BBQ Meatloaf Sandwiches
A whole meatloaf baked at home, sliced cold at the trailhead onto sourdough.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 69
- protein
- 34 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 15 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Lunch
- Dinner
- No cook
- Cooler only
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Nut free
- Eat in the bag
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Ground beef | 1.5 lb | 80/20 holds together better than lean |
|---|---|---|
| Breadcrumbs | 1 cup | |
| Onion | 1 medium | diced fine so slices hold |
| Garlic | 3 cloves | minced |
| Egg | 1 | beaten |
| Salt | 1 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1/4 tsp | |
| Tomato sauce | 1 8-oz can | |
| Barbecue sauce | 1 cup | |
| Sourdough loaf | 1 | sliced at home |
Method
- At home: mix the beef, breadcrumbs, onion, garlic, egg, tomato sauce, salt, and pepper by hand until it just comes together. Overworking makes it dense.
- Press into a loaf in a shallow pan. Pour the barbecue sauce over the top so it glazes as it bakes.
- Bake at 350°F for one hour. Center should read 160°F.
- Cool it completely on the counter before wrapping. Wrapping it warm steams the crust and shortens its life in the cooler.
- At camp: slice cold, lay two slices on sourdough, eat. No stove, no pot, no dishes.
This is an RV recipe adapted for a cooler and nothing else. The whole point is that the cooking already happened. You do an hour of oven work at home and buy yourself several no-stove meals at camp, which matters most on the first night when you arrive late and on rest days when you do not want to deal with a stove at noon.
Cooling the loaf fully before wrapping is the step people skip. Trapped steam softens the glaze and gives bacteria a warm pocket to work in. Chilled solid, the loaf slices clean instead of crumbling, and it is good for about three days packed against ice. Vegetables and coleslaw are left off on purpose, since neither survives a cooler as well as the meat does.
Packing
Wrap the cooled loaf tight in foil, then a zip bag, and bury it low in the cooler against the ice. Bread rides on top so it does not get crushed or damp. Slice at camp, not at home, or the cut faces dry out.
Variations
- Warm slices in foil on a grill grate if you have a fire going anyway.
- Extra barbecue sauce in a squeeze bottle covers the second and third day, when the loaf dries out.
- Swap in ground turkey and add a spoonful of oil to the mix so it does not go crumbly.
https://thervatlas.com/food/make-ahead-meals-for-rv-vacations