Heirloom Eats

Southern Meatloaf Recipe

Heirloom Eats

Family recipes are treasures passed down from one generation to the next. They bring comfort and familiarity to our tables today, just as they did to our parents’ tables, and their parents before them. Here, locals share enduring family recipes and tell us what makes them so special after all these years.

By Anna Hill  |  Photos by Rich Smith

Alan & Bonny Shuptrine

with their son, Ben, and daughter-in-law, Meg  |  Lookout Mountain

“Over the years, many of our family recipes have been improved, especially meatloaf! Ours is called Shuptrine’s Twisted Meatloaf, and it started back in the 1940s in Fort Wayne, Indiana. My mom taught me how to utilize sweet pickles, onions, and green peppers as ingredients; now, we use our homemade Appalachian chow-chow. Baking it in a cast iron skillet gives it a good all-over baking method. Passed on and enhanced over the decades, the recipe has evolved and has been part of our fall dinners with sides of cheese cauliflower, mashed potatoes, and green beans. It’s a hearty, feel-good kind of meal!” – Bonny Shuptrine

 

 

shuptrine's twisted meatloaf with green beans and cheese cauliflower

Shuptrine's Twisted Meatloaf

Alan & Bonny Shuptrine
Alan & Bonny Shuptrine share their family's twist on meatloaf in this recipe using their homemade Appalachian chow-chow relish.
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Cook Time 1 hr 20 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Southern
Servings 6 people

Equipment

  • 10-inch cast iron skillet

Ingredients
  

  • 1 tsp oil
  • 1 small onion chopped
  • 1 tbsp garlic minced
  • 1 ½ cup Shuptrine's Twisted Relish (chow-chow)
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ cup cream
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1 packet McCormick meatloaf seasoning mix
  • 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 lb sage sausage
  • 1 ½ lbs ground beef
  • 1 cup dried fine seasoned breadcrumbs
  • ½ cup ketchup
  • 1 tbsp mustard

For the topping:

  • ⅓ cup ketchup

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350˚ F.
  • Heat oil, onions, garlic, and drained Shuptrine’s Twisted Relish in a 10-inch cast iron skillet; cook until onions are clear (about 10 minutes). Take mixture out of the skillet and let cool. 
  • Place the eggs, cream, salt and pepper, McCormick meatloaf spice packet, and Worcestershire sauce in a large bowl and whisk. Mix sausage, ground beef, breadcrumbs, ketchup, and mustard with your hands until completely mixed; set aside.
  • Take cooled onion mixture and fold into meat mixture. Transfer the meatloaf mixture back to your used skillet from making the onion mixture and press into an even layer to all sides of the skillet.
  • Bake for 45 minutes to an hour. If you don’t use lean ground beef for the recipe, you might have to drain off excess fat during the baking process.  
  • Remove the skillet from the oven. Turn on the broiler. Spoon and brush the top of the meatloaf with the rest of the ketchup.
  • Broil on the same rack for about 3 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Notes

“Over the years, many of our family recipes have been improved, especially meatloaf! Ours is called Shuptrine’s Twisted Meatloaf, and it started back in the 1940s in Fort Wayne, Indiana. My mom taught me how to utilize sweet pickles, onions, and green peppers as ingredients; now, we use our homemade Appalachian chow-chow. Baking it in a cast iron skillet gives it a good all-over baking method. Passed on and enhanced over the decades, the recipe has evolved and has been part of our fall dinners with sides of cheese cauliflower, mashed potatoes, and green beans. It’s a hearty, feel-good kind of meal!” – Bonny Shuptrine
Keyword family recipe, meatloaf, meatloaf recipe, meatloaf with a twist, shuptrine, southern meatloaf recipe
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