Halloween Meatloaf Zombie Recipe
Make a Scary Zombie Meatloaf for Halloween!
It looks disgusting and maybe even scary, but this zombie meatloaf tastes delicious! And oh so perfect for Halloween dinner.
Making the Meatloaf
Use your favorite meatloaf recipe! I’m including a recipe just for fun, but you can totally use any recipe you’d like for this mummy meatloaf.
Shape the loaf to look like a face and “decorate” it with bacon, onion, string cheese pieces, olives, etc. Really, you can use any ingredients that your family enjoys with meatloaf to make it look like a zombie or mummy face.
Making the Zombie Face
Yellow onion is pretty easy to cut up and use for the teeth and the eyes of the zombie’s face. In fact, the onion pieces are almost too perfect for the teeth. Yikes. Black olives make great eyes too!
Once you have the eyes and teeth on there, wrap slices of raw bacon around the face and place a few going diagonally over the face too.
The glaze is optional, but it does add some great flavor to the meatloaf. I like to brush some glaze over most of the meatloaf before baking, but I leave parts of the eyes and teeth without glaze for added creepiness. 😉
Leave the string cheese pieces without glaze or add the cheese halfway through cooking if you want them to look more white for a mummy vibe.
How to cook a Meatloaf Zombie in the oven?
Cook the meatloaf for 45-55 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit or 190 degrees Celsius.
An instant-read thermometer is the easiest way to tell when the zombie meatloaf is done! Once it reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit or 71 degrees Celsius.
Air Fryer Instructions
To ensure that the face fits in your air fryer basket, adjust the meatloaf recipe ingredients. In my 5.8qt air fryer basket, I halved the recipe. Follow directions to make and form meatloaf.
Place the face on a piece of parchment paper in the air fryer basket. Cook for 380°F/193°C for 15 minutes. Check the internal temperature and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes, or until the meatloaf registers at 160°F/71°C.
Can I Make Small Meatloaf Zombies?
You can create one large zombie meatloaf face or make mini individual zombie meatloaves. The one large face will take longer to cook through, but you can serve it in slices that won’t look as gross as the whole face does. Haha.
If you make the meatloaf faces as individual servings, it will take less time to cook, but it will take a little extra time to decorate each. And you get to look it in the eyes when you eat it, rather than just a slice of it. 😉 So you just choose whichever works best for you!
Final Thoughts
Yuck. Yeah, this meatloaf definitely looks gross, but I guess that’s what we’re going for here!
Note: To make it low carb and gluten-free, use this keto bacon-wrapped meatloaf recipe.
Share with us in the comments below how this recipe turned out for you!
See more of our favorite Halloween recipes:
- Halloween Puff Pastry Intestines Recipe
- Adorable Bat Treats For Halloween!
- Easiest Candy Corn Sugar Cookies Recipe
- Nutella Crescent Roll Mummies Recipe for Halloween
- Ooey Gooey Monster Cookies with Eyes
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Halloween Meatloaf Zombie Recipe
Equipment
- Baking sheet
Ingredients
Meatloaf
- 1 cup crushed saltine crackers 25-30 crackers
- ⅓ cup milk
- ¼ cup minced fresh parsley
- 2 large eggs lightly beaten
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 3 tablespoons Worcestershire
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 2 pounds ground meat
Decorations
- 5 to 7 slices raw bacon
- ½ onion
- string cheese
Glaze
- ⅔ cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Instructions
Oven Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F/190°C. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, mix together the crushed saltines and milk. Let sit for about 5 minutes.
- Mix in the parsley, eggs, onion powder, garlic powder, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire, salt, and pepper. Add the ground meat and mix until well combined.
- For the glaze, whisk together the ketchup, brown sugar, and vinegar.
- Transfer the meat mixture to the prepared baking sheet and shape it into a loaf that looks like a face. Try to keep it an even thickness throughout. Or shape the meat mixture into individual single serving faces.
- Place small rectangular pieces of cut onion for the teeth. Use larger curved or rounded pieces of onion or black olives for the eyes. Wrap the raw bacon around the face and place a few pieces going over the face diagonally. Add some string cheese over the face as well, if desired.
- Gently brush the glaze over the meatloaf, if desired. Leave the pieces of cheese without glaze if you want it to look more like a mummy than a zombie.
- Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until the center of the meatloaf registers at 160°F/71°C. Cooking time may be more or less, depending on the thickness and size of your meatloaf.
- Loosely tent the meatloaf with foil and let rest for about 10 minutes before slicing and serving. Enjoy!
Air Fryer Instructions
- To ensure that the face fits in your air fryer basket, adjust the meatloaf recipe ingredients. In my 5.8qt air fryer basket, I halved the recipe.
- Follow directions to make and form meatloaf.
- Place the face on a piece of parchment paper in the air fryer basket.
- Cook for 380°F/193°C for 15 minutes. Check the internal temperature and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes, or until the meatloaf registers at 160°F/71°C.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe Adapted From: Mel's Kitchen Cafe
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Wow. That is pretty disgusting and perfect!
Your comment pretty much sums it up!
This is really yucky and fun! My hubby loves meatloaf and zombies, so I need to make it for him. I might have to make sure it doesn’t resemble anything before I can eat it, though. (BTW: the link for meatloaf ideas comes up as the (same) zombie page.)
This really cool but kind of disgusting
This is amazing. Had to give you a shout out on my zombie blog. Check it out.
Eatpreylimp.blogspot.com
Thanks for the great idea!! I made this last night to preview for a halloween party and everyone loved it|!!! next im going to try to make them smaller like an individual ones! I also added cheese to melt out of the eyes and mouth… looked pretty cool!!
thanks again!
Anyone have a good meatloaf rexipe they want to share?
This one is my favorite https://fabulesslyfrugal.com/micro-meatloaf/
Uh this is so disgusting I have to make it!
I’m just worried no one will eat it lol
More for me I guess 🙂
I made it for my family and another family for dinner tonight and it was delicious! The bacon added some awesome flavor to it. Ha ha!
We made it tonight and loved it! I feel a tradition in the making..
Awesome Lisa!!
My son has asked for a Halloween themed dinner this year and this seems perfect, but what sides can go with them? I’ve already found mashed potato brains, any other ideas? I at least need a veggie! TIA
https://fabulesslyfrugal.com/recipes/halloween-veggie-skeleton-recipe/#.WfAtOxNSwW8
Check this one out! It’s our Halloween Veggie Skeleton! it’s the perfect way to get in those veggies!
Could I substitute oats for crackers?
Absolutely! Just make your personal fave meatloaf and make it look as disgusting as possible 😃
I want to make this for a work potluck. Could I cook it in a crock pot, and if so, for how long?
I haven’t tried making this zombie meatloaf recipe in a slow cooker before, so I can’t verify that it will turn out the same! You’ll have to let us know if you try it out and if it works well for you. But in general, from what I’ve read, these would be the steps to cook meatloaf in a crock-pot:
1. Line crock-pot with heavy duty foil
2. Combine meatloaf ingredients as instructed in the recipe, place in crock-pot and shape into loaf.
3. Top with glaze and cook – 6 hours on low or 3 hours on high, or until meatloaf is 160 degrees F internal temperature.
4. Lift out foil and broil to brown the top.
I did a trial run today. I did it for 3 hours. I used 85% grass fed beef and it did leave a lot of grease at the bottom. I may go leaner for when I do it at work. I did not put it under the broiler because I won’t have that ability at the office. I am going to put it together the night before and plug in the crockpot when I get to the office. I used your meatloaf recipe though and it tastes fantastic.
Awesome, Natalie! Thank you for following up and letting us know how your trial run went for meatloaf in the slow cooker. I hope it is a big hit at work!
It was a hit at work! I crumpled up aluminum foil balls at the bottom of the crock pot so the grease drained down.
Yay! So glad! Thank you, Natalie.