Rudy's BBQ inspired smoked Meatloaf

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xray

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
Mar 11, 2015
4,747
3,268
Northeast PA
A while back, I smoked some cheese for one of my wife's coworkers. As repayment, she brought me two bottle's of Rudy's BBQ sauce (Regular/Sissy) and a container of their bbq rub. I am a big fan of their bbq sauce ever since I tried it. I've been craving some smoked meatloaf and decided to use those ingredients in it...plus there were a few recent meatloaf smokes that put me over the edge. It's funny how the SMF hive mind works.

The recipe I use for meatloaf is pretty basic and standard. The only thing that really changes is the rubs and sauces added. Here's what I used. I don't add bacon or cheese to mine. Although delicious additions! I don't consider it to be a meatloaf then, more of a fatty.

Smoked Meatloaf

3lbs 80/20 ground beef
2 eggs
1c. milk
1 1/4c. bread crumbs
1 onion
1 poblano pepper
1/4c. bbq sauce (I used Rudy's)
3T. favorite dry rub
pinch of parsley
additional bbq sauce for glazing

I usually like to sautee my onions and peppers before mixing. I was lazy and decided to roast them in the oven instead. I prepped this last night, plus I had the oven already on when I made the Porketta loin roast. This was nice and less of a mess to clean up. I'll do this from now on.

Vegetables prepped for roasting. Place under a broiler on hi until poblano is charred. Remove pepper skins and dice pepper and onion. Sorry for no after picture, this was spur of the moment laziness on my part:
IMG_3588.jpg


After I did this, the rest of the ingredients were mixed and placed in a loaf pan. I found the Rudy's bbq rub to be pretty salty so I used chef jimmyj chef jimmyj Carolina Q Dust instead since I didn't want it to be overly salty. I could always add more salt at the table. The Carolina Q dust is my favorite dry rub to make. I just omit the white pepper since I never seem to have it.

Meatloaf in the pan. Cover and refrigerate overnight:
IMG_3590.jpg


The next day, meatloaf is out of the pan and dusted with some Rudy's BBQ rub, notice how much coarser the rub texture is:
IMG_3595.jpg


The meatloaf went into the smoker at 1pm. I smoked at 230-240F with hickory smoke. When my IT was 155F I glazed the meatloaf with more Rudy's BBQ sauce and cranked the heat to 275F. I wanted to get a picture of the loaf before the sauce went on, but it was a pretty cold and windy day out...so I worked as fast as I could to keep some heat in the smoker. This meatloaf took me 5.5 hrs to smoke, my longest one yet.

Love this stuff!
IMG_3602.jpg


Here's the meatloaf fresh off the smoker:
IMG_3606.jpg


The carryover heat took the final IT to 167F. Verified it using my new Inkbirdbbq Inkbirdbbq instant read thermometer. I'm really happy with this thermometer, it's fast and accurate. Can't beat it for the price.
IMG_3609.jpg


While the meatloaf rested, I went ahead and made the rest of the arugula salad:
IMG_3604.jpg


For this, I finely chopped 3 garlic cloves, salt, pepper and approximately 3T of olive oil in a large bowl. Add arugula, grated Asiago and grated Pecorino Romano and toss to coat. I didn't add fresh lemon juice to this because the arugula mix contained sorrel greens which are sour and lemony. I just placed a slice of lemon on the side in case I wanted more. I didn't use the lemon, so I guess it's a garnish at this point.

Here's the finished dinner. Smoked meatloaf with baked potato and arugula salad:
IMG_3611.jpg


Close up of the meatloaf:
IMG_3613.jpg


This meal was fantastic. It satisfied my craving, plus we have probably two more nights of dinner from this. As long as I have the Rudy's BBQ sauce and rub, I'll continue to use it when making meatloaf.

Thanks for looking,

Joe
 
Your loaf of meat looks quite the treat
The Rudy's glaze put me in a daze
Rudy's inside,Rudy's out,how did you ever live without?
 
Beautiful! Been awhile since we had meatloaf. I think we are due now. Glad to hear you enjoy the CQD...JJ
 
That looks fantastic! We haven't had meatloaf in awhile. Might give this a try. Though I don't have that brand of sauce or rub.
 
Excellent looking meatloaf Joe, I just made two the other day. They're all sliced and frozen for future work dinners.

Point for sure
Chris
 
A while back, I smoked some cheese for one of my wife's coworkers. As repayment, she brought me two bottle's of Rudy's BBQ sauce (Regular/Sissy) and a container of their bbq rub. I am a big fan of their bbq sauce ever since I tried it. I've been craving some smoked meatloaf and decided to use those ingredients in it...plus there were a few recent meatloaf smokes that put me over the edge. It's funny how the SMF hive mind works.

The recipe I use for meatloaf is pretty basic and standard. The only thing that really changes is the rubs and sauces added. Here's what I used. I don't add bacon or cheese to mine. Although delicious additions! I don't consider it to be a meatloaf then, more of a fatty.

Smoked Meatloaf

3lbs 80/20 ground beef
2 eggs
1c. milk
1 1/4c. bread crumbs
1 onion
1 poblano pepper
1/4c. bbq sauce (I used Rudy's)
3T. favorite dry rub
pinch of parsley
additional bbq sauce for glazing

I usually like to sautee my onions and peppers before mixing. I was lazy and decided to roast them in the oven instead. I prepped this last night, plus I had the oven already on when I made the Porketta loin roast. This was nice and less of a mess to clean up. I'll do this from now on.

Vegetables prepped for roasting. Place under a broiler on hi until poblano is charred. Remove pepper skins and dice pepper and onion. Sorry for no after picture, this was spur of the moment laziness on my part:
View attachment 418774

After I did this, the rest of the ingredients were mixed and placed in a loaf pan. I found the Rudy's bbq rub to be pretty salty so I used chef jimmyj chef jimmyj Carolina Q Dust instead since I didn't want it to be overly salty. I could always add more salt at the table. The Carolina Q dust is my favorite dry rub to make. I just omit the white pepper since I never seem to have it.

Meatloaf in the pan. Cover and refrigerate overnight:
View attachment 418775

The next day, meatloaf is out of the pan and dusted with some Rudy's BBQ rub, notice how much coarser the rub texture is:View attachment 418776

The meatloaf went into the smoker at 1pm. I smoked at 230-240F with hickory smoke. When my IT was 155F I glazed the meatloaf with more Rudy's BBQ sauce and cranked the heat to 275F. I wanted to get a picture of the loaf before the sauce went on, but it was a pretty cold and windy day out...so I worked as fast as I could to keep some heat in the smoker. This meatloaf took me 5.5 hrs to smoke, my longest one yet.

Love this stuff!
View attachment 418777

Here's the meatloaf fresh off the smoker:
View attachment 418779

The carryover heat took the final IT to 167F. Verified it using my new Inkbirdbbq Inkbirdbbq instant read thermometer. I'm really happy with this thermometer, it's fast and accurate. Can't beat it for the price.
View attachment 418780

While the meatloaf rested, I went ahead and made the rest of the arugula salad:
View attachment 418778

For this, I finely chopped 3 garlic cloves, salt, pepper and approximately 3T of olive oil in a large bowl. Add arugula, grated Asiago and grated Pecorino Romano and toss to coat. I didn't add fresh lemon juice to this because the arugula mix contained sorrel greens which are sour and lemony. I just placed a slice of lemon on the side in case I wanted more. I didn't use the lemon, so I guess it's a garnish at this point.

Here's the finished dinner. Smoked meatloaf with baked potato and arugula salad:
View attachment 418781

Close up of the meatloaf:
View attachment 418782

This meal was fantastic. It satisfied my craving, plus we have probably two more nights of dinner from this. As long as I have the Rudy's BBQ sauce and rub, I'll continue to use it when making meatloaf.

Thanks for looking,

Joe
Look at the color on that block of meat! Man that looks great! Guess what we had for supper tonight?? Meatloaf, mac and cheese, butter beans and cornbread. LOL! Oh! with good ole sweet iced tea!
 
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Dang fine looking Meatloaf I could go for a Sandwich right now. Great Job

Gary
 
A while back, I smoked some cheese for one of my wife's coworkers. As repayment, she brought me two bottle's of Rudy's BBQ sauce (Regular/Sissy) and a container of their bbq rub. I am a big fan of their bbq sauce ever since I tried it. I've been craving some smoked meatloaf and decided to use those ingredients in it...plus there were a few recent meatloaf smokes that put me over the edge. It's funny how the SMF hive mind works.

The recipe I use for meatloaf is pretty basic and standard. The only thing that really changes is the rubs and sauces added. Here's what I used. I don't add bacon or cheese to mine. Although delicious additions! I don't consider it to be a meatloaf then, more of a fatty.

Smoked Meatloaf

3lbs 80/20 ground beef
2 eggs
1c. milk
1 1/4c. bread crumbs
1 onion
1 poblano pepper
1/4c. bbq sauce (I used Rudy's)
3T. favorite dry rub
pinch of parsley
additional bbq sauce for glazing

I usually like to sautee my onions and peppers before mixing. I was lazy and decided to roast them in the oven instead. I prepped this last night, plus I had the oven already on when I made the Porketta loin roast. This was nice and less of a mess to clean up. I'll do this from now on.

Vegetables prepped for roasting. Place under a broiler on hi until poblano is charred. Remove pepper skins and dice pepper and onion. Sorry for no after picture, this was spur of the moment laziness on my part:
View attachment 418774

After I did this, the rest of the ingredients were mixed and placed in a loaf pan. I found the Rudy's bbq rub to be pretty salty so I used chef jimmyj chef jimmyj Carolina Q Dust instead since I didn't want it to be overly salty. I could always add more salt at the table. The Carolina Q dust is my favorite dry rub to make. I just omit the white pepper since I never seem to have it.

Meatloaf in the pan. Cover and refrigerate overnight:
View attachment 418775

The next day, meatloaf is out of the pan and dusted with some Rudy's BBQ rub, notice how much coarser the rub texture is:View attachment 418776

The meatloaf went into the smoker at 1pm. I smoked at 230-240F with hickory smoke. When my IT was 155F I glazed the meatloaf with more Rudy's BBQ sauce and cranked the heat to 275F. I wanted to get a picture of the loaf before the sauce went on, but it was a pretty cold and windy day out...so I worked as fast as I could to keep some heat in the smoker. This meatloaf took me 5.5 hrs to smoke, my longest one yet.

Love this stuff!
View attachment 418777

Here's the meatloaf fresh off the smoker:
View attachment 418779

The carryover heat took the final IT to 167F. Verified it using my new Inkbirdbbq Inkbirdbbq instant read thermometer. I'm really happy with this thermometer, it's fast and accurate. Can't beat it for the price.
View attachment 418780

While the meatloaf rested, I went ahead and made the rest of the arugula salad:
View attachment 418778

For this, I finely chopped 3 garlic cloves, salt, pepper and approximately 3T of olive oil in a large bowl. Add arugula, grated Asiago and grated Pecorino Romano and toss to coat. I didn't add fresh lemon juice to this because the arugula mix contained sorrel greens which are sour and lemony. I just placed a slice of lemon on the side in case I wanted more. I didn't use the lemon, so I guess it's a garnish at this point.

Here's the finished dinner. Smoked meatloaf with baked potato and arugula salad:
View attachment 418781

Close up of the meatloaf:
View attachment 418782

This meal was fantastic. It satisfied my craving, plus we have probably two more nights of dinner from this. As long as I have the Rudy's BBQ sauce and rub, I'll continue to use it when making meatloaf.

Thanks for looking,

Joe
Mannn that looks great
 
That looks outstanding, and I like them free formed on the smoker too. I'm making that soon!

Once a year I order some "Sause" and the regular rub for a big cook every July. I met Doc Holiday 15 or 16 years ago at the Country Store location on the Seaworld exit in San Antonio, this was about the time he was taking Rudy's to the franchise route. He was a cool guy.
 
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