This keto meatloaf recipe is the pinnacle of low carb comfort food. Pair it with some delicious low carb red wine for a hearty and healthy comfort food meal. This post is sponsored by Secco Wine Club.
This keto french onion meatloaf is easy, delicious, and full of great flavor. And of course I want you to make it as soon as humanly possible. But that’s not what I want to discuss with you today.
Today I want to discuss one of my favorite subjects: wine.
Low Carb Wine
I have learned a lot about wine in the past few weeks, and a lot about the current state of the wine industry. And it’s a little creepy, to be frank.
Let’s put it this way: when it comes to a keto diet, not all wines are created equal. Not even close. And most consumers, including myself, are woefully deceived about what goes into our favorite beverage.
I’m a red wine drinker and have been for a long time, and I typically drink a glass every evening. Since I don’t like sweet wines, and I stick to deep reds, I wasn’t worried about the carbs and the sugars. And then I had a phone call with the head of Secco Wine Club that changed my perceptions… and my wine drinking habits.
I’m now a deep believer in their products, their methods, and their delicious PALO61 wines. And you will be too, after you read this.
What’s in your wine?
The long and short of it is that the wine industry has us over a barrel (pun totally intended) and the lack of transparency is deeply disturbing. Wine is at a peak of popularity right now and demand exceeds supply, so many vineyards are taking shortcuts, forcing grapes to grow in less than ideal conditions.
This requires forced irrigation, instead of the normally dry conditions that wine grapes prefer. And the resulting juice lacks the flavor, color, and nutritional content that traditional wines contain. To make up for it, vintners are adding all sorts of additives and chemicals, and even sweeteners. Some of these bottles can contain up to 20g of sugars per bottle.
And as wines are not required to have an ingredient list or a nutritional label, we consumers have no idea what we’re drinking or how many carbs it really contains. Making it anything but keto-friendly.
Truly Low Sugar Wine
Thankfully, there are some people out there making wine the old fashioned way, and Secco Wine Club is one of them. And they believe in full transparency, including a nutritional label on the back of every bottle.
They own the process from grape to glass, with vineyards in Tuscany using dry farming methods. This means no forced irrigation, just the vines growing in their natural environment, and at the whims of the weather patterns. The roots of the vines can reach down as far as 18 feet, drawing in the vital nutrients from the soil and water.
And they use old world wine making methods, with no additives, no chemicals, non-GMO and completely vegan too.
This strict adherence to quality results in delicious, clean wines with less than 2g of carbs per bottle and less than 2g of residual sugars per bottle. Per bottle, not per glass!
But how does PALO61 taste?
Crisp, clean, delicious. Honestly, clean-tasting is the best way I can describe it. It’s pretty amazing and I think it may have ruined me for any other wine ever again.
I had a wine club that I signed up for during a visit to Napa a few years ago and I’ve cancelled it now. I opened one remaining bottle the other day and it was very cloying to my tastebuds. I found it hard to drink, to be honest.
I’m not much of a white wine drinker so I may not be your best guide there, but the PALO61 rosé is wonderful and I shared a bottle with some friends the other day. We all gave it thumbs up.
How does Secco Wine Club work?
Yes, it’s called a “wine club” but you don’t have to sign up for a membership. You can purchase by the bottle and order as frequently as you like.
And they are offering my readers complimentary shipping on orders of 3 or more bottles of PALO61 wines. This is a savings of $20.
Use code FOODDREAMER at checkout.
So do I recommend the low carb PALO61 wines? Yes, I really genuinely do. Quite fervently, in fact, because I believe in their mission and I actually love the wine.
If you are a wine drinker on a keto diet and want to enjoy your glass without worry, you need to try these. Low carb, low sugar wine made the old fashioned way, without additives or chemicals.
Drink with peace of mind, my friends. Cheers.
What to pair with low carb wine
Oh yes, the recipe. I almost forgot.
I’m lying. I never forget about food. Anyway, let me assure you that this French Onion Meatloaf is the ideal pairing with PALO61 Toscano Rosso. The rich red pairs so well with a hearty meal like this one. But add some caramelized onions and some Gruyere cheese? Match made in heaven.
This is a relatively simple keto meatloaf to make and the most time-consuming part is caramelizing the onions. That’s always a slow process but worth it every time. After that, the rest comes together very quickly.
And even the kids love it! The meatloaf, I mean. Not the wine. My kids don’t drink wine quite yet…
French Onion Meatloaf
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon butter or bacon grease
- 1 large white onion cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced
- Salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork or another lb ground beef
- 1 cup ground pork rinds or ½ cup almond flour
- 2 teaspoon onion powder
- ¾ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 large egg
- 4 ounces Gruyere cheese grated
Instructions
- In a large skillet over low heat, melt the butter or bacon grease. Once melted, add the sliced onions and toss to coat. Sprinkle with salt and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are soft and golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Stir in the thyme leaves, cook one more minute, then remove from heat and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350F and line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine the ground meat, pork rinds, onion powder, pepper, and an additional ½ teaspoon salt. Stir in the egg and half of the caramelized onions, then use your hands to thoroughly combine.
- Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and form the mixture into a loaf about 5 by 9 inches. Bake 40 to 50 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 160F. Remove and turn off the oven.
- Top with the shredded cheese and the remaining onions and place back in the warm oven to melt the cheese, about 5 minutes.
Amy Maranda says
Simply amazing! I cut the recipe in half and used a whole egg. Turned out perfect! I’ll be making this again.
Laura says
Mine turned out quite dry… followed the recipe! Flavor was good though.
Carolyn says
Sounds like you over-cooked it. Did you test the internal temperature?
Diane K says
I have a love/hate relationship with meatloaf. As a kid, my mother who always put nourishing, delicious food on the dinner table made a totally awful meatloaf. Granted, I was a picky eater, but meatloaf was one of those meals that I was convinced was invented as a punishment. lol But, my brother loved it so we had it often. Too often. As an adult, at some point I realized that millions of meatloaf eaters couldn’t all be wrong so I searched for, and tried, many meatloaf recipes. I have to admit that some were very good – but none really stood out as special.
I found a package of ground beef and a package of ground pork in the freezer, thought I’d take a shot at meatloaf again, but this time I asked myself, WWCD? (What Would Carolyn Do?) and searched this web site and found the recipe for French Onion Meatloaf. It sounded good, and pictured a fantastically elegant looking meatloaf. This was the winner.
When I told my husband that we were having meatloaf for dinner, he looked politely disappointed. Yes, he’s had a few too many experiments to get excited. Well, he raved about the meat loaf and wanted to be sure that we left enough leftovers to have another meal. I just can’t say enough about the taste, texture and moistness. On the table, the presentation with the melted cheese and sauteed onions on top looked like a crown of decadence. Sadly, I didn’t have gruyere so I used a blend of asiago, romano and parmesean. It was very good, but next time, and there definitely will be a next time, I’ll make sure to have gruyere in the fridge because its flavor profile and melt will even be better. Thanks, Carolyn, you’ve made me feel good about meatloaf again! This one is special.
Jan says
Hmmm…need to do some meal prep for upcoming knee replacement and thinking I can make this up and freeze it raw to pull out, thaw and add the 2nd half of the caramelized onions and cheese. Any thoughts on this?
Mary Snow says
Wow! Just made this for dinner this evening. Best meatloaf I’ve ever had. My husband’s comment…this is REALLY good! The caramelized onions and Gruyère cheese take it over the top in flavor. I used grass fed ground beef and organic bulk pork. Thank you for this recipe! It’s a keeper!
Sarah Herman says
I made a double recipe of this, but with italian sausage instead of pork, mozzarella instead of gruyere, and dried thyme instead of fresh (it’s what I had). It was so stinking good! And it froze really well. About to make it again tonight and my mouth is watering at work thinking about it.