Cheeseburger Meatloaf with Easy Cheese Sauce

My husband always jumps at the chance to have "the guys" over to play video games on a Friday night. All that button pushing can work up quite an appetite, so I have often used the gang as a test group for new recipes. This tasty number was one of those "tester recipes." To my delight, it was devoured quickly and completely.

Growing up, I never really liked meatloaf. I'm not sure why (I also hated apple juice and ranch dressing, but loved vegetables and V8), but this recipe made me a meatloaf believer. With a yummy cheese sauce, this is sure to please kids and adults alike! Oh, and thanks for being my (sometimes unknowing) test subjects, guys!

Note: This recipe calls for 2 slices of bread. These are to line the loaf pan and soak up any grease and are meant to be thrown away after cooking. You do not want to eat these bread slices! Yuck!

Note: After a couple of experiments since I originally posted this, I would strongly recommend using a lean beef for this recipe (preferably around 7% fat). If you use a beef with too much fat, it really falls apart and you lose the texture of the meatloaf... also, it can become a greasy mess. Not appetizing!

Meatloaf

• 1 lbs ground beef
• Dash of salt
  
• Dash of pepper
  
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp seasoned salt
  
• 1 medium white or yellow onion, chopped
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 cup crushed Ritz crackers
• 2 slices of bread

Sauce

• 1 can of cream of mushroom soup
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 1/2- 1 3/4 cups grated cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In large bowl, season ground beef with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and seasoned salt.

3. Add onion, 1 cup cheese, Worcestershire sauce, sour cream, and crushed crackers. Gently mix to combine.

4. Place the bread slices on the bottom of a 1/2 quart loaf pan. Shape meat mixture into a loaf shape and place on top of bread slices.

5. Bake meatloaf for 45-50 minutes.

6. When meatloaf has about 10 of cook time left, start the cheese sauce.

7. In a medium sauce pan, heat condensed soup and milk over medium heat.

8. Add cheese and stir until cheese melts and is combined throughout the sauce.

6. Once meatloaf is done, discard bread slices. Sauce can be drizzled over meatloaf or portioned out on each serving.