Halloween Meatloaf Zombie Recipe (2024)

Halloween Meatloaf Zombie Recipe (1)

Make a Scary Zombie Meatloaf for Halloween!

It looks disgusting and maybe even scary, but this zombie meatloaf tastes delicious! And oh so perfect for Halloween dinner.

Halloween Meatloaf Zombie Recipe (2)

Making the Meatloaf

Use your favorite meatloaf recipe! I’m including a recipe just for fun, but you can totally use any recipe you’d like for this mummy meatloaf.

Shape the loaf to look like a face and “decorate” it with bacon, onion, string cheese pieces, olives, etc.Really, you can use any ingredients that your family enjoys with meatloaf to make it look like a zombie or mummy face.

Halloween Meatloaf Zombie Recipe (3)

Making the Zombie Face

Yellow onion is pretty easy to cut up and use for the teeth and the eyes of the zombie’s face. In fact, the onion pieces are almost too perfect for the teeth. Yikes. Black olives make great eyes too!

Once you have the eyes and teeth on there, wrap slices of raw bacon around the face and place a few going diagonally over the face too.

The glaze is optional, but it does add some great flavor to the meatloaf. I like to brush some glaze over most of the meatloaf before baking, but I leave parts of the eyes and teeth without glaze for added creepiness. 😉

Leave the string cheese pieces without glaze or add the cheese halfway through cooking if you want them to look more white for a mummy vibe.

How to cook a Meatloaf Zombie in the oven?

Cook the meatloaf for 45-55 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit or 190 degrees Celsius.

An instant-read thermometer is the easiest way to tell when the zombie meatloaf is done! Once it reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit or 71 degrees Celsius.

Halloween Meatloaf Zombie Recipe (4)

Air Fryer Instructions

To ensure that the face fits in your air fryer basket, adjust the meatloaf recipe ingredients. In my 5.8qt air fryer basket, I halved the recipe. Follow directions to make and form meatloaf.

Place the face on a piece of parchment paper in the air fryer basket. Cook for 380°F/193°C for 15 minutes. Check the internal temperature and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes, or until the meatloaf registers at 160°F/71°C.

Can I Make Small Meatloaf Zombies?

You can create one large zombie meatloaf face or make mini individualzombie meatloaves. The one large face will take longer to cook through, but you can serve it in slices that won’t look as gross as the whole face does. Haha.

If you make the meatloaf faces as individual servings, it will take less time to cook, but it will take a little extra time to decorate each. And you get to look it in the eyes when you eat it, rather than just a slice of it. 😉 So you just choose whichever works best for you!

Final Thoughts

Yuck. Yeah, this meatloaf definitely looks gross, but I guess that’s what we’re going for here!

Note: To make it low carb and gluten-free, use this keto bacon-wrapped meatloaf recipe.

Share with us in the comments below how this recipe turned out for you!

Halloween Meatloaf Zombie Recipe (5)

See more of our favorite Halloween recipes:

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  • Adorable Bat Treats For Halloween!
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  • Nutella Crescent Roll Mummies Recipe for Halloween
  • Ooey Gooey Monster Cookies with Eyes

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Halloween Meatloaf Zombie Recipe (6)

Halloween Meatloaf Zombie Recipe (7)

Halloween Meatloaf Zombie Recipe (8)

Halloween Meatloaf Zombie Recipe

Disgusting and delicious! This zombie meatloaf is perfect for Halloween dinner!

4.56 / 5 ( 18 Reviews )

Print Rate

Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Serves: 6

Adjust Servings: 6

Equipment

Ingredients

Meatloaf

Decorations

  • 5 to 7 slices raw bacon
  • ½ onion
  • string cheese

Glaze

Instructions

Oven Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375°F/190°C. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.

  • In a large bowl, mix together the crushed saltines and milk. Let sit for about 5 minutes.

  • Mix in the parsley, eggs, onion powder, garlic powder, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire, salt, and pepper. Add the ground meat and mix until well combined.

  • For the glaze, whisk together the ketchup, brown sugar, and vinegar.

  • Transfer the meat mixture to the prepared baking sheet and shape it into a loaf that looks like a face. Try to keep it an even thickness throughout. Or shape the meat mixture into individual single serving faces.

  • Place small rectangular pieces of cut onion for the teeth. Use larger curved or rounded pieces of onion or black olives for the eyes. Wrap the raw bacon around the face and place a few pieces going over the face diagonally. Add some string cheese over the face as well, if desired.

  • Gently brush the glaze over the meatloaf, if desired. Leave the pieces of cheese without glaze if you want it to look more like a mummy than a zombie.

  • Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until the center of the meatloaf registers at 160°F/71°C. Cooking time may be more or less, depending on the thickness and size of your meatloaf.

  • Loosely tent the meatloaf with foil and let rest for about 10 minutes before slicing and serving. Enjoy!

Air Fryer Instructions

  • To ensure that the face fits in your air fryer basket, adjust the meatloaf recipe ingredients. In my 5.8qt air fryer basket, I halved the recipe.

  • Follow directions to make and form meatloaf.

  • Place the face on a piece of parchment paper in the air fryer basket.

  • Cook for 380°F/193°C for 15 minutes. Check the internal temperature and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes, or until the meatloaf registers at 160°F/71°C.

Recipe Notes

Feel free to use your favorite meatloaf recipe! For the ground meat, I prefer to use all ground beef or a combination of ground beef and ground pork.

Nutrition

Calories: 599kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 32g | Fat: 41g | Sodium: 1307mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 12g

Recipe Adapted From: Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Halloween Meatloaf Zombie Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the basic meatloaf formula? ›

The Basic Meatloaf Formula

All recipes for meatloaf start with the same basic formula: 2 pounds of ground meat and a “panade” made of bread or crackers soaked in milk. Along with a few eggs, this panade helps to hold the ground meat together and adds some essential moisture to the mix.

Why don t you want to cook the meatloaf in the loaf pan? ›

By free-forming a meatloaf—not cooking it in a loaf pan—we get maximum surface area exposure, and therefore maximum flavor. So not only does it make it easier to slice and guard against sogginess, but mounding your meatloaf instead of panning it also makes your meatloaf literally tastier.

Does Joanna Gaines have a meatloaf recipe? ›

Joanna Gaines Meatloaf Recipe from Magnolia Table Cookbook is really the best and the easiest meatloaf recipe ever. This easy meatloaf is made with ground beef, finely chopped onion, tomato sauce, saltines, Cheddar cheese, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper; and glazed with ketchup.

What is the secret to keeping meatloaf moist? ›

What is the secret to moist Meatloaf?
  1. Fat Content. Using a ground beef that has a slightly higher fat content can definitely help keep your meatloaf moist and tender. ...
  2. Add Sautéed Veggies. ...
  3. Add Milk. ...
  4. Use Breadcrumbs. ...
  5. Do NOT Overmix. ...
  6. Season the Meat Well. ...
  7. Add a Glaze. ...
  8. Cover the Meatloaf When Baking.

What is the best binder for meatloaf? ›

If you don't have any bread, you can substitute it for breadcrumbs, crackers, cereal grains, oatmeal, instant rice, instant barley, or even potato flakes! However, bread is still the best choice of all the potential options.

What do you put in meatloaf to keep it from falling apart? ›

In meatloaf, this is most commonly the eggs and breadcrumbs. Your binding ingredient is only second to the meat itself in your recipe and the reason why meatloaf crumbles. When this happens, it's because you didn't use enough. Next time, try adding in an extra egg and/or some more breadcrumbs.

Why do you put milk in meatloaf? ›

Milk and other dairy products, like heavy cream and buttermilk, contain both water and fat, adding two types of moisture to our meatloaf. There's a long-held theory that milk can tenderize ground meat, and this is the reason often cited for cooking ground meat in milk to make a Bolognese-style ragù.

Is it better to bake meatloaf in glass or metal? ›

Metal pans are great conductors of heat; in other words, they heat up quickly, but in turn, they also cool down more rapidly once removed from the heat source. Additionally, metal pans can withstand higher temperatures than glass.

Should you drain meatloaf? ›

To prevent a soggy bottom, Bangor Daily News suggests draining the grease from the loaf pan 15 minutes before your cooking time is up; this helps guarantee all sides bake to perfection.

How to keep grease out of meatloaf? ›

A neat trick to soak up the grease under your meatloaf is to line the bottom of the pan with bread slices. The bread soaks up the grease as the loaf bakes. When the meatloaf is done, you can either throw out the bread or bake it to make some truly indulgent toast.

What syndrome did Meatloaf have? ›

On November 17, 2003, during a performance at London's Wembley Arena, on his Couldn't Have Said It Better tour, he collapsed of what was later diagnosed as Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome, a condition marked by an extra electrical pathway in the heart which causes symptoms like a rapid heartbeat.

Does Joanna Gaines cook every night? ›

"I always let the kids pick what they're wanting," she says. "We don't cook every night, but as often as we can. I like to cook a warm meal for the kiddos and Chip."

Does Joanna Gaines eat healthy? ›

“Typically with sweets, I go all out,” she says. “If you're gonna make the cake, just make the cake.” The key, of course, is moderation. Gaines does stress that most of her family's food includes things like the nutritious vegetables and fruits that grow in their own garden—like this beautiful broccoli!

What is traditional meatloaf made of? ›

Combine ground beef, onion, milk, bread crumbs and egg in a large bowl; season with salt and pepper. Transfer into prepared loaf pan. Mix ketchup, brown sugar, and mustard together in a small bowl until well combined; pour over meatloaf and spread it evenly over the top.

What is meatloaf mix made of? ›

You can often buy meatloaf mix at the store, but if you'd rather make your own, it's simple to do. The ratio of meatloaf mix is usually 1:1:1, meaning that you'll need equal parts ground beef, ground pork, and ground veal.

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