I always make this meatloaf when we go camping or even for weekend getaways with family. It is so easy to make and my family keeps asking me to bring it again and again! It can be eaten cold with salad or in a sandwich which makes it perfect food for the road, but it can also impress warm with polenta or vegetable stews (check out this Hungarian zucchini stew “fozelek” recipe). It can even be dressed up with bacon with special outings.

This recipe is inspired by the Hungarian meatloaf “Stefania vagdalt” and greek meatballs that my collage roommate used to make when I lived in Heidelberg, Germany. It is kind of a fusion cooking that brings back good memories.

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Meatloaf with feta cheese and walnuts

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Ingredients for meatloaf with feta cheese and walnuts

There is always some flexibility in this recipe and you can adopt it to your taste as well as your pantry’s current inventory:

• 1 lb ground meat: I use turkey or chicken, but you may try beef as well and let me know how it turns out.
• 2 eggs: I do think expensive eggs are the best in general, but for this recipe it does not matter what kind of eggs you use.
• 2 table spoon bread crumbs: I find it hard to find “real” European breadcrumbs in US supermarkets. I get mine in Trader Joe’s. You can also make your own bread crumbs by grinding old bread or toast. I don’t think panko breadcrumbs, which are currently very popular will work for this recipe, but again, if that is what you have at home, why not give it a try?
• 1 large onion: This is tricky! 1 large onion is Europe is about half the size of a “normal” onion in the US. You just want a lot of onion, that is the point. With these gigantic American onions, I sometimes use half. You want to chop them as small as you can so that they don’t make your meatloaf chunky. You can use raw or sautéed onion. Sautéed onions will make your meatloaf taste more sweet and less oniony.
• ½ bar Feta cheese (100g) cut into small chunks or crumbled feta: Once again, you don’t have feta at home, but have other cheese, just go for it! In the past I have used haloumi, which is grill able cheese from Cyprus and also a garlic cheese from Face Rock Creamery and both turned out very good.
• 3 cloves of garlic: There is never enough garlic, so if you add more, I will not blame you. Promised.
• ½ cup Walnut pieces: Once I made this recipe with cashew pieces because I did not have walnuts (my husband eats insane amount of walnuts so we run out fast). Since then, sometimes I make half walnuts, half cashews.
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Pepper to taste
• Optional: 1 tsp sweet paprika powder: Obviously, in Hungary we use a lot of paprika! I do not like my meatloaf with a lot of paprika powder inside, but a little bit for the flavor does not hurt. You can skip this or add cayenne pepper instead if you want to add a little kick.
• Optional: sliced bacon: We will use this to cover your meatloaf.
• Olive oil: We will use this to brush the outside of the meatloaf if you are not using bacon. For sure, other type of oil will also work, such as sunflower oil.

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How to make the best camping food: meatloaf with feta cheese and walnuts

1. Preheat the oven to 400F (200C).
2. Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl.
3. Form a “half log” in an oven proof glass pan (pyrex) or baking sheet.
4. If using bacon, coat your meatloaf with bacon. If you are not using bacon, brush your meatloaf with oil or an egg. This will give it a nice brown color.
5. Bake for 1 hour covered with aluminum foil, then remove foil and bake a bit longer until the outside is nicely brown and crunchy. Note: baking time will depend on the thickness of the log you’ve formed. Check after 45min with toothpick test.

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Possible Variations:

You can make your meatloaf with or without bacon. There is also some flexibility in the type of nuts and cheese you are using. I am a relaxed cook and now that we live in the suburbs the next supermarket is not around the corner, so I do not run to the store if something is missing but use substitutions instead. In general, the way I cook is more like “reverse recipes”, that is, I first look what I have at home and then figure out what to cook vs. finding a recipe and then going to the store to get the ingredients. Remember, this is an easy recipe for a meatloaf to take with you on the road and somehow food at a campsite always tastes amazing. I would like to hear in the comments section if you come up with a new variation!

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Hungarian zucchini stew (fozelek)