Forget the boring old loaf pan—this meatloaf isn’t hiding under a blanket of ketchup anymore. It’s unmasked and ready to make your dinner table shriek with delight. Equal parts creepy and comforting, this recipe turns a weeknight classic into a ghoulish centerpiece your guests will never forget.
Ingredients (makes 1 meatloaf, approx. 4x7): • ½ lb. ground beef • ½ tsp celery salt • ½ tsp beefy onion seasoning (such as Lipton) • 2 large eggs • 1 cup bread crumbs • 1 cup ketchup • ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce • 1 onion, halved (for the eyes 👀) • 2–3 cloves garlic, separated into long skinny pieces (for the teeth 🧛) • Extra ketchup (to “paint” wounds, bloody teeth, scars, or stitches)
Instructions: 1. Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare an 11x9 baking dish. 2. With clean hands, mix together beef, celery salt, onion seasoning, eggs, bread crumbs, ketchup, and Worcestershire. 3. Shape mixture into an oval loaf about 1–2 inches thick. Pinch the bottom edge into a jawline, press in two eye sockets, and form an open mouth. 4. Place one onion half into each socket for bulging eyes. Press garlic pieces into the “gums” as eerie teeth. 5. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until fully cooked. 6. Decorate with ketchup, adding drips for blood, slashes for scars, and even stitches for a horror-movie effect.
🎃 Halloween Fact: Did you know the first recorded “jack-o’-lanterns” were actually carved from turnips in Ireland? Pumpkins didn’t enter the tradition until Irish immigrants brought the idea to America.
👻 Spooky Serving Idea: Set your meatloaf face on a bed of lettuce “hair” or spaghetti “worms” spilling from its mouth. For extra drama, serve it on a dark platter with red pepper “tongues” lolling out. It’s creepy, it’s kooky, and it’s downright delicious!
