Memorial Day cookouts are right around the corner so the timing of this blog couldn’t be any better! I never thought I’d be excited about making (or eating) meatloaf because generally meatloaf is kind of wah-wah-wahhhh on the scale from zero to exciting, but here I am, writing an entire blog about it! I’ve always LOVED cooking wild game because it’s healthy, tastes amazing, and most importantly, I know where it comes from because I hunt it myself. I grew up eating moose, caribou, and deer meat that my dad had hunted and rarely ever saw my parents buy meat from the grocery store. Now that I’m a wife/mom/adult, I am overly aware of how important it is to eat lean, healthy protein, and not much can compare to the health benefits of eating wild game.
Wild game tends to have the lowest fat content (see ya never, love handles) and since the animals are roaming free, they are considered “free-range”, which means they’re not pumped with hormones and steroids like some of the commercially-raised animals that can be bought for a couple bucks at the grocery store. (Side note: I am NOT bashing the farming industry – there are a lot of great, sustainably farmed ranches that I think are amazing, and they work hard to give the animals a good, healthy life. This is a great option if you don’t hunt or know anyone who does, but I prefer to go straight to the source and hunt my meat myself). The hunting life is not for everyone (I’ll definitely write some blogs about this soon!), but it’s a great way to get outdoors, fill the freezer, and appreciate the meat that ends up on your dinner plate!
The elk meat that I used for this recipe was from a hunt I went on last fall in Oregon with my friends from Leupold. My friend Riza and I were hunting in the pouring rain for days, and I finally got a chance at my very first Roosevelt bull elk at the very top of a mountain range. By the time we had to pack the elk out to the vehicle, it was nighttime in the torrential rain, and we had to scale back down the mountain and up the other side with the elk meat on our backs (think: 1000+ pounds of weight in addition to all the gear we were already packing!). My friend, Cam Hanes, (expert bow hunter, hardcore athlete, runs eighty bajillion miles in the mountains every day for fun…) lives a couple hours away and came to the rescue to give us a hand packing it out. Since he is basically made of pure muscle, we loaded most of the weight on Cam’s back, which worked out perfectly for the rest of us weaklings (ha – thanks Cam!). This hunt was one of my favorite memories because nothing about it was comfortable or easy, but that made the accomplishment even more sweet and memorable. Now every time I cook the meat from that hunt, I stop and appreciate the elk that gave its life and think about the amazing week I spent in Oregon with my good friends, hiking mountains and breathing fresh air. Gosh, it’s great to be a hunter and know exactly where your food comes from!
But back to reality…life gets BUSY during the week (job, traveling, husband, baby, building a house… woof), so once a week I try to prep some sort of meat that I can throw on salads, in tacos, or pair with a veggie side dish in the coming week. My latest concoction: Elk Meatloaf! It was my first attempt and it turned out SO GOOD!!!! I used my Traeger Grill but you can also throw it in the oven. I kept sneaking back to the kitchen to slice off another piece as if it was chocolate cake or something.
So I know meatloaf isn’t the most glamourous dish but it IS easy, quick, and healthy, and Leni LOVES it (if you can’t tell by her excitement below!). So if you’re looking for some dinner inspo and have some ground meat lying around (I use wildgame, but you can definitely sub it for lean ground beef or ground turkey if preferred!), do yourself a favor and try this recipe out!
EVA’S ELK MEATLOAF
You’ll need:
- 2 lbs ground elk meat (or any lean, ground meat of your choosing)
- ¾ cup dry bread crumbs (I prefer seasoned, but unseasoned is fine too)
- ½ cup Traeger BBQ sauce (or your favorite BBQ sauce)
- 2 tbsp parmesan cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- ½ cup fresh parsley (or 2 tbsp of dried parsley works, too)
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- ½ tsp each dried basil, dried oregano, salt, pepper
Glaze:
- ⅓ cup ketchup
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
Directions:
- Preheat Traeger (or regular oven) to 350 degrees F.
- Spray a loaf pan with nonstick spray.
- Mix all ingredients (except for the glaze) by hand in a large bowl. Be careful not to overmix.
- In a separate small bowl, mix together the glaze ingredients.
- Pour ½ of glaze into the bottom of the loaf pan.
- Put the meat mixture into the loaf pan so it fills the pan evenly.
- Spread remaining glaze mixture over the top of the meatloaf.
- Bake for approximately 1 hour, or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F and meat is cooked through.
- Let stand for five minutes before slicing.
What are your go-to wild game recipes? What recipes do you want to see more of? Comment below and make sure you subscribe to my blog, so you’re the first to know what’s going on!
Eva
Photos by Jennifer Wilson Photography
I’m not a meat loaf lover but that does look fantastic!
Can’t wait to try this!
Can you share where you purchased your Moose hand towels? I need those!!!
Hi Angie,
Thanks! Aren’t they great?! I love those towels! I received them as a gift, so I don’t know where to purchase them, but the design is a local artist’s work – M. Cassidy. Hopefully that helps you find them!
Eva
Do you make stroganoff?? If so, could you share that recipe?
Eva, This looks delicious!! My dad has always been a hunter (from Alberta)and I never understood the” feeling” he would talk about when he would cook a deer or moose steak or us kids for dinner until I moved to montana 6 years ago and married a cattle rancher who is also die hard hunter. .Ive never hunted in my life until last fall and I was able to harvest a bull elk and a whitetail buck. I was able to watch the critters I harvested eat right by house along side our angus bulls. I knew what they were eating and watched them everyday. I also have a flock of chickens and to have fresh eggs in the fridge and home grown beef and wild game in the freezer is a pretty cool feeling. .. I never understood that “feeling” dad would tell us about but this year when I cook up fresh eggs and deer breakfast sausage or deer steaks I totally have that “feeling” and its awesome!! .My girls will pick wild game over our beef anyday of the week!! I also know that the family in need that I donated my elk to is just as happy!!.. (sorry for the story book). . Thank you for all you do!! Keep up the great work!!!!!
Looks amazing! I’ll have to talk my husband into trying a different meat loaf recipe than his grandmas. 😆 What brand/ kind of load pan are you using?
Hi Rachel,
I’ve had this loaf pan for a while and it’s just the first one I grabbed out of the cabinet, but you can find it on Amazon here!
Thanks for reading and hopefully your husband gives this meatloaf a chance 🙂
Eva
Can’t wait to try this recipe. I agree one of the perks of hunting is having organic, good-quality meat to eat!
I made this last night – amazing! My 9 month old son loved it too This was my first time using our Green Mountain grill for something like this and now I can’t wait to use it again! So easy :).
I have never liked meat loaf. But this is amazing!! So flavorful! Thanks for the recipe!
Eating this right now and it is so amazing. The best meatloaf I have had! Thank you for sharing your talents Eva!
Hi Eva!!
First of all this recipe is so delicious! My husband absolutely loved it!
Can you share where you got your white pants? I have a hard time finding white pants/jeans that flatter athletic legs, and the ones you have on in these pictures are super cute!
Thanks!
Alyssa
I made this with venison and it worked perfectly. Thanks for sharing!
When you get ground wild game meat, do you have any sort of fat mixed in with it, or do you have it prepared just straight wild game?
This was the best meatloaf ever! I made to batches one ground elk the other ground beef. My mom was vegetarian for a long time and now eats a little meat but had never had wild game. She was blown away by how amazing this meat loaf tasted AND preferred it over the ground beef (even though she cried when I told her how we got the elk) thank you so much for the great recipe and I really really hope you post more!
Hi Eva,
My wife, Laura, made this recipe while in Colorado this past summer (2018) visiting our adult children. She prepared and cooked it on our son’s Traeger, as directed. I must tell you, and everyone else for that matter… it was the best meatloaf I’ve had in my 61 years on this plant ! ABSOLUTELY AMAZING !!
Thanks, from Maryland, for sharing your delicious recipe,
Steve
I have some fresh Alberta spring black bear ground meat that I might have to try with this recipe. Thank you.
Hey Eva,
Is there a specific flavor of Traeger pellets that you like to use with your meatloaf?
This looks amazing. I’m definitely going to try this. My meatloaf is never good when I use lean meat (deer or even lean beef) it comes out tough… I am gonna give this a try and make one for myself to see if I can get it right before I prepare for my dad. Thanks for sharing