Skip to main content
Main

Beef Loaf

A baked loaf of minced beef mixed with bread crumbs, onion, butter, egg, and cold water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓
Beef Loaf

Why it works: Beef and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,092 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Beef Loaf

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the loaf

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

  2. In a large bowl, mix the minced onion and beef together.

  3. Add the bread crumbs, cold water, butter, and beaten egg to the mixture and combine well.

  4. Shape the mixture into a loaf on a plate and transfer it to a meat pan.

Roast

  1. Cover the loaf with dripping and add a small amount of hot water to the bottom of the pan to prevent sticking.

  2. Place the pan in the oven and baste frequently.

  3. When the loaf is partially cooked, sprinkle dried bread crumbs over the top.

  4. Roast for about one hour.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Beef + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

  4. Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  5. Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together42,912 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Minced beef
Provides the main body and structure of the loaf as it cooks.
Bread crumbs
Absorb liquid and help the loaf hold moisture so it stays tender.
Egg
Binds the mixture together so the loaf holds its shape when sliced.
Butter
Adds fat that enriches flavour and keeps the loaf moist.
Onion
Adds savoury aroma and flavour throughout the meat.

The step that matters

Basting during roasting. Frequent basting keeps the surface moist and the drippings flowing over the loaf, which helps prevent it drying out while the centre cooks through.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, bread, butter, egg):

  1. Asparagusfits about as well
  2. Potatofits about as well
  3. Leekfits about as well
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, bread, butter, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

More beef loaf recipes

Spiced 9 See all 201 →

You might also like

Brown BreadBrown Bread461 recipesRoast BeefRoast Beef211 recipesCorned BeefCorned Beef87 recipesWhite BreadWhite Bread80 recipes