The Bacon Trick You Absolutely Need For Your Old School Meatloaf

Meatloaf is one of those meals that many people grew up eating because they had to — you ate what mom made, right? And we can't really blame her for serving it to us time and time again. It is an easy and affordable way to feed a family, especially on a busy weeknight. As an adult, you probably either look back on those meatloaf meals with fond memories of comfort food or you might simply reject the notion that the dish can actually be good. But whether you are a meatloaf lover or meatloaf hater, there is one way to upgrade this otherwise blah meal into something irresistible: bacon. The breakfast meat that makes everything better is a surefire way to add flavor, texture, and tenderness to your meatloaf, and it's an incredibly easy dinnertime hack.

The next time you are putting together a meatloaf for dinner, carefully arrange strips of bacon across the top of the loaf. Depending on the length of the bacon, either let the strips hang down over the sides or wrap them underneath if needed. As the bacon cooks, the fat renders, making this the perfect hack for a juicy meatloaf. Of course, it doesn't just moisten your loaf; it also introduces the salty, smoky flavor of bacon and lets you experiment with the variety of flavors the cured pork product comes in, such as maple, brown sugar, applewood smoked, and black pepper.

Before you even get to the business of wrapping your meatloaf in bacon, there's the matter of using the ingredients. From choosing the right meat blend to making sure you use breadcrumbs to bind the meat and keep things nice and juicy, your ingredients go a long way in turning meatloaf from a dish that elicits groans into one that prompts requests for seconds.

Be mindful with the bacon you choose for this dish. Thin-sliced bacon is your best choice — it's more unwieldy and will cook thoroughly without making too much mess. The last thing you want is uncooked bacon in your dinner and thick bacon runs the risk of cooking inconsistently. It will also create more drippings than you need to make your meatloaf nice and moist, leaving you with a greasy mouthfeel and a pool of fat at the bottom of the pan. (There are plenty of ways to reuse bacon drippings, but not when it comes to this stuff.) On that note, you don't want multiple layers of bacon, either, so don't overlap your rashers too much or you'll end up with a cooked outer layer and an uncooked inner layer.

Crispy bacon makes everything better, including meatloaf. If you want extra-crispy edges, keep your meatloaf in the oven for an extra five to 10 minutes to ensure it's loaded with texture as much as flavor. This technique is an easy way to take a tasty meatloaf and give it that final touch to send it over the top.