Meatloaf Burgers

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Loaded with tender beef, vegetables, tomato sauce, oats, and seasoning, these meatloaf burgers are quick and easy to make and every bite is mouth-wateringly moist.

Hand holding a meatloaf burger.

If you ever want folks to get a wistful look in their eyes and set mouths to watering, just mention a good old-fashioned meatloaf sandwich. In fact, I know a lot of folks who make meatloaf just so they can have sandwiches the next day! I’m a fan of both, but when I find myself hankering for a tender hunk of meatloaf on a bun, I just cut out the middle man and make these burgers. With all the flavor and texture of tender meatloaf, they hit the spot every time.

Each meatloaf patty is loaded with the good stuff: oats, eggs, onion, bell pepper, tomato sauce, tender ground beef, and seasonings. Luckily, this meatloaf burger recipe is quick and easy (my favorite kind of recipe). Simply mix the ingredients together, shape them into patties, and cook. You’ll have enough meatloaf burgers to serve a hungry family in 20 minutes. How good does that sound?

Pair your mouthwateringly moist meatloaf burger with my burger slaw and a serving of parmesan oven fries and you have the perfect main dish. This burger is tender and moist, just like a slice of your favorite meatloaf. Enjoy!

Meatloaf burger ingredients.

Recipe Ingredients

  • Ground beef
  • Quick oats (old-fashioned oats will work, too)
  • Eggs
  • Chopped onion
  • Chopped bell pepper
  • Tomato sauce (you can substitute for ketchup)
  • Seasonings: salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

How to Make Meatloaf Burgers

Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl.

Place all of your ingredients into a large bowl.

Now we need to mix this up. There are several ways of doing this but my favorite is to use my hands. This is by far the most efficient and quickest way to mix a meatloaf. For anyone horrified at the thought of this I want to point out that hands are washable.

Just give ’em a good wash, dig in and mix this up, then wash them again. Voila! Clean hands AND meatloaf!

Whereas before, you had clean hands and NO meatloaf. See the bonus here?

Mixed ingredients.

 When it’s all mixed up it will look like this.

Shape into 4 doughnut-shaped patties.

Shape that into four doughnut-shaped patties.

We make them doughnut-shaped because this helps the center to get cooked quicker, so we don’t end up having to burn the outer edges while waiting on the center to cook. I do regular hamburgers this way, too.

As it cooks, the meat shrinks and the center hole closes up.

A close-up shot of our gorgeous mouthwatering meatloaf burgers.

Place these in a large skillet over medium-high heat until brown on both sides (about 5-7 minutes on each side).

Then, add 1 cup of water to the skillet and continue cooking until juices run clear, about 5 minutes more.

Note: These will be more tender than traditional hamburger patties. So be a little gentle with turning them and only turn when they get good and brown because then they’ll hold together better.

Meatloaf burger.

Serve on your favorite bun, topped with ketchup and this wonderfully quick and easy burger slaw.

 There aren’t a lot of photos of this because as I was holding the burger to take this shot, I looked down at my camera screen to see how it turned out and without even realizing it, took a big old bite out of this mouthwatering meatloaf burger. And boy was it ever good!!! 

Storage

  • Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat in the microwave, air fryer, or skillet.
  • You can also freeze uncooked or cooked patties for up to 4 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before cooking as instructed or reheat as mentioned above.

Recipe Notes

  • Substitute the oats for bread crumbs or Saltine cracker crumbs if you like.
  • Want to add more seasoning? Opt for 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder, 2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce, or a dash of cayenne pepper for heat.
  • You can totally substitute the ground beef for ground turkey if you prefer. If you want to add more meat, add 2/3 cup of chopped cooked bacon.

Recipe FAQs

What do you serve with a meatloaf burger?

You can make a meatloaf sandwich with burger slaw, coleslaw, or your favorite burger toppings, like pickles, fresh tomato slices, and lettuce. Alternatively, serve your meatloaf patties as a main dish with mashed potatoes and fresh green beans.

You may also like these burger recipes:

Hamburger Steaks Recipe

Christy’s Smoked Burgers

Juicy Burgers (with a surprise ingredient!)

Let’s Talk Burgers

Meatloaf Burgers

Loaded with beef, vegetables, tomato sauce, oats, and seasoning, these meatloaf burgers are quick and easy to make and mouth-wateringly moist.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: burger, meatloaf
Servings: 4
Calories: 520kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 pounds ground beef can use lean or ground chuck
  • 1 can tomato sauce 8 ounces, can substitute 3/4 cup ketchup
  • 1/2 cup quick oats or cracker crumbs
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 1/3 cup chopped bell pepper
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

  • Place a large skillet over medium heat while you prepare the meatloaf burgers.
  • Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix with hands until well mixed. Form into 4 doughnut-shaped patties.
    1 1/2 pounds ground beef, 1 can tomato sauce, 1/2 cup quick oats or cracker crumbs, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup chopped onion, 1/3 cup chopped bell pepper, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • Place them in the heated skillet and brown on both sides (about 5-7 minutes per side). Add 1 cup of water to the skillet and continue cooking until juices run clear (about 5 minutes or so).
  • Serve on your favorite buns, preferably topped with ketchup and slaw. Enjoy!

Nutrition

Calories: 520kcal
Tried this recipe?Mention @southernplate or tag #southernplate!

 

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107 Comments

  1. I have never liked oat meal in ground beef anything. I use rice Krispy cereal or ground up crackers, coursely done in the food processor. They have a lighter taste and absorb the excess liquid or fat or whatever the oatmeal is supposed to do.
    I made this recipe using my crackers and it was really good. Will add into my box of favorites. I think I will also try it for my filling for stuffed red sweet bell peppers…the green ones are too bitter so I use the colored, ripe ones.

  2. Great recipe. I have been using a copycat Cracker Barrel recipe for meatloaf for a few years and this will replace it. Only change I will use next time is to use no salt (personal taste and blood pressure). Thanks so much for sharing this. God Bless you and yours.

  3. I made these exactly as written last night for the first time. Very disappointing and bland. My husband, inlaws and I all thought they were missing something. I wish I had made my regular meatloaf recipe, and just served that on a bun.

  4. Hello, good recipe. The only thing I did differently was to spread the vegetables out on a cookie sheet and put them under the broiler for 2 minutes to soften them up a bit. Thanks for your time.

  5. Christy, I finally tried these burgers for dinner tonight and they were terrific! I followed the recipe exactly, except for the fact that I forgot to shape them into donut shaped burgers. They still came out very moist anyway.

    By the way, I used one and a half pounds of meat with all the ingredients you have listed, but it was way too much for four burgers. The other ingredients stretched it so much that I was able to make SEVEN burgers (6 ounces each). Like I said, I followed your recipe exactly but that’s how it came out. No complaints at all, I just wanted to let you and others know that. Next time I figure I’ll use just a pound of meat and probably get four or five large burgers.

    I made these along with your Parmesan Oven Fries and it was a great dinner. Thanks again! 🙂

  6. I am writing about the new sit with the YUM button. I cannot get back to your recipes so I can print it out the when I tried to sign on to the new site you posted, I got the message that the site was corrupted and advised me to close it immediately. This was a message from my virus that is installed. I was on the site – no problem but when I wanted to see my recipe box I got the corrupt message.

    1. Hey Waneta, I’m so sorry you’re having problems! It sounds like, if I read correctly, that the problem isn’t with SouthernPlate but with Yummly. I hate that you are having any problems at all but I am glad SouthernPlate isn’t giving them to ya. She’s getting on up in years but she’s still a good ole gal. Here is a page on Yummly that *may* have a solution and if it doesn’t, check on the “contact support” link at the bottom and they should be able to fix you right up. I feel confident that Yummly doesn’t have any viruses (sites like southernplate and yummly are large and run scans constantly) so it is likely a glitch or setting that is off. I hope this helps! https://help.yummly.com/hc/en-us/articles/203455230-Recipe-Problems

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