This Instant Pot meatloaf takes comfort home cooking to the next level with crispy bacon and barbeque sauce, leaving enough leftovers to make sandwiches for lunch tomorrow. Your family will love it! The recipe is from Family Meals from Scratch in Your Instant Pot.
Do you ever get stuck not knowing what to cook for your hungry family? Sure, you may have some go-to to recipes that are on repeat. But to have a dish that everyone will love with no fuss or complaining can be daunting. After a long day at work, the last thing you want is an argument at the table trying to persuade kids to finish what’s on their plate.
WHY MAKE THIS BARBECUE BACON INSTANT POT MEATLOAF
Meatloaf is a classic that’s been tested through generations as a favourite comfort meal that reminds you of home. But it got a little upgrade. Bacon makes everything better, right? We think so! So this Instant Pot meatloaf is wrapped in flavorful delicious bacon so that the juices just get locked into the beef. Smothered in barbeque sauce just makes everyone asking for seconds.
This is a great dish to keep everyone happy at the table. Try making an extra batch to use for meatloaf lunch sandwiches for the week. Leftovers always seem to taste better with more intensified flavour over time. Hot sandwiches are always a treat compared to a cold deli sandwich. Effortless meal prep planning, already done, with your instant pot.
There are more family-friendly recipe ideas in the cookbook Family Meals from Scratch in Your Instant Pot and we’ve reviewed the cookbook here.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH MEATLOAF
- Instant Pot Green Beans or Lemon Broccoli
- Instant Pot Mashed Or BoiledPotatoes
- Instant Pot Yellow Rice
- Simple Sweet Potato & Cauliflower Mash

Bacon Barbecue Instant Pot Meatloaf
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Main
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Bacon Barbecue Instant Pot Meatloaf takes a humble family dish and elevates it to something truly delicious and memorable that you will want to make again and again.
Ingredients
Meatloaf Mixture
1¼ lb (570 g) ground beef
1 egg
¾ cup (45 g) panko breadcrumbs
½ cup (125 ml) milk
½ cup (30 g) shredded Parmesan cheese
1 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
½ tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
½ cup (60 g) minced red onion
4 slices bacon
Barbecue Sauce
1 cup (175 g) ketchup
¼ cup (75 g) molasses
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp dried oregano
1 tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp dried thyme
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp (6 g) dried minced onion
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, egg, breadcrumbs, milk, Parmesan, salt, pepper, oregano, chili powder, garlic powder, and onion. Thoroughly mix the ingredients with your hands, then form the mixture into a loaf. Place the meatloaf in a 7-inch (18-cm) springform pan (see Note). Lay the strips of bacon across the top of the meatloaf, then tuck the ends underneath.
- For the barbecue sauce, stir together the ketchup, molasses, garlic powder, oregano, salt, thyme, cayenne pepper, and onion in a liquid measuring cup. Pour ½ cup (125 ml) of the sauce on top of the meatloaf. Cover the springform pan with a piece of foil so that it loosely tents over the top of the meatloaf.
- Pour 1 cup (250 ml) of water into the Instant Pot, set in the trivet, then place the springform pan on the trivet. Place the lid on the Instant Pot, turn the valve to Sealing, and set the cooking time for 35 minutes on high pressure.
- Quick release the pressure when the cooking time is complete. Discard the foil. Transfer the meatloaf to a serving platter, pour 1 cup (250 ml) of barbecue sauce on top of the meatloaf, and place the meatloaf under the broiler until the sauce is bubbly (about 5 minutes).
- Serve the meatloaf with any remaining barbecue sauce for dipping.
Notes
Any 7-inch (18-cm) pan will work for this if the sides are as high as the meatloaf. Alternatively, you can make a sling out of foil to set the meatloaf in if you do not have a pan to use.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 thick slice
- Calories: 396
- Sugar: 23.8 g
- Sodium: 1633.2 mg
- Fat: 13.7 g
- Saturated Fat: 5.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 37.3 g
- Fiber: 1.2 g
- Protein: 29.6 g
- Cholesterol: 105.5 mg
Keywords: Bacon, Barbecue, Ground Beef, Dinner
Reprinted with permission from Family Meals from Scratch in Your Instant Pot by Lisa Burns, Page Street Publishing Co. 2019. Photo credit: Ken Goodman.
Going to try this with some lower sodium strategies Eg low salt tomato sauce instead of ketchup. Just a thought. Depending upon whose guidelines you follow, one helping uses up most of your daily sodium (1500-2000 mg). Wow!
Made this with ground turkey and corn meal instead of panko bread crumbs and ground beef. I added Hungarian paprika to the meat mixture and used minced garlic as opposed to garlic powder.. As sides, I made roasted green beans and roasted.potatoes with Italian seasoning , olive oil and grated parmesan. I also used whatever BBQ sauce was in the fridge.
My spouse and teen aged sons loved this meatloaf!! There are no sandwich left overs!
They thanked me for a great meal and said I could make it again. – A surprise as the last.time I tried Instant Pot Meatloaf I was told “Please Mom, No. Go back to using the oven for mratloaf…”
★★★★★
This. Is. Fabulous. Found the recipe at 6pm. Drove to the grocery store, made the recipe, ate at 8pm. We both had seconds and will enjoy leftovers for lunch. This has been added to my “tried, tested, and in the rotation” section of my Pinterest Board. Can’t wait to make it again. Thank you for the recipe!
★★★★★
That is some efficient dinner planning and making! Glad you enjoyed this recipe!