Vintage Eats Recipe: 1967 Cranberry Meat Loaves

You may not expect to find a good meat loaf recipe in a cookbook dedicated to fruit.

Cranberry Meat Loaves defies that expectation. It is listed in the Better Homes and Gardens ‘So Good with Fruit’ volume from 1967.

It might seem early to be delving into the cranberry vibe since Thanksgiving and Christmas – typically the holidays when cranberry recipes are celebrated – are still six and 10 weeks away.

But whole cranberry sauce is available in groceries so I say let’s do it!

I’ve not made a meat loaf for several years, due to my family’s disinterest in them. But the sweetness from the cranberry sauce and the fact that I found 90% lean ground sirloin on sale this week prompted my decision to make it. It is a winner!

This is a simple meat loaf recipe with the cranberry sauce used as a topping for moistness and flavor. I substituted an equal portion of Worcestershire sauce for the kitchen bouquet and squeezed raw tomatoes to get ½ cup of tomato juice.

The cup of cooked rice in this recipe stretches the meat here and I had all of the other ingredients on my shelves, making this an economical dish. The recipe called for the loaves to be made into five, but I had four mini bread loaves so I placed the meat among them.

Rather than place the leftover sauce in a gravy boat (which I don’t own), I spooned it on top of the loaves.

The meat was thoroughly cooked and may look pink due to the tomato juice and the sauce. As you can see from the photos, I served it with peas and a baked potato.

The cookbook is one I featured a few weeks ago with another fabulous recipe — Italian Plum Cobbler. Dazzling!

I’ve marked out several other recipes to try. As expected, the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook brand doesn’t disappoint.

The loaves were moist and slightly sweet, making these little beauties a recipe I’ll try again soon.

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Cranberry Meat Loaves

1 pound ground beef (I used ground sirloin I found on sale)

1 cup cooked rice

½ cup tomato juice

1 slight beaten egg

¼ cup minced onion

1 tablespoon kitchen bouquet (I used 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce)

1-1/2 teaspoon salt (I cut this back to 1 teaspoon)

1 1-pound can (2 cups) whole cranberry sauce

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Thoroughly combine first 7 ingredients (beef, rice, tomato juice, egg, onion, bouquet, salt); shape into 5 loaves (I made 4).

Place in lined baking dishes (I used mini bread pans covered with parchment paper).

Combine remaining ingredients; spoon over loaves.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Remove meat loaves to warm serving platter.

Pour cranberry sauce into gravy boat; serve with meat.

Yield: 4-5 servings