Smoked meat loaf is a fast, easy and inexpensive meal to throw on the smoker. This smoked meat loaf recipe is a twist on a classic meatloaf recipe, when you throw it on the smoker. It is packed with flavor but yet is recipe is relatively basic because there is a good chance you will have most of the ingredients already in the house. Smoking meatloaf was not on my radar until I saw a couple of others doing it, now it’s a favorite in our house.
Smoked Meat Loaf Ingredients
For smoking a meatloaf, I used a hickory wood, B&B char-logs on my 18′ WSM. This recipe should work well regardless of smoker you are using, it could be a pellet grill or doing the meatloaf in electric smoker or another style of smoker. For this smoke, I only used two chunks of hickory so as to not overpower the other flavor in the meat loaf.
You will need the following ingredients for this smoked meat loaf recipe:
- 3l bs of ground beef (use a ground beef of choice, whether it is a lean ground beef or something with a bit more fat)
- 1/2 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon FlatIron Sweet Heat pepper flakes
- BBQ Sauce of choice ( on this one I used Sweet Baby Ray’s)
When you are mixing in all the ingredients, I would place them all in a small bowl together and the slowly mix them into a large bowl with the meat. If you dump everything in at once and do not spend the appropriate time mixing it all in together you risk have a ball of pepper flakes or basil all in one mouth full. After having mixed the ingredients and the ground beef together you will want to form it and prepare to get it in the smoker.
When I place it in the smoker I use my Weber Grilling Basket. This works great because it makes placing on and removing super easy but also allows the beef to absorb the smoke from all sides. For this smoke I also used my ThermoPro TP20 thermometer.
Smoked Meatloaf Time and Temp
Once I got the smoker up to temperature, 250° I placed the meat loaf on the smoker. After you place it on the smoker, you just have to let it ride, there is nothing to do on this until you get towards the end of the smoke.
When the internal temperature on the meat loaf got to 150° I took some of the barbecue sauce and lathered it on to give it a nice glaze. You need to ensure that the ground beef internal temperature reaches 165° to be safe.
So how long to smoke a meatloaf at 250 degrees? This one stayed on for 3 1/2 hours at 250° and was primed and ready to serve once I pulled it. You can on this picture below the juices running on this and a light smoke ring on it. This smoked meat loaf turned out to be a great meal. With a couple of basic sides, this easily fed the family with some leftovers.
If you want to add another layer to taste to the meatloaf you can always wrap it in bacon. I obviously did not do that on this one but adding bacon to anything is always going to be an option.
If you are looking for some other recipes take a look at some of these ideas:
If you are interested in reading more about how to cook some smoked ground beef recipes check out our article, An Easy Guide For Smoking Ground Beef.
Thank you for being here! I hope you love this smoked meatloaf recipe as much as we do here. It is likely to become a new family favorite. We always appreciate any comments, likes, 5 star recipe rating, reviews and shares of this recipe.
As always keep that smoke rolling!
Smoked Meat Loaf
Smoked meat loaf, over a hickory wood using B&B char-logs.
Ingredients
- 3lbs of ground beef
- 1/2 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Flat Iron Sweet Heat pepper flakes
- BBQ Sauce of choice ( on this one I used Sweet Baby Ray's)
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients into a bowl and gradually mix it into the meat.
- Place the meat loaf at minimum on tin foil but you are better served to place it in a tray. I use my grilling basket for maximum smoke exposure,
- Smoke the meat loaf for about 3.5 hours at 250°.
- At around 150°, I coated the meat loaf with BBQ sauce and then pulled it when it reached 165°. (For ground beef you need to smoke until you reach an IT of 165°.)
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 475Total Fat: 30gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 152mgSodium: 743mgCarbohydrates: 2gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 46g
This data was provided and calculated by Nutritionix on 9/27/2021
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