Instant Pot Meat Loaf

I love meat loaf and it turns out that so does the little Tapita! It's delicious hot or cold so really convenient. Perfect for picnics for that imminent spring weather that is round the corner. This Instant Pot Meat Loaf is delicious!

I have added a lot of flavour and a lot of vegetables to this meatloaf and it has been a hit with both Mr Tapas and the little Tapita so I am sticking to it from now on (as much as I can stick to any recipe anyway!).

As you don't all have an Instant Pot yet, I have given instructions below for other ways of cooking.

The timings for this recipe are going to depend on what shape and size you decide to give your meat loaf (or if you decide to urn it into meatballs or burgers), I have tried to give as much guidance as I can. A meat thermometer will come in very handy.

I have made it all beef with a mixture of pork and beef and also with all turkey mince. A mixture of pork and beef or all turkey are my favourites. In fact I was expecting the all-turkey meat loaf to be blander in flavour but it's positively delicious and still full of flavour.

You can of course absolutely turn this into patties, burgers, meatballs... Small meatballs in fact you can steam in about 5 minutes with natural release in a steamer basket (these are the most popular Instant Pot steamer baskets and inserts). You could also do mini meat loaves, I have these mini loaf moulds from Sainsbury's, they fit side by side in your Instant Pot, handy if you want to freeze some! In this case do 15 minutes on the trivet.

Of course there's plenty of mix to experiment: mini meat loaves and meat balls. Mini meat loaves for work lunches and meat balls to use instead of sausages in my All-in-One Instant Pot Sausage and Tomato Pasta.

Although you do not need a loaf mould for this, it does help make it very juicy (and for the all-turkey version you do as it doesn't hold together as well). You could wrap it in foil of course, do not pack it up too tight though.

I have used the new Instant Pot Non-Stick Silicone Loaf Mould which has a detachable sturdy tempered glass base, is super easy to use and can go in the dishwasher! It will soon be available in the UK too. I got an early one to play with. Also a round one. They are really really good. I have to say I had my doubts at first with my clumsiness, the glass, the way the silicone wraps around the glass... but, to my surprise, I have found it easier to use than conventional metal springform tins.

The new Instant Pot Springform Loaf Pan with Tempered Glass Base, soon on sale in the UK

If you don't have a meat thermometer, I advise you get one. It will come in handy.

For Thermomix users: this recipe helps give your Thermie a workout too, chopping all the veg. You can also mix the meat mix on reverse but it doesn't work all the flavours in as well as a big of hands-on effort (I have tried it both ways now and definitely mixing it all by hand).

Fancy trying it?

Instant Pot Meat Loaf

Ingredients

- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 carrot, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- Half an orange pepper, chopped (feel free to use any colour of pepper you prefer of course)

- 500 g pork mince (or you can use all turkey mince)

- 454 g beef mince (or you can use all turkey mince)

- 2 tbsp + 1 tsp soy sauce

- 1 tbsp English mustard

- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp mixed herbs

- Lots of ground black pepper

- 1 tsp sea salt

For cooking

- 2 cups (500 ml total) cold water

Equipment

Instant Pot, trivet, silicone loaf mould

Method

Note for Thermomix users: you can chop the onion, carrot and garlic together for 5 seconds, speed 5. Then add the pepper and do 2 seconds, speed 5. Then either add all other ingredients except the water to the Thermomix bowl and do a few seconds on REVERSE, speed 3 to mix up. Or just add the mince to a mixing bowl and then add all other ingredients including the chopped veg (but not the water) and mix by hand.

1. Place the mince in a large mixing bowl, add the chopped veg and all other ingredients except the water and mix well.

2. Compact into a meat loaf. If using a mould, grease it with oil (I used olive oil) and place it in that. In the Instant Pot Silicone mould I also moulded it away from the walls with my hands to give it extra shape. Remember not to compact too much. And also remember you don't need a mould for the pork and beef version (the turkey one is a bit more fragile) but it is good to have your meat loaf in something so that it stays juicy. Of course you can turn to make meatballs or burgers.

3. Pour the 2 cups of water in the inner pot, place the trivet in place, place the meat loaf on top (or the meatballs in a steamer basket if you prefer, no need for the trivet then. Close the lid, making sure the sealing ring is properly in place and the steam release handle is pointing to Sealing. Press the "Manual" or "Pressure Cook" button, high pressure, followed by the - and + buttons to programme 35 minutes, perform a natural release at the end (i.e. let the float valve pop back down on its own, if you have been waiting longer than 15 minutes and the float valve hasn’t popped back down, just release the rest of the steam). My guess is it would be the same times if wrapping in foil.

4. Check that the meat loaf is cooked through either by cutting it open or with a meat thermometer. The meat thermometer will also allow you to play with different shapes in future

5. The meat loaf can be sliced and served straight away but bear in mind a bit of standing time will make it easier to slice. It can also be served cold the next day (when it will slice much better).

Tip: feel free to turn this recipe into burgers (to fry or steam, around 7-10 minutes), meatballs (if you roll them small they only need 5 minutes in a steamer basket), anything you can think of. If you turn it into meatballs, make sure you make them small and try them in my Sausage Pasta. Or even into meat loaves using the Sainsbury's mini meat loaf moulds mentioned above (15 minutes for those). All these timings could do with a natural release.

Oven

If you don't have an Instant Pot (yet) and you fancy giving this a go, place in the oven preheated at around 200ºC covered in foil for a good 30 minutes, then remove the foil and keep cooking for a few minutes until cooked through.

Meatballs or patties for frying

Easy, just turn into meatballs or patties and just shallow fry in a bit of oil until cooked through.

BBQ

Just barbecue until cooked through

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Instant Pot Meat Loaf

A delicious meat loaf with lots of flavour using ingredients you can easily find in UK supermarkets. Eat hot or cold. Great for picnics or with a salad.

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Course Main Course

Cuisine British

Servings 6 people

Equipment

• Instant Pot
• Trivet
• Silicone loaf mould

Ingredients

  

• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 1 carrot finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
• Half an orange pepper chopped (feel free to use any colour of pepper you prefer of course)
• 500 g pork mince or you can use all turkey mince
• 454 g beef mince or you can use all turkey mince (it doesn't have to be 454 g exactly, it can be 400, it can be 500)
• 2 tbsp + 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp English mustard
• 1 tbsp + 1 tsp mixed herbs
• Lots of ground black pepper
• 1 tsp sea salt

For cooking

• 500 ml water from the cold tap

Instructions

 

Note for Thermomix users: you can chop the onion, carrot and garlic together for 5 seconds, speed 5. Then add the pepper and do 2 seconds, speed 5. Then either add all other ingredients except the water to the Thermomix bowl and do a few seconds on REVERSE, speed 3 to mix up.

• Place the mince in a large mixing bowl, add the chopped veg and all other ingredients except the water and mix well.
• Compact into a meat loaf. If using a mould, grease it with oil (I used olive oil) and place it in that. In the Instant Pot Silicone mould I also moulded it away from the walls with my hands to give it extra shape. Remember not to compact too much. And also remember you don’t need a mould for the pork and beef version (the turkey one is a bit more fragile) but it is good to have your meat loaf in something so that it stays juicy. Of course you can turn it into meatballs or burgers.
• Pour the 500 ml of water into the inner pot, place the trivet in place, place the meat loaf on top (or the meatballs in a steamer basket if you prefer, no need for the trivet then). Close the lid, making sure the sealing ring is properly in place and the steam release handle is pointing to Sealing. Press the “Manual” or “Pressure Cook” button, high pressure, followed by the – and + buttons to programme 35 minutes, perform a natural release at the end (i.e. let the float valve pop back down on its own, if you have been waiting longer than 15 minutes and the float valve hasn’t popped back down, just release the rest of the steam). My guess is it would be the same times if wrapping in foil instead of using the loaf pan.
• Check that the meat loaf is cooked through either by cutting it open or with a meat thermometer.
• The meat loaf can be sliced and served straight away but bear in mind a bit of standing time will make it easier to slice. It can also be served cold the next day (when it will slice much better).

Notes

Tip: feel free to turn this recipe into burgers (to fry or steam, around 7-10 minutes), meatballs (if you roll them small they only need 5 minutes in a steamer basket), anything you can think of. If you turn it into meatballs, make sure you make them small and try them in my Sausage Pasta. Or even into meat loaves using the Sainsbury’s mini meat loaf moulds mentioned above (15 minutes for those). All these timings could do with a natural release.

Oven

If you don’t have an Instant Pot (yet) and you fancy giving this a go, place in the oven preheated at around 200ºC covered in foil for a good 30 minutes, then remove the foil and keep cooking for a few minutes until cooked through.

Meatballs or patties for frying

Easy, just turn into meatballs or patties and just shallow fry in a bit of oil until cooked through.

BBQ

Just barbecue until cooked through.

*Terminology

 

Quick release (also called quick pressure release or QPR) means venting the steam as soon as the pressure cooking process finishes, i.e. moving the steam release handle from Sealing to Venting.

 

Natural release (also called natural pressure release or NPR) means letting the float valve pop back down of its own accord, so basically you don’t need to do anything at the end and can keep your feet up. If it takes over 15 minutes, you're ok to release the rest of the steam (by turning the steam release handle to Venting) that may be left in order to unlock and open the lid. 

 

Sometimes you'll see me talk of a combination of NPR followed by a QPR. For example, a recipe can have a 4 minute NPR followed by a QPR. This means that you wait for 4 minutes at the end of the pressure cooking time and then do a QPR by moving the steam release handle from Sealing to Venting.