My confession: I am not a fan of leftovers. A few foods are exceptions, like beans and soups that are best on day two. But generally, even freezing dishes doesn’t increase my fandom.
Since we are a party of two in my household, I’ve become an expert at cooking for two with little to no leftovers. But that’s not always possible either. So, my second expertise is transforming leftovers into a completely different meal.
Voila! Soup to meatloaf.
You can actually make it with any thick soup: Lentil, Split Pea, Stew, etc. With or without meat doesn’t matter, as long as the meat is not in large chunks.
And you can even make soupy soups, like chicken noodle, thicker with the use of a food processor or blender. Which, by the way, is another great idea to have the same soup, differently, two days in a row.
Leftover soup, and especially frozen soup, are good for meatloaf because they lose some of their liquid in the cold.
The two challenges for transforming soup to meatloaf, other than the liquid, are what filler and topping to add.
For the filler, you can choose oatmeal, raw riced cauliflower, or cooked quinoa. You could probably use chia or bulgar too, but I haven’t tried those.
For the topping, I experimented with no topping, cooked quinoa, ketchup with liquid smoke [Hickory], and ketchup with HB sauce. My HB sauce was a “natural alternative” sauce but regular HB sauce, A-1 sauce, or Worcestershire sauce would work just as well.
Pictured: Four versions in two pans: 1) Soup & oatmeal with no topping; 2) Soup & oatmeal with ketchup/liquid smoke glaze; 3) Soup & quinoa with quinoa crust top; 4) Soup & quinoa with ketchup/HB glaze.
Hubby and I decided all four versions were a success – though I did have a preference for the ketchup/liquid smoke glaze.
Portions are “for two” and can be doubled.
Meatless Meatloaf from Leftover Lentil Soup
1 cup leftover lentil soup
2 cups oatmeal [or cooked quinoa, or raw riced cauliflower]
Optional Glaze: 1/3 cup ketchup & 1 Tsp Liquid Smoke/Hickory Flavor [or HB, or A1, or Worcestershire sauce]
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix lentil soup with oatmeal [or other filler] with your hands. Add more filler if necessary. You want the same consistency as regular meatloaf.
Either oil a 9×5 loaf pan or line it with parchment paper for quicker cleanup.
Press the loaf mixture into the pan and smooth out the top.
Optional glaze: In a mixing bowl, mix the ketchup and liquid smoke [or alternative] together and then spread it evenly over the top of the pressed loaf. [If topping with cooked quinoa for a crunchy top crust, just spread a thin layer of quinoa over the top.]
Bake the loaf in the oven for 30 minutes.
[Note: Everything is already cooked, so the baking is really to remove the liquid for a firm loaf and to set the glaze. I like to wait until I see the “burn” spots of the glaze begin before I remove it from the oven.]
Let it rest about 5 minutes before slicing.
Serve.