The Best Oven Temperature For Juicy, Never-Dry Meatloaf

There are about a billion meatloaf recipes available for your experimentation, and many of those are focused on keeping the meat from drying out. But, whether you're using a stale bread trick to keep your meatloaf deliciously moist, or you're following celebrity chef tips like Bobby Flay's secret for the juiciest combination of beef, pork, and veal, one little step is pretty consistent across the board: your oven temperature. And the best temperature for making meatloaf is typically 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Turn your dial any higher than 350, and you're liable to end up with a charred exterior and a tepid interior, totally missing your desired finish. Meatloaf cooked on too high a temp is more vulnerable to dryness as well. Set lower, however, and your meatloaf will eventually come to its proper internal temperature of 160 degrees, but it will be soggy without much of a crust. That oven temp of 350 degrees Fahrenheit is a sweet in-between, and it will give your meatloaf the texture you're most likely after, even without that little bit of culinary perspective.

A fairly standard meatloaf made with two pounds of beef or the proprietary grind of your choice will be ready in about an hour at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Some folks prefer to remove the loaf from the oven once it reaches an internal temperature of 155 degrees Fahrenheit on a food thermometer to account for the extra five degrees it's expected to rise due to carryover cooking. It will almost do so when you let the meatloaf rest for a few minutes at room temperature.

The right ground beef blend also sets you up for juicier meatloaf before you even preheat the oven. A blend of about 80% lean meat to 20% fat is ideal. Avoiding overmixing also always staves off dryness, so you want to be sure to incorporate your ingredients and shape the loaf as minimally as possible while still making sure that it all holds together. And your ancillary ingredients are key for juiciness, too. The little bits of onion, garlic, and celery that you might include for flavor have the added benefit of bringing their own extra moisture as well.