Boston Market Meatloaf – Top Secret Recipe (Copycat Recipe) + VIDEO

This Boston Market Meatloaf (Copycat Recipe) tastes just like they make at Boston Market – It’s kicked up with a BBQ sauce and ketchup glaze that tastes so amazing!

I’m on a definite comfort food kick this week. First was this yummy Instant Pot Mac and Cheese, then Tomato Bisque Soup, and now Meatloaf.

This recipe was originally published in 2014. It was updated in 2020 to add new photographs. The original recipe remains the same. Enjoy! 

Making dishes like this always makes me feel a little bit like I’m on an episode of Leave it to Beaver. But hey, classics are classics for a reason… They’re yummy! What are some of your favorite old-school comfort food recipes?

This version is a copycat of Boston Market’s famed meatloaf.

It’s got a nice thick ribbon of a barbequey-ketchup running down the middle. It’s sliced into eight portions halfway through cooking, allowing for that sauce to penetrate each slice. It also helps to make sure that the loaf cooks uniformly.

Of course the end pieces are always my favorite! Those usually get eaten first, and the rest saved for leftovers.

If you loved this Boston Market Meatloaf recipe I would appreciate it so much if you would give this recipe a star review! Also, be sure to snap a picture of your finished cookies and share it with me onInstagram using the hashtag #platingsandpairings and tagging me @platingsandpairings.

Wine Pairings for Meatloaf:

  •  Try a red that’s robust but not too tannic. A Zinfandel or Merlot would pair perfectly.

Tips for Making Boston Market Meatloaf:

  • Don’t overwork the meat mixture, this will make your meatloaf tough.
  • A meatloaf pan ($10) is a handy little gadget that you may not own yet. They’re great because the perforations allow for the fat to drain while it’s baking. Plus, it’s got a nifty lift out tray that makes removing the loaf from the pan so simple!
  • To complete the upscale TV dinner experience, serve dinner on these fun trays !!! Oh hi retro night!
Sliced BOSTON MARKET meatloaf on serving platter.

More Copycat Recipes:

Sliced BOSTON MARKET meatloaf in serving tray with green beans and mashed potatoes.

What to Serve with Boston Market Meatloaf:

If you loved this meatloaf recipe – be sure to try my Air Fryer Meatloaf too!

More → 35+ Ground Beef Recipes

Boston Market Meatloaf Recipe

Sliced BOSTON MARKET meatloaf in serving tray with green beans and mashed potatoes.

Boston Market Meatloaf (Copycat Recipe)

This Boston Market Meatloaf (Copycat Recipe) tastes just like they make at Boston Market – It’s kicked up with a barbeque ketchup sauce that tastes so amazing!
4.98 from 46 votes
Print Pin
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  • Combine tomato sauce, barbecue sauce and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Heat until bubbling, stirring constantly, and remove from heat.
  • Add all but 2 Tablespoons of this mixture to the ground beef in a large mixing bowl, along with the flour, salt, onion powder, garlic powder and ground pepper. Mix until well combined.
  • Place mixture in a loaf pan. Wrap tightly with foil and bake 30 minutes. 
  • Using a spatula to hold the meatloaf in the pan, drain the fat. 
  • While still in the pan, slice the meatloaf into 8 slices. Pour remaining sauce over the top of the meatloaf, in a stream down the center.
  • Return the sliced meatloaf to the oven, and bake uncovered for an additional 30 minutes.
  • Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Notes

Adapted from a recipe by Todd Wilbur and his book Even More Top Secret Recipes.
Did you make this recipe?Mention @platingsandpairings or tag #platingsandpairings!

Nutrition

Calories: 517kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 34g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Trans Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 121mg | Sodium: 961mg | Potassium: 703mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 285IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 45mg | Iron: 5mg

58 thoughts on “Boston Market Meatloaf – Top Secret Recipe (Copycat Recipe) + VIDEO”

  1. 5 stars
    Folks, I made this recipe pretty much as written, excepting for the specified brand of BBQ sauce, and a 1/4 tsp of Garlic powder.. As I live in Costa Rica, our beef here is quite lean, so 1 used about 1 pound of ground beef, and 1/2 pound of ground pork. I used 2 Tbsp of Cattleman’s Carolina Tangy Gold for the BBQ sauce. I will definitely make this again, pretty much as I wrote here, but will save a bit more sauce for the final baking cycle, and will make some sort of gravy….

    Reply
  2. 5 stars
    I used to work for Boston Market. I loved their meatloaf sandwich with mayo and cheddar only. But when I worked there, I made my own sandwiches. If I go there now and order one the bread is cold and the meatloaf isn’t exactly hot either. But I still enjoy it.
    I made this recipe and used it to make meatloaf sandwiches with good rolls, mayo and cheddar cheese. Let me tell you, it brought me back! Delicious recipe. And the weirdest thing is it was better without bread crumbs. This recipe here calls for 6 TBS of flour, no breast crumbs. I was a little leery at first but I had faith in the person who posted this. Like I said, delicious! This was exactly what I was hoping for.
    What a keeper recipe! Thank you Erin!

    Reply
    • Wow – What a great comment to receive Jay! I’m so happy to hear that you loved the recipe Jay and I really appreciate the feedback. Cheers!

      Reply
  3. 5 stars
    Interesting is the use of flour instead of bread crumbs. This approach seems much simpler and would provide more “glue” for the meat to stick together — instead of crumbs and eggs. I might apply a little more of the ketchup mixture to the cooking meat. Can someone comment on the use of flour, if I’m correct? I am making this tonight and maybe I should have waited to post until after, but I’m very curious 🙂

    Thanks for posting this!

    Reply
    • 4 stars
      Jane . . I use this recipe but modify it slightly by using the bread crumbs and one egg and it seems to work very well. I have also used the flour and truthfully there isnt enough difference to mention – either way its my go to recipe for meatloaf.

      Reply
  4. 5 stars
    This is my FAVORITE Meatloaf. It’s messy to prepare, but we love it! I use a splash of Worcestershire sauce as well. Try it. It’s delicious!

    Reply
  5. In the heading you mention barbeque ketchup sauce. In the ingredients you talk about tomato sauce. Is it style Heintz ketchup or Hunt’s tomato sauce that you use… I’m assuming that it Hunt’s tomato sauce.
    Can anyone reply. I’m looking at making this tonight.
    Thank you.

    Reply
  6. 5 stars
    My family loved this recipe. We have some members with celiac so I made two. One gluten free and one following (mostly) the recipe. For the gluten free option I added coarse gluten free bread crumbs in place of the Flour in the same amount and gf bbq sauce. Didn’t seem to need any egg!
    For the regular recipe I had to use half tomato soup and half sauce (I ran out of sauce doing the first one!) and I actually liked that sauce a teeny bit better.
    Also for the second half of the cooking I upped the temp to 425 and cooked them both about 40 more minutes instead of a half hour to keep it from being mushy.
    Excellent recipe and thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  7. This is so weird – but it’s just not cooking. I have it in at 400° and did the initial 30 minutes. It was still completely raw. Then another 30 minutes – barely improved and then 30 minutes again. Cook and then 30 more minutes and it is somewhat doable. Our oven is brand new – so not sure what’s going on! Anyone else have issues? It smells so good.

    Reply
  8. I’m in the middle of making this now. When I took it out after the first half hour to drain the fat and cut it, it still was very raw, kind of hard to cut. It’s back in the oven now uncovered and has 13 mins left of the last half hour. I’ll see if it cooks through in that amount of time.

    Reply
  9. 5 stars
    I had posted earlier about worrying a little b/c after the first half hour, when I uncovered it to drain the fat and slice it, it seemed pretty raw. But after the second half hour uncovered, it came out perfect. I took a bite, and boy, it truly does taste like Boston Market’s meatloaf. FYI: I followed the directions exactly. This will be for lunch/dinner tomorrow.

    Reply
  10. I’m very excited to make this recipe, but I have 2 questions: I’ve never actually made meatloaf before (i only order it once in a blue moon from Boston market!) So I bought a meatloaf pan that drains the meat while it’s cooking. My big questions 1) your recipe says to first wrap in foil while baking then open foil and drain. Is the pan I got not needed since being wrapped in foil won’t allow the meat to drain in the pan or is the foil only to catch the grease? I hope you understand my question because I may not have worded it well. Also, I bought 90% lean beef which is actually fattier than we usually use for burgers or lasagna even though others considered it too dry for those dishes. Opinion for meatloaf?

    Reply
    • Hi Denise – You should be good with the 90%. I would use your meatloaf pan and cover it with foil baking it covered for the first half of the time, then uncovered for the second half. I hope that helps!

      Reply
  11. 5 stars
    Love this recipe. Our family’s go to for meatloaf. I always add a touch of worchestishire sauce and a bit of Heinz 57 to the sauce mix to tang it up a tad. Also bake for 40-45 mins on the second cycle to get crispier edges. Very delicious!

    Reply
  12. Hi! This recipe looks so good! My parents used to eat at Boston market and loved their meatloaf! I was so excited when I found this recipe. I was just wondering, what fat percentage did you use? Thanks☺️

    Reply
  13. Is that really 2 tablespoons of the remaining sauce poured over the meatloaf? The picture looks like it had much more…thank you#

    Reply
  14. Hi Erin,
    I am a type 2 diabetic, so must watch carbs and sugar. Are the nutrition facts for 1/8 of the loaf? Thanks for staying with this and answering comments so long after you posted the recipe. I have sugar free BBQ sauce, and could maybe use almond flour?

    Reply
      • Hi Erin,
        Like Alicia I have health issues that require me to restrict my sodium. I was quite surprised that 1/8 serving size has > 900 mg sodium! Where is all of it coming from with only 3/4 tsp salt ? I know the tomato sauce and bbq sauce has some but in the quantity used divided by 8 , it just seems high ? How did you come to this number and will it make a huge difference if I omit the 3/4 t of salt ? Thanks!

        Reply
  15. I am planning to try this soon and am hoping it is close to the taste of Boston Market’s meatloaf, as our local BM closed.

    The ingredients call for “barbeque sauce” but there is no mention of which brand or what type. In the comments, there is some discussion of tomato sauce being the BBQ sauce, which makes no sense. First, in the ingredients, there is a separate listing for both bbq sauce and for tomato sauce. Second, bbq sauce and tomato sauce are two totally different things. While some bbq sauces may use tomato sauce or paste as a base, the final product is a far cry from plain tomato sauce.

    Can anyone recommend what type of bbq sauce would be best to use, bearing in mind that the goal is to pretty much exactly replicate the taste of the BM meatloaf? If I had to guess (and I don’t want to “guess”), I would probably figure it would be best to use a bbq sauce that is not sweet and not heavy on molasses, like Stubbs Hickory Bourbon or perhaps Cattleman’s Classic Original.

    One commenter said they used Cattleman’s Carolina Tangy Gold, but that is mustard-based and it seems to me would not produce anything close to the taste of BM meatloaf.

    Please help. Thanks.

    Reply
  16. 5 stars
    Hiya Erin,

    do you happen to have a recipe for Boston Market’s Sweet Potato Casserole too, please? The meatloaf is perfection! Thank you.

    Reply
    • Boston Market Sweet Potato Casserole

      Ingredients
      Sweet Potatoes
      3 1/2 – 4 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1” pieces
      4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
      3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
      1/2 cup heavy cream
      1 teaspoon kosher salt
      1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
      1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
      1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

      Topping
      2 cups mini marshmallows
      1/2 cup all-purpose flour
      4 tablespoons butter unsalted butter
      6 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
      1/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats
      1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

      Instructions
      Fill a large pot with sweet potato pieces and water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cook until fork tender. Drain potatoes and place back into pot. Blend potatoes with an electric mixer until smooth. Add remaining ingredients (except topping ingredients). Mix until combined.

      Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8”x10” casserole dish (8×8 or 9×9 works too).

      Spoon sweet potatoes into casserole dish and smooth out. Sprinkle top of sweet potatoes with marshmallows.

      Melt butter in a medium microwave safe bowl. Add remaining ingredients. Mix with a fork. Sprinkle over top of casserole.

      Bake for 20-25 minutes until streusel is crisp and marshmallows are golden brown.

      Reply
  17. 5 stars
    This is a fabulously simple and delicious recipe.
    I had 2 lbs of beef so I upped all the quantities 25%.
    I didn’t use the flour and substituted bread crumbs.
    It cooked just by adjusting the 2nd cooking time up to 40 minutes since I had more beef.
    Adding the catsup mixture mid cooking made this so moist. It however isn’t soupy but nicely firm. I suspect after I refrigerate it that it will be perfect for sandwiches.
    My taste prefers spicy to I used a Rasberry Chipotle BBQ sauce rather than catsup.
    Perfection!
    Thank you for this amazing meatloaf!

    Reply
  18. 5 stars
    I love this recipe and have made it several times! It’s not the recipe of meatloaf the restaurant makes now which is also good. I’d love to have that one as well, but I’ll keep making this cause my husband is a picky eater and he likes it! Ty

    Reply

Leave a Comment

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.