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This mushroom-walnut Vegan Meatloaf with ketchup glaze is hearty, comforting, and full of umami flavor. Perfect for weeknights or special holidays.
After going vegan, I really missed meatloaf, but when I thought about it, it wasn't the meat that was comforting my taste buds and senses back then; it was the texture, taste, and aroma I craved. So a Vegan meatloaf 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, and spices of the classic recipe. Oh, and the ketchup glaze is the best part-sweet, tangy, and savory all at once. It bakes up bubbly and perfectly caramelized. Total wow factor!
I love serving it with creamy vegan mashed potatoes and miso-glazed carrots for the coziest plate, or alongside a crisp vegan Caesar salad and warm dinner rolls. For extra comfort, pair it with my vegan baked mac and cheese, vegan cauliflower casserole, vegan coleslaw, sautéed green beans, or a slice of vegan cornbread.
How to make Vegan Meatloaf
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:
- 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.
- Prepare your flax egg and set it aside
- Sauté the onions, celery, mushrooms, and spices.
- Add the sautéed veggies, flax egg, and to a large bowl with the rice, potatoes, oats, tomato paste, Worcestershire, salt, and pepper. Combine well.
- Transfer to a lined loaf pan and press down firmly so it molds into the pan. Top with ketchup glaze and bake to perfection.
FAQs
Yep! You can freeze it either fully baked or just after shaping it in the loaf pan (I haven't tested it with the ketchup glaze on). No need to thaw, but it'll need 30-40 minutes extra in the oven to heat through-add the glaze halfway so it doesn't burn.
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Recipe
Vegan Meatloaf with Ketchup Glaze
Ingredients
Ketchup Glaze
- ½ cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons mustard
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar (optional)
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Vegan Meatloaf
- 2 ½ tablespoons ground flaxseed + 6 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil (or preferred cooking oil)
- 1 medium red onion , diced small
- 3 stalks celery , diced small
- 3-4 cloves garlic , minced
- 12 ounces cremini mushrooms , finely chopped or minced (about 4 cups)
- 2 cups cooked rice (I prefer short grain)
- 1 cup cooked potatoes , mashed (measured 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 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried parsley
- ¾ teaspoon ground sage (optional)
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 2 tablespoons vegan worcestershire sauce
- 1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt + more to taste
- Fresh cracked pepper , to taste
Recommended Equipment
- 1 Standard Loaf Pan
- 1 Large Mixing Bowl
- Parchment Paper
Instructions
Ketchup Glaze
- To make the glaze, whisk the ketchup, mustard, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
Meatless Loaf
- Preheat oven to 375 °F (190 °C). Prepare a loaf pan by lining with parchment paper. This makes it much easier to remove after cooking. Set aside.
- Combine the water and flaxseed meal in a small bowl, and set aside for at least 10 minutes until it thickens.
- In a large pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, celery and a sprinkle of salt. Sauté for 5-6 minutes, until onions are lightly golden and celery is softened.
- Add garlic, thyme, rosemary, parsley, and sage. Sauté for 30-60 seconds until fragrant.
- Turn the heat to medium-high, then add the mushrooms (and a little more oil if the pan looks dry). Spread them out and let them sit mostly undisturbed for 2-3 minutes so they release their liquid and start to brown-don't stir too often. Once the liquid evaporates, give them a quick toss and keep cooking until nicely golden, about 2-3 more 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, and pepper. Combine all ingredients really well, using hands if necessary. Taste to see if it needs any more seasoning.
- Place mixture into your lined loaf pan. Press down firmly so it molds into pan. Brush the 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 removing from the pan. Use the paper to pull it up and onto your serving dish. Let it sit for another 10 minutes before slicing it. This helps firm it up more.
Notes
Nutrition
Aziza
Have a great week too!
Melissa Huggins
Thank you 🙂
Aziza
I had been delaying making a vegan meatloaf because I was extremely pessimistic, but I LOVE this recipe!!!! I made a few changes based on what I had at home. I used lentils instead of rice, I added a red pepper, I skipped the sugar and Worcestershire, and I used chickpea flour instead of arrowroot. Even with these changes, the flavor was AMAZING. I even used rosemary from my potted plant and the flavor from it really brought this dish to an addicting level. This will definitely be my go-to recipe for meatloaf and meatballs. Thank you so much Melissa for this! I'm glad I found your website. 🙂
Melissa Huggins
Hi Aziza, thank you for your kind words and sharing your modifications. It's so helpful to me and other visitors. Now, I'll know I can use chickpea flour when I'm out of arrowroot. The fresh rosemary sounds divine! Have a great week! 🙂
Lisa
I just pulled my leftovers from the freezer, defrosted and then fried two slices in an iron skillet with a little bit of olive oil to keep it from sticking and to give it a crispy edge. Even better the second time around. Thanks for the great recipe. I like really flavorful foods and this had a nice complex flavor to it. I did double up on some of the spices and added a pinch of cayenne to give it a bit more zing! Thanks again.
Melissa Huggins
Hi Lisa, that's a fantastic idea to fry the leftovers! I can't believe I've never tried it. I will give it a go the next time around. Thank you for making it and your feedback. I think I'll add the cayenne next time too. Have a great week 🙂
Kathy
Looks yummy. Interested in trying the recipie but I only see recipie notes not the instructions on mixing everything together or cooking temp. Did I miss something?
Melissa Huggins
Oh no! Thank you for alerting me. I recently switched to a different recipe plugin, and it looks like it messed up on this one. Thank goodness I have everything backed up. What a relief! 🙂
vikki
This was great! Keep up the hard work, you're really gifted and talented. A lot of people are really grateful for your recipes!
Melissa Huggins
Hi Vikki, thank you so much! I'm so happy you liked it. Have a wonderful weekend! 🙂
Jnet
This is delicious, and great bite texture, but did not hold together as well as I would like. I made it again substituting wheat gluten for the bread crumbs with good results.
Melissa Huggins
Hi there, thank you for stopping by. I'm sorry it didn't hold up well for you. Sometimes the mushrooms can create too much moisture. I like to let it sit in the loaf pan for 10-15 minutes before serving. Also, leftovers form together great. Thank you for the tip on the wheat gluten. I'll be sure to recommend it to anyone having the same issue. 🙂
Leigh
I've made this several times. I would recommend doing s double batch do you can freeze a loaf. It's sooooo good one loaf will be gone in a heart beat!!
Melissa Huggins
Hi Leigh, I'm so happy to hear you've made it a lot. Freezing is a good idea and I need to do that more. It makes life so much easier. Thank you for stopping by. 🙂
Gwen
This is so delicious! I've had similar experiences, as Trish mentioned earlier, about trying other loaf recipes and being disappointed. This recipe does not disappoint & I will be making this again & again. I had some mixture left over that didn't all fit in the loaf pan so I used parchment muffin liners in muffin tins and made 3 mini loafs that turned out great! May do all individual savings next time and freeze a few. Thanks for such an awesome recipe! Cheers!
mhuggs
HI Gwen, thank you so much for your feedback. I'm so happy you liked the recipe. I love the idea of making individual mini loaves! I must try this! My son will love them that way. Thank you for the great tip 🙂
Lynette
Hi did u know that Worcestershire sauce is not vegan as it contains anchovies. Can't find a vegan version sadly
mhuggs
Hi Lynette, Worcestershire sauce isn't typically vegan, but there are many vegan versions to choose from. I purchase Annie's or Edward & Sons and there are more options on the market. If you can't find it in your local grocery store, you can purchase online. Just make sure to read the labeling before purchase.You can also omit the sauce all together, or just add a few dashes of soy sauce for depth.
Jenn
This looks so delicious!! I LOVE mushrooms. Sometimes you just need a hearty "meat" and potatoes type dinner and this will fit the bill perfectly!
dianne
This looks perfect for fall - warm and comforting!
mhuggs
Thank you, Dianne. It's on weekly rotation at this time of year 🙂
Sarah
This looks amazing! That glaze!!! Definitely giving this one a try!!! With LOTS of mashed potatoes 🙂
mhuggs
Thank you, Sarah! Yes, it goes perfect with loads of mashed potatoes 🙂
Trish
I've made a lot of veggie loaves in my time and I'm not a fan of them. I've always wanted to find that one recipe but I stopped making them after many disappointments. I almost didn't pin your recipe because I thought - bleh, another dryish loaf with rice. Not sure why I decided to give this a go but I made it this eve and OMG!!! This was it! The veggie loaf that I've been waiting for! And the glaze? Well that's like the icing on a cake. This loaf had so much flavor and it was super moist ... perhaps a tad too moist as it was falling apart on me as I tried to serve it up, however, the remainder will go in the fridge and I'm sure tomorrow's leftovers will be easier to slice. Was I supposed to get rid of the excess water from the cooked mushrooms? But anyway, this was amazing and I'm already looking forward to tomorrow's leftovers!! Of course mashed potatoes was served as one of the sides because you can't have a loaf without the mash 🙂 This veggie loaf will be the ONLY loaf I make from now on. Thank you SO much for creating and sharing this - you're a lifesaver 😉
mhuggs
Hi Trish, this is wonderful news! Thank you for making this recipe and giving me great feedback. I'm glad you mentioned the mushrooms producing too much liquid. Mushrooms are quite tricky sometimes. I carefully clean them and dry them without using much water at all. They can absorb a ton. Also, the larger the pan you have, the better. Mushrooms tend to steam, when they are crowded (this is sometimes hard to avoid because the recipe calls for so many mushrooms) I forgot to add in the recipe; to make sure the pan is nice and hot, before adding the mushrooms to the onion and the celery. It should sizzle a bit when adding them. Sometimes they will still produce liquid no matter what. You can either drain the excess water out into your sink, Or you can cook the mushrooms longer to reduce the liquid. If you decided to cook them longer, turn the heat up a little bit and cook uncovered. It should cook down in 5-6 minutes. When the loaf is done, I let it sit for 10 minutes after removing from the pan. It helps firm it up. I hope it works out better for you next time. I appreciate the feedback and I have updated my recipe to include these notes. Enjoy the leftovers 🙂
Anna
YUM! This made my mouth water!!! Meatloaf was one of my favs too, but just like you said, it's not so much meet we miss, as it is the aroma and texture. Great recipe Melissa, thank you for sharing!
mhuggs
Thank you, Anna! Herbs, spices and veggies make all the magic happen 😉
Amy Katz from Veggies Save The Day
I want this loaf with some mashed potatoes!
mhuggs
Thank you, Amy! It goes well with mashed potatoes 🙂