I Tried Joan Crawford’s Meatloaf Recipe for the First (And Last) Time

Meatloaf fans may want to skip this one.

The last time I made meatloaf was probably 15 years ago. It seems crazy that someone from the Midwest could go that long without making meatloaf, but somehow I have. Don’t get me wrong—I love the stuff, but the idea of making it never appeals to me. I feel the same way about meatballs. Something about mixing and shaping ground meat doesn’t excite me. But I do love trying celebrity recipes, so when I was asked to make beloved Hollywood actress Joan Crawford’s meatloaf recipe, I dusted off my meat-mixing skills and got to work.

How to Make Joan Crawford's Meatloaf

Like any good recipe tester, I read the whole recipe first. Everything seemed “right” until I got to the part about ground veal and “hard-boiled eggs, whole” listed as ingredients. I knew that my grocery store doesn’t carry ground veal, but felt like swapping it for more ground beef would be a fine substitution.

But what about those hard-boiled eggs? What in the world were they doing there? I read the recipe a few times to make sure I understood the task—yes, it looked like I was supposed to press them directly into the loaf, so that’s what I did. The final quizzical moment came when Crawford suggests pouring water around the meatloaf before baking. I’m assuming this was to help improve moisture, but let me tell you, this step didn’t feel right at all.

Before I get too far ahead of myself, let me explain that this recipe was part of a larger collection of recipes that was published in "Cookbook of the Stars" in 1970. While I couldn’t find much history about the meatloaf, I’m assuming it was something Crawford made for family and guests, since it consists of four pounds and three types of ground meat. Impressive! I’m also going to guess that the hard-boiled eggs were a “fun” surprise for guests, something for them to admire upon slicing—it seems like a 1950s or 1960s thing to do.

Making it is relatively easy. Combine the ground meat with seasoned salt, steak sauce, chopped onions, green bell peppers, and a few eggs for binding. Once it’s mixed, you shape it into an oval loaf and place it in a shallow roasting pan. Next, you press in the hard-boiled eggs, then cover the top with more of the same seasonings. After adding a bit of water around the meatloaf, it’s ready for the oven. It took over an hour to bake and required a few temperature adjustments, but overall, it didn’t require much effort or time.

My Honest Review of Joan Crawford's Meatloaf Recipe

When I pulled out the meatloaf, it was swimming in an inch or so of water mixed with fat drippings. I didn’t care for that too much, but I decided to let it cool in there before transferring it to a stack of dry paper towels. Once it was sufficiently dry, I moved the meatloaf to a serving platter, smothered the top with a little more steak sauce, then sliced it. Yes, the hard-boiled egg trick was fun to look at, but it felt unnecessary.

Sadly, I wasn’t impressed with Crawford’s recipe. It felt basic, lacked flavor and I missed the traditional ketchup topping. It was also huge, even after halving all of the ingredients! If I decide to try this recipe again I’ll skip the hard-boiled eggs and the seasoned salt. I’ll use hot Italian sausage and load up on garlic and dried oregano. I’ll, of course, also add a healthy ketchup topping and bake it without the water moat.

Read the original article on All Recipes.