Meatloaf may be a straightforward, simple American classic, but there are a lot of mistakes you can make when preparing it at home, which may leave you with a drab, flavorless brick of meat. One common error doesn't result from which ingredients you use, but from the way you bring all of the elements together before cooking.

When you're overzealous about mixing or kneading other ingredients into the ground meat, you can accidentally overwork the meat mixture, which causes the protein fibers to cling together and make the meatloaf tough. Overmixing will invariably give you a dryer and denser loaf compared to combining the ingredients gently.

To prevent overmixing, you should always hand-mix your ground meat mixture, which is far gentler than using a food processor or stand mixer, and allows you to feel for when the mixture is properly incorporated. Shaping the meatloaf before it goes into the oven will also knead it further, so stop mixing earlier rather than later.