This Mushroom-Walnut Meatless Loaf w/ Ketchup Glaze is hearty, healthy & full of flavor. It will keep the vegans & non-vegans at the table together.
After going vegan, I really missed meatloaf, but when I really thought about it, it wasn’t the meat that was comforting my taste buds & senses back then...it was the texture, taste, and aroma I craved. Meat by itself just smells & tastes gross…especially, when it’s raw. So a Meatless Loaf was in my future.
I made this Meatless Loaf with mushrooms to capture that “meaty” texture, and I used most of the same veggies, herbs & spices of a classic meatloaf recipe. You won't be missing a thing!
Mushrooms will do the trick every time, and I use them often to replace the meat-like texture. These Lentil Mushroom Tacos and my Portobello Vegan Fajitas are very popular with my non-vegan friends, and they look forward to eating dinner at our house.
How do I make a Vegan Meatloaf?
As I was saying, the mushrooms really do the trick for the meaty texture, but to pull it all together, I also added some cooked rice, rolled oats & mashed potatoes. Together, these ingredients add a nice bitey texture and will make the loaf tender and moist.
It's almost the same as making a meat-based loaf, with some additional steps. I promise it'll be worth it though. Here's what you'll need to do:
STEP 1
Cook your rice and potatoes. This helps with texture and the potatoes keep it all together. I make them the night before to make things easier.
STEP 2
Prepare your flax egg and set aside
STEP 3
Sauté the onions, celery, mushrooms and spices.
STEP 4
Add the sautéed veggies, flax egg and to a large bowl with the rice, potatoes, oats, tomato paste, Worcestershire, salt, and pepper. Combine well.
STEP 5
Transfer to a lined loaf pan and press down firmly so it molds into pan. Top with ketchup glaze and bake to perfection.
How do you make ketchup glaze for meatloaf?
It's really easy! You'll just need mustard, brown sugar, vinegar, salt, and of course, ketchup. Combined, these ingredients create a subtly-sweet, savory & tangy flavor.
Just mix them all together and set aside while you prepare the rest. When everything is done, just brush it on to the top of the loaf. During the baking process, it'll get bubbly, gooey, and caramelized. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!
Can I freeze it?
Yes! You can bake it all the way through and freeze or just freeze after you fill the loaf pan. I haven't tried freezing it with the ketchup glaze. It's so easy to make fresh, so I just do it the day of.
The loaf will take at least 30-40 minutes longer to heat throughout. I usually add the ketchup glaze at the halfway mark to avoid it getting too crispy.
What can I serve with it?
- Vegan Mashed Potatoes
- Vegan Coleslaw
- Salad
- Vegan Cauliflower Casserole
- Sautéed Green Beans
I'd love to hear from you
If you make this recipe, let me know what you think by ★ star rating it and leaving a comment below. It would really make my day. You can also follow me on Instagram and share your creation with me. Just tag me @veganhuggs and hashtag #veganhuggs so I don’t miss it.
Mushroom-Walnut Meatless Loaf with Ketchup Glaze
Ingredients
Ketchup Glaze:
- ½ cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons mustard
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Meatless Loaf
- 2 ½ tablespoons ground flaxseed + 6 tablespoons water (for flax egg)
- 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil (or preferred cooking oil)
- 1 medium red onion , diced
- 3 stalks celery , diced
- 3-4 cloves garlic , minced
- 12 oz cremini mushrooms , finely chopped or minced (about 4 cups)
- 2 cups cooked rice
- 1 cup cooked potatoes , mashed
- ¾ cup rolled oats (gluten-free if preferred)
- ⅓ cup breadcrumbs (gluten-free if preferred)
- ¾ cup walnuts , pulsed in food processor into a loose meal (or finely chopped)
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon ground sage
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 2 tablespoons vegan worcestershire sauce
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt , more to taste
- Fresh cracked pepper , to taste
Instructions
Ketchup Glaze:
- To make the glaze, mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. Mix well & set aside.
Meatless Loaf:
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Mix the water and flaxseed meal together in a small bowl, set aside for at least 10 minutes (this makes 2 flax eggs). It will gel up.
- Prepare a loaf pan by lining with parchment paper. Lining the pan makes it so much easier to remove after cooking. Here is a quick video on how to line a loaf pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Sprinkle with salt. Sauté onion & celery over medium heat for 5-6 minutes, until onions are slightly browned and celery is softened.
- Add garlic, thyme, rosemary, parsley, and sage. Sauté for 1 minute.
- Turn heat up to medium-high and then add the mushrooms. Cook until they have released all their liquid and the pan and mushrooms are mostly dry. About 6-8 minutes.
- Transfer the cooked mushroom mixture to a large bowl. Add the mashed potatoes, breadcrumbs, flax eggs, rice, rolled oats, walnuts, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, salt & pepper. Combine all ingredients really well, using hands if necessary. Give a quick taste to see if it needs any more seasoning, add as needed.
- Place mixture into your lined loaf pan. Press down firmly so it molds into pan. Brush top of loaf with the ketchup glaze.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes, until heated through. If you would like to crisp the glaze a bit, turn the broiler on for 2-3 minutes. Be careful not to burn.
- Let the loaf cool for about 10 minutes before trying to remove from pan. Use the paper to pull it up and onto your serving dish. Let sit for another 5-10 minutes before serving. This helps firm it up more.
Useful Tools To make This Recipe
Notes
Nutrition
Kay
Can I use dried shiitaki mushrooms?
Melissa Huggins
Hi Kay, I haven't tried it, but I believe it should work. I'd love to hear how it turns out if you make it. Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Ana Gutierrez Wittmann
Best meatless "meatloaf I ve prepared. ! moist, tasty and nutritous🤩
Melissa Huggins
This is the nicest compliment! Thank you for giving it a try. 🙂
Karin Feltman
i have a question- can this be made into "burger" patties instead of a loaf? just looking for a good burger recipe and i love mushrooms. seems like this might work?
Melissa Huggins
Hi Karen, I haven’t tried it. The patties may be a little soft, but it may work. I do have a great burger recipe that’s made with mushrooms and they have a meaty texture. They hold nicely too. Here’s the link if you want to take a look. https://veganhuggs.com/bean-mushroom-burger/ Thanks for stopping by 😀
therese marcel
This is soooooo good! I omitted the oil because I am wfpb. This is by far the best loaf I ever had! Thanks for sharing it
Melissa Huggins
Such a nice compliment! Thank you so much! 🙂
Allie
How do you make flax eggs,?
Melissa Huggins
You mix together 2 1/2 tablespoons of flaxseed with 6 tablespoons of water. Then set aside for least 10 minutes. It will thicken and gel up slightly.
Jacque
Would like to make this for Christmas. Can I prepare the loaf a day ahead and bake on Christmas day?
Melissa Huggins
Absolutely! After you fill the loaf pan, let it cool and refrigerate. It will take a little longer to cook out of the fridge, but not too much. To heat, cover it with foil for the first 15-20 minutes to prevent burning. Then uncover and cook until heated throughout and the glaze is caramelized. I hope this helps. Have a Merry Christmas! 🙂
Marie
Very delicious!! My hubby and I both loved it! Time consuming, it would be very beneficial to have rice and potato cooked ahead of time, and everything else chopped. But, well worth it. Thank you! I look forward to making again.
Melissa Huggins
Hi Marie, I'm glad you both loved it! Yeah, it's a lot easier to have those ingredients prepared in the fridge. Thank you for giving it a try 🙂
Jodi
Cooked this tonight. Followed the recipe pretty close. I used different mushrooms and didn't have as much rice on hand as I thought, 1 C instead of 2. I added extra potato.
I gave this 5 stars because it tasted great and my husband really liked it too. He does not like bean or veggie burger or other substitute burger type recipes. We rarely eat "fake meat" and he won't eat tofu so it's hard to find entree recipes like this that taste really good and are like comfort foods. I served it with a simple salad and mashed potatoes. Big hit.
This recipe takes some prep work. There have been times when I do a lot of prep for a recipe and it fails in taste and texture. Very disappointing when that happens. This loaf we enjoyed, and my husband had 3 servings! Nice. Worth the extra effort.
Thank you for sharing. I will be mailing it again.
Melissa Huggins
This is such a nice compliment! Thank you for making it and sharing your modifications. I'm glad the extra potato worked out 🙂
Steven J. Wright
Yea Its a great recipe. I subbed coconut sugar in the glaze. 40 to 45 min seems like the ticket. Super yummy.
Melissa Huggins
So glad it worked out for you! Thank you for making it 🙂
Linda
I'm planning on making this for a vegan solstice dinner but don't have a loaf pan. What size loaf pan are use using? I'm considering using a larger deep square pan and doubling the recipe so there will be enough for big eaters but am concerned if it will cook evenly; what do you think or would you recommend sticking with loaf pans?
Melissa Huggins
Hi Linda, I use a standard size loaf pan (8.5 x 4.5 x 2.5). I haven't tried this recipe with a larger pan, but I think it could work It may be hard to take it out of the pan without breaking, so you may need to cut the pieces directly in the pan and use a spatula to remove. If you double the recipe, make sure to use a very large pan for the mushrooms. You want to cook them well to release any moisture. I hope this helps. I'd love to hear how it turns out for you 🙂
CeeCee
Hi, Can I use brown rice instead of white?
Melissa Huggins
Absolutely! 🙂
TofuAnnie
I made your meat(less) loaf for my mom, who's sort of new to plant-based and it was an absolute winner, for us both! She shared tastes of it later with some of her omni friends and they loved it too! We're making it for Thanksgiving, but I'm thinking of making a double batch, so we can have some to pull out of the freezer when we're craving it and didn't plan ahead.. All of the flavors are just spot on. Thank you for your hard work!
Melissa Huggins
Hi Annie, This is wonderful to hear! I'm so glad you both liked it. We're having it for Thanksgiving too! Have a lovely holiday! 🙂
CeejfromMinneapolis
Oh.good.God! This recipe is amazing! I've always made a lentil loaf for the holidays to much eye rolling from family. Made this yesterday to see if it would fly for Thanksgiving. My husband had seconds which he NEVER does with the old lentil loaf. This mushroom-walnut loaf will proudly be served this Thanksgiving and for holidays to come! Thank you so much for saving my reputation! 🙂
Melissa Huggins
This makes me happy!Thank you for sharing such wonderful feedback. Have a wonderful holiday with your family 🙂
Bean
This is excellent. I made it for the first time yesterday, my husband really enjoyed it for dinner last night and took more in a sandwich for lunch today.
I will most certainly make it again.
I made one change, rather than saute in oil, I used a little water -
Melissa Huggins
Thank you so much - I'm so happy you guys liked it! I love it for next-day sammies too. Have a great week! 🙂
Debbie Carden
So, my church does a meal for the homeless once a month and they pick a type of food and we sign up to bring something. This month was meatloaf. I normally bring the vegan version of whatever we are doing that month but I almost didn’t sign up to do it this month because I don’t remember ever eating a meatloaf and I know I haven’t ever made one, vegan or otherwise. I decided to throw caution to the wind and looked through tons or recipes. I went with yours and I am so glad (or maybe not) that I found yours. Last night I tripled your recipe and sent it in today for our lunch. My house smelled so good I was craving it all day long. I stopped on my way home from work and bought more mushrooms (I still had everything else) and made my very own “meatlloaf” tonight. YUM!!! I don’t know what regular meatloaf tastes like but I am sure hooked on yours!
Melissa Huggins
Hi Debbie, This warms my heart! Thank you for your generosity to the homeless. And thank you for making the meatloaf and sharing your feedback. I'm glad you made one for yourself too. Have a lovely weekend! 🙂
Quwwn
SO FREAKING DELICIOUS.
I used a little fresh sage form the garden and added nutritional yeast.
The glaze also looked great but I had to make my own because my roommate hates ketchup. I used the remaining tomato paste, wine, balsamic, salt, fresh garlic, maple syrup, and a little barbecue sauce.
Melissa Huggins
Yay! So happy that you liked it! The fresh sage sounds perfect! I need to start growing my own, too. I love how you modified the glaze. It sounds delicious and I must try it! Thank you for stopping by to share your feedback 🙂
Ade Adesuyi
Have you tried using portabello mushrooms? Do you think it will yield the same results.
Melissa Huggins
Hi Ade, I haven't tried this with portabello, but I think it should work. Just do a dry brushing so they don't absorb water. I'd love to hear how it turns out for you. Thank you for stopping by 🙂
Ade Adesuyi
SO, this recipe is just amazing. This is the first time I made something like this that held together perfectly! The key was the dry brushings as Melissa explained and getting most of the water out while cooking the mushrooms. I mixed in portabello mushrooms( because I love their flavor).
Thanks Melissa!
Melissa Huggins
Oh, yay! This is so great to hear! I'm so glad the portabellos worked out well. Thank you for sharing your feedback with me 🙂