Best Spices for Meatloaf: What to Use

Meatloaf seasoning works on two levels: what goes into the meat (onion, garlic, salt and pepper, a savory liquid such as Worcestershire or soy sauce, mustard and an herb) and what goes on top (a ketchup-based glaze). Two well-tested recipes, one from Betty Crocker and one from Cook’s Illustrated, show how differently those slots can be filled. Amounts below are theirs.

Two recipes side by side

	Betty Crocker, Savory Meatloaf (1 1/2 lb lean beef)¹	Cook’s Illustrated, Glazed All-Beef Meatloaf²
Onion	1 small onion, chopped (1/4 cup)	1 medium onion, chopped fine (about 1 cup)
Garlic	1 clove, or 1/8 tsp garlic powder	1 medium clove
Savory liquid	1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce	1 Tbsp soy sauce
Mustard	1/2 tsp ground (dry) mustard	1 tsp Dijon
Herbs	1 tsp fresh sage or 1/4 tsp dried	2 tsp fresh thyme, 2 Tbsp fresh parsley
Spice	1/4 tsp pepper	1/2 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp paprika
Salt	1/2 tsp	3/4 tsp table salt
Topping	1/2 cup ketchup, chili sauce or barbecue sauce	Glaze: 1/2 cup ketchup, 1/4 cup cider vinegar, 3 Tbsp brown sugar, 1 tsp hot sauce, 1/2 tsp ground coriander

Neither recipe uses oregano.¹²

The seasonings and what each does

Onion

Both recipes use fresh onion, though in very different amounts.¹² Fresh onion is mostly water, 89.1 g per 100 g in USDA’s data, while onion powder has 5.39 g.³⁴ So fresh onion adds moisture to the loaf and powder doesn’t. Many cooks sauté the onion first so it softens and doesn’t stay crunchy in the loaf (kitchen practice). See onion powder vs. onion.

Garlic

One clove per loaf is enough for both recipes.¹² Betty Crocker offers 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder in its place,¹ the same equivalence North Dakota State University Extension gives for one clove.⁵ Powder spreads evenly through ground meat with no chopping (kitchen judgment). See garlic powder and garlic powder vs. garlic.

Worcestershire sauce, or soy sauce

Britannica says Worcestershire sauce in its original form included tamarind, soy, garlic, onions, anchovies and spices.⁶ Betty Crocker uses a tablespoon in its loaf;¹ Cook’s Illustrated uses a tablespoon of soy sauce instead and no Worcestershire.² Both are salty, savory liquids, and either fills the same slot (editorial). A common claim says Worcestershire is what keeps meatloaf moist; at one tablespoon in a loaf with a cup of milk or other liquid,¹ it is a small share of the moisture, and we found no test of its effect. See Worcestershire powder.

Mustard: dry or prepared

The two recipes split here: Betty Crocker uses 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard, Cook’s Illustrated 1 teaspoon Dijon.¹² McCormick notes that dried mustard and ground mustard are the same spice.⁷ Prepared mustard brings vinegar tang along with mustard flavor; dry mustard gives mustard flavor without added liquid (editorial). We found no source that makes either the standard choice for American meatloaf. See mustard powder, mustard powder uses and mustard powder vs. prepared mustard.

Herbs: sage, thyme, parsley or oregano

The named recipes reach for sage (Betty Crocker) or thyme and parsley (Cook’s Illustrated).¹² Oregano is a fine choice too: Britannica describes its strong aroma and warm, pungent taste,⁸ and ATK counts oregano, thyme, sage and rosemary among the hearty herbs whose flavor is somewhat more heat-stable,⁹ which suits an hour in the oven. If you swap dried for fresh, the LSU AgCenter’s rule is one teaspoon of crumbled dried herb for one tablespoon of fresh.¹⁰ Betty Crocker’s own swap is 1/4 teaspoon dried sage for 1 teaspoon fresh.¹ See sage, thyme, oregano and cooking with oregano.

Paprika, pepper and heat

Cook’s Illustrated adds a teaspoon of paprika to the meat and a teaspoon of hot sauce to the glaze.² Both recipes use black pepper, 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon.¹² See black pepper.

The glaze: ketchup and what goes with it

Betty Crocker’s topping is plain ketchup, chili sauce or barbecue sauce.¹ The Cook’s Illustrated glaze builds on ketchup with cider vinegar, brown sugar, hot sauce and a little ground coriander.² Sweet and tangy is the pattern either way; the coriander is the unexpected touch.

Where meatloaf comes from

Meatloaf is older than its 1950s image. Writing in Tasting Table, Adrienne Katz Kennedy cites food historian Andrew Smith for the first American meatloaf recipe dating to around the 1870s.¹¹ She describes it as one of the ways households stretched food during the Great Depression, and says that by the 1950s it had become a symbol of Americana; a 1960 book, 365 Ways to Cook Hamburger, carried 70 meatloaf recipes.¹¹ We found no source for how plain or complex its seasoning was in any given decade.

Doneness

Federal guidance is to cook ground meat to 160°F.¹² FSIS says to check with a food thermometer, because color and texture are not reliable signs of doneness.¹³ Betty Crocker bakes its loaf at 350°F for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, until a thermometer in the center reads 160°F.¹ Whatever the recipe says, check that the center reaches 160°F before serving. A turkey or chicken meatloaf needs 165°F.¹²

Betty Crocker Kitchens, “Savory Meatloaf”, Betty Crocker. bettycrocker.com · Publication ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³
“Glazed All-Beef Meatloaf”, Cook’s Illustrated, America’s Test Kitchen, 2012. americastestkitchen.com · Publication ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰
“Onions, raw”, FDC ID 170000, USDA FoodData Central. fdc.nal.usda.gov · Regulator ↩
“Spices, onion powder”, FDC ID 171327, USDA FoodData Central. fdc.nal.usda.gov · Regulator ↩
Julie Garden-Robinson, “Ingredient Substitutions” (FN198), North Dakota State University Extension, 2018. ksre.ksu.edu · Reference work ↩
Michael Raffael, “Worcestershire sauce”, Encyclopaedia Britannica. britannica.com · Reference work ↩
McCormick Kitchens, “About Ground Mustard: Uses, Pairings and Substitutes”, McCormick, 2025. mccormick.com · Merchant ↩
Anoushka Pant, “Oregano”, Encyclopaedia Britannica. britannica.com · Reference work ↩
Liz Bomze, “Our Guide to Fresh Herbs”, America’s Test Kitchen, 2019. americastestkitchen.com · Publication ↩
“Flavorful Herbs”, LSU AgCenter. lsuagcenter.com · Reference work ↩
Adrienne Katz Kennedy, “The History Of Meatloaf: From Ancient Rome To Comfort Food Classic”, Tasting Table, 2023. tastingtable.com · Publication ↩ ↩²
“Cook to a Safe Minimum Internal Temperature”, FoodSafety.gov, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. foodsafety.gov · Regulator ↩ ↩²
“Color of Cooked Ground Beef as It Relates to Doneness”, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service. fsis.usda.gov · Regulator ↩

Good Spices for Meatloaf: Worcestershire, Mustard, Herbs and the Glaze