Published: · Modified: by Stephanie · 13 Comments · This post may contain affiliate links
This Italian Meatloaf Roll is deliciously cheesy, saucy and 21 Day Fix approved! Perfect for a Sunday dinner or any night of the week.
Some meals just get right down into your soul, don't they? This is a little twist on a meatloaf roll that I grew up eating - at our house we called it "Diane's Meatloaf." Diane was my mom's best friend (and my best friend's mom!)
She's been gone for seven years now, but every time I make her meatloaf, I imagine her right here with us, telling my kids to be sure to eat their vegetables or even just sitting at the table, laughing with my mother the way they did when we were kids. 🙂 She is missed, but we'll never forget her.
That's the beautiful thing about food. It doesn't just filla belly, itcan tell a story orkeep a memory close.
Aside from the fact that this dish brings so many wonderful memories to my mind, it's also really delicious! I'm from Youngstown, Ohio, which is sort of like being from New York City (hold on, stay with me here!) in the sense that Italian food is what Y-town is all about.
If you're homesick and from Youngstown, the fix will always be picking up whatever you need to make yourself some comfort-y Italian fare. With basil, mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce and roasted bell peppers, this meal really feels like home to me.
Making this meatloaf into a roulade (a French cooking term for roll) sort of fancies it up too, don't you think? It makes it feel just a little more special than your typical 'ol meatloaf (not that there's anything wrong with your typical ol' meatloaf)!
If you've never made any sort of roll like this before, no need to be intimidated, you can do it! It's actuallysimpler than you'd think.Below are some last-minute pics I took of the process in hopes of making the instructions as clear as possible. It really is easy, I promise!
Just FYI, that sauce is ridiculous on some mashed potatoes!
Obviously this meal is close to my heart, but I'd love to work on "fixing" meals that are close to yours, too! You can contact me here with your recipes that you'd like me to fixify! I'm excited to see what your favorites are!
<3 Enjoy!
📖 Recipe
Italian Meatloaf Roulade
Yield: 8 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 lbs 95% lean ground beef
- ¾ cup whole wheat bread crumbs or panko
- 2 eggs
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 Tbs garlic powder
- 2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ cup onions, chopped
- freshly ground black pepper, to season
- 8 large leaves of fresh basil (or more if your leaves are smaller) - you can chop these if you like
- 1 ⅓ cups shredded mozzarella cheese
For Sauce:
- 15 oz can no-sodium tomato sauce
- 1 (12 oz) jar of roasted red peppers, in water (DRAINED WELL!!)
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9X13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
For the Sauce:
- In a blender, combine the tomato sauce with the drained, roasted red peppers and a pinch of salt and blend until smooth. Set aside.
For the Meatloaf:
- In a large bowl, gently mix together the beef, bread crumbs, eggs, salt, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, black pepper and onions until fully combined.
- Lay out a large sheet of wax paper on your table (this will help you to roll your meatloaf - it's pretty tough without it, fyi). Place your meatloaf mixture on top and spread it out with your hands until you've got a rectangle that's about 9" wide and ½" thick (sorry I forgot to measure how long it was but as long as you make it ½ thick and about 9" wide, it won't really matter because you'll be rolling it up anyway!)
- Lay out your basil leaves on top of the meatloaf and sprinkle the entire thing (leaving a bit of a cheese-free border) with mozzarella.
- Using one end of the wax paper, roll your meatloaf as you would a pumpkin roll or jelly roll.
- Carefully put it in your prepared baking dish, seam side down. Top with the blended sauce and bake uncovered for one hour or until cooked through in the center. Top with some extra chopped basil if you have some and voila!
Notes
21 Day Fix Container Equivalents: 1 RED, ½ BLUE, ⅓ GREEN & ⅙ YELLOW (if you choose to count that - I don't!)
Weight Watchers Freestyle Points: 6
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8Serving Size: 1 slice per serving
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 298Total Fat: 11g
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- Healthy Cincinnati Chili {21 Day Fix | Weight Watchers}
Reader Interactions
Comments
Steph says
I made this the other night, in a lazy way. I didn’t roll it, but rather pressed half the meat mixture into the pan, then the mozza and basil, and topped with the remaining meat mixture and the tomato sauce. It was so good!! And reheats well for lunches. Yummy!
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Stephanie says
Awesome!! I'm so glad it was a hit!!
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Kris says
Omg... I just found your blog site today. I am from YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio as well!!! I love your recipes! I am just starting the 21 day fix, and your Italian-based recipes speak to me!! Thanks so much for posting!! Keep on coming with them!
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Stephanie says
Hi Kris, I'm so glad you're liking my recipes! Nothing says Y-town like Italian food, right?! So glad you're liking my recipes! And good luck with 21DF, if you have any questions about anything, feel free to contact me 🙂
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Amanda says
I'm finding myself eating only food for my soul lately. Different versions of foods I ate as a kid or at holidays and special occasions. Ever since my dad passed, I always seem to want his favorite foods. He always asked me to make him meatloaf so I totally agree that this is total comfort food. It really looks and sounds wonderful my love! I've never rolled them before, it looks awesome!
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Stephanie says
Thank you, my dear! I always find it so incredible how just making and eating a particular meal can make us feel so much closer to those we love. Hugs to you, Amanda!
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Lynne says
The side dishes in the picture look delicious! Do you have the recipes for them?
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Stephanie says
Thanks, Lynne! I don't have those on the blog, but the potatoes are just Yukon golds mashed with a little bit of plain almond milk and topped with a little bit of rosemary oil (from this popcorn post). I'm going to work on getting those green beans and artichoke hearts on the blog soon!
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Lerissa says
Hi, how long do i bake meatloaf for? Im ready to put in oven and it doesnt say for how long
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Lerissa says
LOL never mind skimmed over the hour part
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Stephanie says
Haha... no problem, Lerissa! Enjoy!
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Shannon says
This looks wonderful! I am trying it now ( meaning it's roasting in the oven as we speak!) B/c my family is usually lacking in veggies some way or another, I added a shredded carrot to it, and for the sauce b/c I didn't have roasted peppers on hand, I just used canned tomatoes with a little tomato paste and a ton of seasonings lol, and topped it with that. I'm looking forward to the end result! Thanks for sharing!
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Stephanie says
Hi, Shannon, so glad you're trying this one out, it's definitely a family fave! Before I revamped it for the blog, I used to just top it with plain ol' tomato sauce and it was delicious that way, so I have no doubt that yours is going to be great 🙂
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