl, combine the onions and buttermilk. Let them sit for 20 minutes.
7. While the onions are soaking, in a cast-iron skillet, heat the oil to 350 degrees.
8. In a shallow dish, combine the flour, cayenne, salt, and pepper.
9. Using tongs, shake the excess buttermilk off the onion slices and dip them into the flour mixture, tossing to coat. Shake the excess flour off the onions and, working in batches, being sure not to overcrowd the pan, carefully place them in the hot oil. Fry the onions until they are golden brown and crisp, flipping once. Remove the onions from the skillet and let them drain on paper towels. Sprinkle the onions with salt.
10. Slice the meatloaf and top each slice with a handful of fried onions to serve.

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