My wife and I picked up some old lunch trays at the antique mall recently. Ever since then we’ve been wanting to make a TV dinner-like meal. We settled on this outstanding combination of smoked meatloaf, scratch mashed potatoes with gravy, fantastic herbed peas and carrots, and a light apple pie wonton crunch.

The Star Of The Show
In this part 1 of our dinner, we’ll make the meatloaf. This was made on the smoker. You could also make it on a grill (over indirect heat), or in your oven. The original recipe came from a Texas BBQ Rub newsletter. You should try their rubs – they’re great! And sign up for their newsletter. It’s always full of great recipes, like this one!
Mashed potatoes and gravy recipe
Herbed peas and carrots recipe
Meatloaf TV Dinner Part 1: The smoked meatloaf
Equipment
- Meatloaf pan aluminum if smoking or grilling
Ingredients
- 3 pounds ground beef
- 1 medium white onion minced
- 1 medium green bell pepper minced
- 1 medium jalapeno pepper minced
- 6 eggs
- 1 sleeve Ritz crackers crushed
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese freshly grated
- â…“ cup your favorite BBQ seasoning
- 1 cup Worcestershire sauce yes, 1 cup!
- ¼ cup liquid smoke only if baking in the oven
- 1 cup your favorite BBQ sauce I used Grandma Foster’s Smooth and Spicy
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F if cooking in the oven.
- If smoking or grilling, cut a few slits about 1/2″ up from the bottom in the pan so that the excess fat can drip out.
- Mix all ingredients except for the BBQ sauce in a large bowl.
- Place mixture into baking pan.
- Form into a loaf.
For the smoker or grill
- Smoke or grill at 225 F for 2-3 hours.
- Spread BBQ sauce over top of loaf and return to smoker or grill for another 30-45 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 170 F.
For the oven
- Bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
- Spread BBQ sauce over top of loaf and return to the oven and bake another 10 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 170 F.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional values are approximate.









