Grilled Meatloaf with a Honey BBQ Glaze
On September 28, 2022 (Updated October 24, 2023)
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Ready for the perfect meatloaf recipe? This grilled meatloaf with a honey BBQ glaze is packed with awesome meatloaf flavor and grilled to perfection. It’s a great dinner for any day of the week, and your whole family is sure to love it!
Can You Cook Meatloaf on the Grill?
Meatloaf can most definitely be cooked on the grill, my friends! In fact, I think you’ll find that grilled meatloaf has a little extra special something that oven-cooked meatloaf is missing.
You’ll want to snag a grill basket similar to this if cooking this meatloaf on the grill. The basket will allow heat to penetrate all around the loaf.
Grilled Meatloaf
Believe me when I say this just might be the best meatloaf ever. It combines juicy, perfectly seasoned ground beef, just the right amount of smokiness from the grill, and a sweet and tangy honey bbq glaze that makes each bite better than the last.
If you’re hesitant to cook this meatloaf on the grill, no worries! You can cook it in your oven. Just follow the time and temperature guidelines in the recipe card and swap the grill pan for a baking sheet lined with foil to make cleaning up in your oven easier.
Ingredients for Meatloaf on the Grill
This is a pretty straightforward meatloaf recipe with a few bonus tasty ingredients. Here’s what you’ll need to make this meatloaf.
- 2 pounds 85/15 ground beef
- 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup grated yellow onion
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 4 cloves minced garlic
- 2 lightly beaten eggs
- 2 Tablespoons Hey Grill Hey Beef Rub (or equal parts salt, pepper, and garlic powder)
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
For the glaze, you’ll need these 2 ingredients:
- 3/4 cup Hey Grill Hey Everything Sauce (or your favorite ketchup-based BBQ sauce)
- 1/4 cup honey
Both Hey Grill Hey Beef Rub and Everything Sauce can be purchased from the Hey Grill Hey Store. If you don’t have either of these on hand when you go to make this meatloaf, you can use salt, pepper, and garlic powder instead of Beef Rub, and your favorite ketchup-based BBQ sauce instead of Everything Rub.
How to Grill Meatloaf
Alright folks, let’s get to grilling this meatloaf!
- Preheat. Fire up your favorite grill and preheat it to 350 degrees F. This recipe will work on whatever grill you have available, but you will need to preheat it for two-zone cooking (one direct heat side and one indirect heat side of the grill).
- Make the meatloaf. Mix all ingredients for the meatloaf in a bowl. Form the meat into a loaf on a grill basket.
- Grill. Place the meatloaf on the preheated grill. Close the lid, and cook for 30 minutes, rotating the meatloaf halfway through.
- Glaze. Combine the BBQ sauce and honey in a saucepan and heat through. Pour the glaze over the meatloaf until evenly coated.
- Finish cooking. Continue cooking the meatloaf until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. This will take approximately 30 more minutes.
- Rest. Remove the meatloaf from the grill and rest it for around 10 minutes.
- Enjoy. Serve the meatloaf as-is or with extra BBQ sauce or glaze.
Tips for Grilling Meatloaf
Ready to make this grilled meatloaf recipe? Check out a few handy tips to make sure your meatloaf is cooked just right.
- Grate those onions! Using the large holes on your cheese grater makes the onions the perfect size to simply melt into the meatloaf while cooking. You get the perfect level of aromatic onion flavor without any undercooked or crunchy bits in the meatloaf itself.
- Check the fat content on your beef. Purchase 85/15 ground beef for this recipe. Anything over 80/20 tends to be a little too fatty for a meatloaf. As the fat renders and separates from the meat, you can end up with a weepy loaf. Anything under 90/10 can dry out and get crumbly instead of holding nicely together.
- Don’t overmix. Once your ingredients are in the bowl, mix with your hands to distribute the seasonings and then stop. You want everything evenly distributed, but overmixing can result in tough meatloaf.
More BBQ Meatloaf Recipes
The meatloaf craze doesn’t have to stop here! Check out these other awesome meatloaf recipes from Hey Grill Hey. These guys are also cooked on the grill or smoker for a totally awesome meatloaf experience!
Grilled Meatloaf Recipe
Follow the recipe, and let’s make some really good food! Hey Grill Hey is here to help you make better BBQ, feed the people you love, and become a BBQ hero. Head on over to Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube! for more behind-the-scenes action!
Grilled Meatloaf with a Honey BBQ Glaze
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef 85/15
- ½ cup panko bread crumbs
- ½ cup yellow onion grated
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 2 Tablespoons Hey Grill Hey Beef Rub
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
For the Glaze
- ¾ cup Hey Grill Hey Everything Sauce or your favorite BBQ sauce
- ¼ cup honey
Instructions
- Preheat. Preheat your grill for two-zone cooking with the heat on one side and no heat on the other. The overall temperature of your grill should be around 350 degrees F.
- Mix the meat. In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the meatloaf. Mix the ingredients gently until just incorporated.
- Make the loaf. Form your meatloaf into an even shape on a grill basket. The holes in the basket will allow excess moisture to drip away while cooking as well as add extra flavor from the grill to the meatloaf.
- Grill the meatloaf. Place the meatloaf on the indirect heat side of the grill. Close the grill and allow the meatloaf to cook for about 30 minutes. Open the lid and rotate the meatloaf so the opposite side is facing the higher heat side of the grill. This allows for more even cooking.
- Glaze. In a small saucepan, stir together the BBQ sauce and honey. Pour slowly over the top of the meatloaf to create a nice, even layer. Let the glaze drip down the sides of the meatloaf while you pour.
- Finish grilling. Close the lid again and continue cooking for an additional 30 minutes, or until the internal temperature of your meatloaf reads 165 degrees F.
- Rest and serve. Remove your meatloaf from the grill and allow it to rest for 10-15 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
OMG!!! So good! Just learning a Kamodo grill so took a bit to get the temp right, but holy moly! Thanks Hey Grill! You just upped my BBQ ante!
Little unsure of your steps … you start off (step 4) on indirect for 30minDo you then flip the meat over and move to direct part of grill, add glaze and cook for further 30 min on direct cooking …. And continue it there until 165F?