The Best Meatloaf Addition For A Savory Dish With A Subtly Sweet Taste

A bit of sweetness is key to balancing out rich, savory meatloaf, and it usually comes in the form of a ketchup glaze or barbecue sauce topping. However, there's one sweet ingredient you should be adding to your meatloaf mix, not as the final touch. According to Erica Blaire Roby, Food Network's "Master of Cue" champion and the founder, owner, and pitmaster at Blue Smoke Blaire BBQ, your next batch of meatloaf needs apples.

"For a subtle sweetness and moisture, grated apples work really nicely," Roby told The Takeout. The shreds of fruit meld right into the ground meat mixture, adding a touch of balancing sweetness without an overtly apple-forward flavor.

There's no need to peel the fruit first. Using the large holes of a box grater, simply shred the apple — you'll need one or two apples for every 2 pounds of ground meat. While you're at it, you can grate other fresh ingredients you might want to include in your meatloaf recipe, like onions, carrots, and zucchini.

There's no denying that the subtle, fresh sweetness from the apples transforms meatloaf into a more interesting meal, especially when you add in complementary flavors. Herbs like sage, rosemary, and thyme are great additions, as are spicy Dijon mustard or earthy smoked paprika. You can spruce up this meatloaf with savory cheeses, too, like crumbles of punchy blue cheese or cubes of sharp aged cheddar.

Apples are an underrated ingredient that will change how you make meatloaf, but not just because of the pleasant sweetness they bring to this humble comfort meal. They also add necessary moisture to the mix. Many meatloaf recipes handle the moisture issue by incorporating ingredients like a panade (milk-soaked breadcrumbs or bread), plenty of beaten egg, or ketchup; but, really, there's only so much liquid that you can mix in before the ground meat turns into a wet, difficult-to-shape paste. Higher fat blends of meat can bring some helpful moisture, but too much fat yields a greasy loaf.

The spongy texture of apples offers moisture without soaking the meatloaf mixture, but how you prep the fruit is key. "I would avoid cubes or apple chunks because their size can create pockets in the meatloaf while cooking," advised Roby. You'll end up with gaps around wet pieces of apples since they'll shrink as they cook. That, and the moisture won't be evenly distributed throughout the ground meat.

Instead, shredded apples disperse easily through the meatloaf mix; ensuring that you're not overworking it, which can cause the finished product to be dense and dry. Grated apples prove especially useful when you want to make turkey meatloaf that isn't dry or tough.