Meatloaf is a meat dish consisting of seasoned ground meat (usually ground beef or a combination of ground beef with veal, lamb, or pork), which is formed into a loaf shape and baked or smoked. In 2007, it was voted the 7th favorite dish in the United States according to the Good Housekeeping website. The loaf shape is formed by either cooking it in a loaf pan, or forming it by hand on an ordinary baking pan. During the Great Depression it was popular to add cereal grains to the meatloaf to stretch the meat; the tradition lives on with the merits of producing a lower-fat dish with superior binding and consistency. It is normally served warm as part of the main course, but can also be found sliced as a cold cut.

Many meatloaf recipes are interchangeable with meatball recipes, the distinction coming from choice of sauce and accompaniments. Many of these recipes call for pasta sauce or tomato sauce to be poured over the loaf to form a crust during baking. In the Midwestern Unite