Reviews & Comments

My picky husband really liked this meal...my 7-year-old was not a fan :( ... I actually spiced this receipe by chopping some sun dried tomatoes and adding some pepper flakes and sauteed them in olive oil. I then added two cans off tomato sauce to this mixture and folded in the ground beef mixture! It was delicious!

Wow, I have been making a very close recipe to this for years... did not know Betty had one too. I do NOT like the Progresso PANKO Crispy Bread Crumbs one bit. I might be the ONLY person in the world to say so, but it is true. I now will only buy the Progresso Italian Style Bread Crumbs and if you ever change them you will have made a huge mistake as far as my thinking. My Version...... Cooking spray 1 15 oz can tomato sauce 1/4 c Progresso Italian Style Bread Crumbs 1/4 c wheat germ 2 eggs (or equivlent of egg substitute) 1/2 C finely diced fresh onions 1 lb lean ground beef, 7% fat or less 4 % (Publix) 3 T Parmesan or Italian Blend grated cheese 8 oz block Mozzarella 1. Preheat oven to 400*. Coat muffin pans w cooking spray. Combine 3/4 cup pasta sauce and remaining ingredients (except mozzarella cheese) until blended. 2. Divide into 24 balls & shape around each string cheese, covering cheese completely. Seal tightly so hot cheese will stay inside. If you want to use a loaf pan, put half the meat in and then just cut cheese into long rectangular tubes & put them in the middle and put cheese on top or you can just cut a solid layer of cheese and either way, put the rest of the meat on top. Left over sauce can be drizzled over the top after baking. Bake 20-25 min or until 160*F. This of course depends on if you do muffin size or loaf size. I don't like my meatloaf dry, so if you do, you might want to bake it a bit longer .than 160*F.

Just tried this tonight. Very easy and delicious. I used 2lbs 93% lean ground beef which may help toward an earlier comment that the receipt was "squishy". I added Italian seasoning as well. While this turned out great - I will shred the cheese next time rather than using cheesesticks. They looked cute; but it was weird having this little random piece of cheese on the plate. The fire roasted tomato sauce was a hit - even for those who do not even like tomatoes!