This Cream of Mushroom Meatloaf without breadcrumbs features savory ground beef and oats topped with a creamy mushroom gravy. It’s the perfect Sunday comfort food!
Eating meatloaf for Sunday dinner growing up always reminded me of the scene from ‘A Christmas Story‘ when Randy doesn’t want to eat dinner.
His mom makes meatloaf and he pushes the food around while saying, “Meatloaf, meatloaf, double, double beetloaf. I hate meatloaf!” Eventually, his mom convinces him to eat the dinner by stuffing his face in his plate of mashed potatoes mixed with meatloaf.
While I didn’t hate meatloaf, I definitely made my own version of Randy’s dinner to hide the taste and texture of the onions.
We affectionately termed this concoction, “meatloaf surprise.”
I don’t have to eat meatloaf that way anymore, because I’m an adult now (lol) and because my mom’s recipe is actually very delicious.
There’s no ketchup in this cream of mushroom meatloaf without breadcrumbs, which is just the way I like it!
Step-by-Step Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Combine 1½ pounds ground beef, 3/4 cup oats, 1½ teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 1/4 cup chopped onions, 1 beaten egg, half a (10.75 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup, 1/4 cup milk, and 1/8 teaspoon of sage in a medium mixing bowl.
Pack the mixture into a 9 x 5 loaf pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
After 1 hour, remove the meatloaf from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes.
While the meatloaf is resting, heat the remaining 2 (10.75 ounce) cans of cream of mushroom soup in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add 2/3 cup milk or half and half a little at a time until desired consistency.
Carefully drain 1-2 tablespoons of liquid off of meatloaf and add to gravy along with salt, pepper, and sage to taste.
SERVE gravy over mashed potatoes and meatloaf.
Recipe Tips and Substitutions
This recipe calls for 1½ pounds of ground beef, as do most meatloaf recipes. If you only have 1 pound of ground beef, you’ll need to adjust the liquid and binding ingredients. Suggested amounts are ½ cup oats, ⅓ can of cream of mushroom soup, and 2 tablespoons of milk.
If you’re not a big onion fan like me, feel free to substitute 1 teaspoon of onion powder or dried minced onions for the fresh onion.
As often as I’ve made this recipe (and my mom has made it) I’ve never seen the pieces hold together really well. They usually fall apart when you remove them from the loaf pan. This recipe still tastes amazing, but if you’re concerned about the pieces falling apart, be sure to follow the suggestions in the FAQ section below!
You can make the gravy as thick or thin as you’d like by adding more or less milk than called for.
More Like This
Looking for more ground beef recipes? You’ll love these!
- Creamy Taco Soup
- Italian Spaghetti and Meatballs
- Burger Bundles Recipe
- Crock Pot Hamburger Stew
- Lasagna made with Cottage Cheese
FAQs
This recipe obviously calls for oats, but here are a few other substitutions you can use for bread crumbs in meatloaf:
-panko
-cracker or pretzel crumbs
-crushed cornflakes or other unsweetened cereals
-boxed stuffing
-cooked rice
-dried soup mix
One of the main reasons your meatloaf isn’t firm is because the ratio of meat to liquid and fillers isn’t correct.
If you find that your meatloaf is falling apart when you serve it, try these fixes:
1. Reduce the meatloaf filler and liquid by half
2. Add more meat
3. Use the inverted loaf pan or free form method
4. Cook the meatloaf for 10 minutes longer
If you’re not a fan of ketchup meatloaf or you’re looking for some other options try barbeque sauce or mushroom soup gravy like this recipe calls for.
A meatloaf should rest for 10 minutes for it to firm up enough for serving.
The 10 minutes it takes for the meatloaf to rest is the perfect time to make the mushroom soup gravy to go over the meat and mashed potatoes!
I hope your family loves this cream of mushroom meatloaf without breadcrumbs! If you make it, be sure to take a picture and tag me on Instagram with @ashcroftfamilytable and use the hashtag #ashcroftfamilytable!
And if you’d like to get a 4-week meal plan featuring my recipes, just enter your email in the form above and you’ll get it straight to your inbox!
Mushroom Soup Meatloaf Without Breadcrumbs
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs ground beef*
- ¾ cup oats
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ¼ cup chopped onions
- 1 egg, beaten
- 5.4 ounces cream of mushroom soup, half a 10.75 ounce can
- ¼ cup milk
- ⅛ teaspoon dried sage
Gravy
- 16 ounces cream of mushroom soup, 1½ cans worth
- ⅔ cup milk, or half and half
- 1-2 tablespoons meatloaf drippings
- salt, pepper, dried sage, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine ground beef, oats, salt, pepper, chopped onions, egg, ½ can cream of mushroom soup, milk, and sage in a medium mixing bowl.
- Pack the mixture into a 9 x 5 loaf pan.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
- After 1 hour, remove the meatloaf from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes.
- While the meatloaf is resting, heat the 1 ½ cans of cream of mushroom soup in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add milk or half and half a little at a time until desired consistency.
- Carefully drain 1-2 tablespoons of liquid off of meatloaf and add to gravy along with salt, pepper, and sage to taste.
- Serve gravy over mashed potatoes and meatloaf.
Jodie Lea
Tuesday 20th of December 2022
In the notes you suggest adding bbq sauce when making the recipe with one pound of ground beef, but you don’t have that ingredient in the standard recipe.
Is it supposed to have bbq sauce? Why the difference?
Jessica Ashcroft
Tuesday 20th of December 2022
Hi Jodie! Thank you so much for that catch. I had made it with BBQ sauce a few times but decided it tasted better without. I took that out of the recipe in the post and the recipe card but missed it in the note. The recipe as you see it is how it was originally written, without BBQ sauce.
Brynn Anderson
Sunday 3rd of April 2022
We made this with ground turkey instead of beef (it’s what we had on hand) and it turned out amazing! Thank you for the recipe!
Jessica Ashcroft
Monday 4th of April 2022
I'm so glad to hear that Brynn! I often use ground turkey as well :) so good!