Bacon-Wrapped Buffalo Meatloaf

Most people who replace their ground beef with buffalo, in recipes like meatballs, burgers, and meatloaf, are usually disappointed. Ground buffalo is much leaner than ground beef, which is the biggest challenge. In case you're new, it's the fat that provides most of the flavor and moisture. Also, for whatever reason, pre-packaged buffalo is ground very fine, almost to a paste, which can lead to a rubbery meatloaf, unless you use a few tricks.

• Preparation Time: 40 mins
• Cooking Time: 1 hr 10 mins
• Total Time: 1 hr 50 mins
• Calories: 348 Calories

Ingredients

• ¼ cup milk
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• ½ yellow onion, chopped
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 carrot, cubed
• 2 cups fresh bread crumbs
• 2 slices bacon, chopped
• 1 fresh poblano pepper, chopped (Optional)
• 4 button mushrooms, chopped
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt, or to taste
• 2 pounds ground buffalo
• 7 slices thick-cut bacon, or more as needed
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar (Optional)
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar (Optional)
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (Optional)

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.

Step 2

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-heat. Cook and stir chopped bacon in hot butter until almost crisp, 5 to 10 minutes.

Step 3

Pulse onion, carrot, celery, red bell pepper, poblano pepper, mushrooms, and garlic in a food processor until finely chopped. Add vegetable mixture and rosemary to bacon in the skillet; cook and stir until vegetables soften and sweeten, about 5 minutes.

Step 4

Mix vegetable mixture, bread crumbs, and milk together in a bowl. Let cool to room temperature. Stir egg, salt, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper, and cayenne pepper into vegetable mixture. Add buffalo meat to vegetable mixture and mix with your hands until well-blended.

Step 5

Turn meat mixture out into prepared baking dish and shape into a 9x5x3-inch meatloaf. Lay bacon strips crosswise over the top of the meatloaf, tucking in ends of bacon under the loaf.

Step 6

Whisk rice vinegar, brown sugar, and mustard together in a bowl until glaze is smooth.

Step 7

Bake meatloaf in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Brush glaze over loaf and continue baking until no longer pink in the center, about 30 minutes more. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 155 degrees F (68 degrees C). Cool for 10 minutes before slicing.