Whenever I watch American sitcoms or tv shows, they almost always sit down for dinner and it’s always meatloaf. Is meatloaf really a staple of American cuisine or is it just over represented in the media? The ironic part is whenever I go to an American restaurant outside the US, meatloaf is almost never on the menu.
40 comments
I legitimately can’t remember the last time I had meat loaf. It’s definitely been north of a decade at the very least.
My guess is that it’s easily recognizable from a distance and not hard for the props department to make.
It was a long time ago. These days definitely not.
I thinks just because it’s a pretty basic meal. My family though rarely has meat loaf
It’s a trope. Same with the giant breakfast on the table every morning.
Meatloaf is an old fashion staple that is often considered somewhat boring or plain. Super un-chic, but delicious. Basically its one of those things that works great to represent a ‘home meal’.
It does not lend itself to restaurant service as it takes a long time to make and isn’t considered particularly interesting. Some places have it, but its very uncommon.
I think meatloaf is just lazy TV shorthand for uninspired, bland home cooking.
I don’t think it is as popular anymore as it was when I was a kid.
Can’t speak for everyone but I’ve eaten a lot of meatloaf. When my parents were growing up, in the ‘70s, it was something they would have for dinner every week. It’s a classic dish.
It is not really something I would get in a restaurant because the restaurant wouldn’t make it the way mom made it and that would disappoint me. It’s that kind of dish that needs to be eaten at home. You could probably get it at like Cracker Barrel or something though.
Because meatloaf done right is one of the best comfort meals out there. It is one of those dishes I make when I am missing ‘home’ and my Grandpa. He made the best meatloaf.
It’s a sitcom trope
It’s easy to cook. We eat it often because it’s simple to make and gives us leftovers for a second dinner.
Meatloaf might make a comeback. Its a depression era meal where people would use other ingredients to “stretch the meat.”
It’s a trope
Meatloaf is a staple of home cooking because it’s easy and not very expensive if you stretch it with, like, bread crumbs and veggies.
American restaurants outside the US are almost never actually American restaurants. It’s really funny looking at things like “American Pancakes” in Germany that would never be found in the US.
Movie tropes aren’t real life.
The stereotype for American restaurants outside the US is that they just add corn or marshmallows to your existing cuisine and call it American. eta: or mix two random food items together and name it after an American city – Florida Strawberry Hotdog buns.
Everyone commenting meatloaf is boring, uninspired, bland etc, has had someone serve them some shitty, low effort meatloaf. Sorry your mothers couldn’t cook guys but meatloaf is 100% a staple in my family, if you take the time to season properly and buy quality ingredients to go in it. Umph 10/10
Just had meatloaf for dinner last night
Very good meal. Filling and relatively cheap
Cause a good meatloaf with fresh mashed potatoes and gravy is hard to beat.
I think this is actually kind of an interesting question.
The real answer is likely a combination of (1) it represents a trope and (2) it’s probably just a form of confirmation bias.
First, it’s definitely not always meatloaf. In fact it’s likely rarely meatloaf but meatloaf does tend to represent a kind of formal, sit down Sunday family dinner. Roast beef, roast chicken, etc. is just as likely to be served in real life but meatloaf tends to represent middle class. For whatever reason you picked up on the meatloaf and now every time you see it it confirms your belief that it’s always meatloaf. You just forget about all the times they grab pizza or sit on the couch and pass Indian food around.
But it’s interesting in highlighting how drastically demographics have changed in this country. About 85% of the population was white when I was growing up in the 1980s and that was the lowest it had been in about 150 years. That percentage has since dropped to 60%. Nearly everyone else in the country from that time period on was black. Heck, proportionally there are more Native Americans in the United States *today* then at any other time in history. The biggest reason why you didn’t see different minorities on television or in movies throughout most of television and movie history was there just wasn’t really many of them.
I mention all of that because Sunday dinner is largely a British thing. As demographics have changed and women are no longer home a Sunday roast is less and less of a thing. We have a large Italian-American population and Sunday *sauce* is probably far more common today than a Sunday roast. Both the Hispanic and Asian populations have grown tremendously and now tacos and General Tso’s chicken are as common as pizza and burgers. We eat out far more today than we used to, etc.
Almost everything on television prior to the past two decades represented white America because there just wasn’t much else. That’s changed dramatically though and shows are changing to.
It’s a trope. It’s meant to convey that the family is middle class, basic, and somewhat bland in character. Not to say that meatloaf itself is like that, but that is the message the food is meant to convey, at least from how I interpret it
Edit: My homecooked meals growing up were mostly southern pasta dishes, steaks, and BBQ. And more variety than that because mom loved to cook
we have meatloaf about once a year, on my husband’s birthday. it’s his favorite bad-for-you meal so we save it for the bday. paired with macaroni and corn casserol.
It’s a trope that communicates a bunch of things at a glance.
* This is a working-class or lower-middle-class family. Richer people have meatloaf, too, but not on TV.
* Someone made the meal from scratch; it’s not something that they plopped in the microwave. *Someone* in this family has the time and care to make a home-cooked meal, and they are sitting down at the table and having a meal. This says something about the family dynamic.
* It’s not a special occasion – just a regular ol’ weeknight dinner at the Smiths.
I make meatloaf about once a month or so. I really really like it, but my wife gives me a hard time when I keep making Pog’s Favorites every week, so I err on the side of caution.
> restaurant
Restaurants reflect the tastes of their customers, even if they’re claiming to serve a certain style of cuisine. You will not see pig trotters at your local Chinese restaurant (or at least it won’t be on the menu – you’ll have to ask for it specifically, possibly in Chinese). If the locals wouldn’t like meatloaf, they aren’t going to make it no matter how authentically American it is.
You’ll see meatloaf as a dinner offering at “breakfast all day” diners. It’s typically not very good, and I say this as a guy who really likes meatloaf. Just get the chicken-fried steak.
Really depends.
I want to say there was a time in American history where meatloaf would be served weekly.
So it’s kind of an ode to those times (also see casseroles).
Definitely less common now, but the most significant thing about meatloaf is the quality can vary greatly. Meatloaf can range from disgusting to extremely delicious depending on who made it. This fits well with a lot of potential option for jokes and commentary.
It’s actually making a comeback too with “elevated” meatloaf meals being found on the menus of a lot of newer gastropubs and new American restaurants.
My mom makes an amazing meatloaf with real maple syrup that’s famous among my friends but it’s definitely a rare menu item but it’s around.
Meatloaf is classic home cooking. Restaurants wouldn’t sell it, any more than they would sell cold cereal for breakfast (on an adult menu) or a protein bar for lunch. It’s just not the custom. However, even at home, making a good meatloaf can mess up a kitchen, so it’s not as popular as it used to be. It’s common on TV because it’s only for dinner, so it’s a trope that signifies “dinnertime” rather than “lunchtime.”
I had meatloaf with mashed potatoes and green beans for dinner the other day. We eat it every few weeks. It’s a pretty common dish here. Cheap, good and easy to make. Many restaurants also serve it. It’s a classic American “home style” meal.
My mom is an amazing cook and she always makes something that I would consider “fancy restaurant” quality. However, when I was younger (I’m 23 right now) and she wasn’t home due to working late or traveling for work she would pre make a meatloaf (sometimes venison) for us idiots (me, my dad, and my sister) to eat. I’ve been all over the world many times over and still my mom’s meatloaf brings fond memories
It’s a trope. It was very popular back in ye olden times (the ’30s through ’70s) but has fallen out of favor. I haven’t had meatloaf in over a year.
I LOVE my wife’s meatloaf. I don’t know what she does to it, but it’s one of my favorite meals.
Trope aside….
Meatloaf is a cheap and very filling meal so it’s pretty popular. (Well it was cheap before ground beef was $6.99/lb)
And it’s a meal that is very open to interpretation, no one makes it quite the same. My wife using crackers instead of breadcrumbs, some people use oats. Some people use turkey instead of beef. That kind of thing. You can pretty much make it with whatever you have laying around and some sort of ground meat.
Country, “home town” style diners usually will have meatloaf and other sort of grandmas home cooking style dishes. It’s definitely fallen out of fashion a bit, for a lot of different factors .
I feel like I don’t see it that much if at all in modern tv. usually its in shows from the 60s-90s (or are set in that era). 60s-early 80s I feel like it was used to represent a sort of “wholesome” nuclear family. Once you get into the late 80s it becomes more short hand for a poor/working class family.
I always thought it was a joke because America loves burgers, but can hate something that is essentially the same thing but a different shape.
To me it’s always felt like a playful joke about Americans and stubbornness.
Meatloaf is comfort food. It’s filling, it’s satisfying, and usually delicious. While I always liked my mom’s meatloaf (which was basic, with ketchup on the side), I discovered as an adult “little cheddar meatloaves” which I will make either as individual small loaves or as a whole meatloaf (and then make extra sauce), and it is now my go-to. The sauce on top is what makes it. I see no point in trying other recipes.
Editing to add that it’s really easy to add good sides, any number of potato or rice dishes, any vegetable, any type of salad.
Yeah meat laid is more popular in movies and tv then it is irl
I make meatloaf every few weeks. It’s not a weekly thing for most people, tho I’m sure it’s done by some families.
It’s easy, filling, reheats well, makes great sandwiches, and is yummy! But it’s not something I’d do often tho. When I do make it, we eat it for a couple days, then I freeze the rest for quick meals.
It was always common in working class homes because it’s cheap and easy to make. And I guess that’s why it’s often joked about on TV.
I’ve ordered it in diners in more than a few American towns and cities. The only time I’ve had it outside the U.S. was at a diner in Toronto.
I ate it all the time growing up, but I think I’ve only seen it in one restaurant menu ever.
It’s an LGBT bar and I think some of the items on the menu are there for people who haven’t gotten to have dinner at their parents’ house in a long time due to family homophobia. Outside of that, I would never expect it to be on a restaurant menu.
gods do I love meatloaf. I didn’t have it much growing up as my parents are immigrants from Portugal, but when my mom did make it I’d always fight my brother for the last bit of it. I’m probably gonna do my best to learn how to make it as I want to have that stuff at least like three times a month, preferably every week.
Ah and it really depends on the household, some people make it, others don’t, it’s delicious af tho, and as many other people have said it’s really representative of a home meal. That said I’ve never had good meatloaf from a restaurant.
Meatloaf was inexpensive to make back in the day. It was easy to customize to suit the taste of the family members.
It used to be very popular back in the 1950s-1970s. At that time, everyone had a meatloaf recipe and it was a staple for families.
A lot of TV shows are stuck in the far past because the writers are too lazy and un-self-aware to get rid of tropes that are no longer applicable.
Now some people make it at home, and sometime you can get it in a diner, but it’s not nearly as popular as it was in the 1970s, though you wouldn’t know that from TV World.