Crumbled bacon is mixed in with the ground beef to 'baconate' this meatloaf recipe. Full of flavour, this meatloaf will not dissapoint for those who love bacon!
Cook the bacon in the frypan or the oven and lay on paper towels to remove some of the grease. To cook bacon in the oven, lay the bacon on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake in a 400F oven for 20 minutes or until crisp. Crumble the bacon by pulsing the strips in a food processor for a few seconds.
In a frypan, heat the oil and then cook the garlic, onion, pepper, celery and optional jalapeno until mostly cooked and soft. Let cool.
In a bowl make the sauce by mixing the ketchup, corn syrup, molasses, brown sugar, vinegar and 2 tsp of BBQ rub spice (link to recipe in notes below)
Mix the ground beef, bacon, eggs, cooked onion mixture, bread crumbs, milk and 2 tbsp BBQ rub spice mix.
Place the meat mixture in a loaf pan and pour the sauce on top. Bake the meatloaf in a 350F oven for 30 minutes. Lower the heat to 325F and bake another 60-75 minutes.