Ratloaf (Halloween Meatloaf)

Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 60 min
Servings: 10
Yield: 10 servings

Description

This ratloaf (Halloween meatloaf) recipe is stuffed with cheese, BBQ sauce, and French-fried onions, and shaped like a rat with oozy, cheesy innards.

Ingredients

3 pounds ground beef
2 cups milk
2 cups dry bread crumbs
1 onion, chopped
2 eggs
salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 cup French-fried onions
3/4 (12 ounce) bottle barbeque sauce
1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese
3 large black olives
3 spaghetti noodles, broken into halves
2 slices red potato

Directions

1 Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2 Combine ground beef, milk, bread crumbs, onion, egg, salt, and black pepper in a large bowl.
3 Combine 1 cup French-fried onions, ¾ bottle barbecue sauce, and Cheddar cheese in a separate bowl.
4 Place about ½ ground beef mixture on a sheet of waxed paper; form into a rat body shape. Spread thick layer cheese mixture on top, leaving ½-inch space around outer edges.
5 Place remaining ground beef mixture on top cheese mixture layer, forming rat body shape, sealing cheese mixture completely inside so cheese doesn't ooze out while baking.
6 Place a rimmed baking sheet on ratloaf; carefully flip over. Reshape ratloaf as needed; insert olives for eyes and nose, spaghetti for whiskers, and potato slices for ears into ratloaf. Spread remaining ¼ bottle barbecue sauce over ratloaf. Crush remaining 2 cups French-fried onions; sprinkle on top and around ratloaf.
7 Bake in the preheated oven until cooked through and cheese melts, about 1 hour. An instant-read thermometer inserted into center should read at least 160 degrees F (70 degrees C). Cool before slicing, 5 minutes.