Let me be perfectly clear. Meatloaf is typically, well … a loaf. Loaf-shaped. Cooked in a loaf pan. Whatever. It takes for-ev-er to cook like that. I started cooking meatloaf in a muffin pan when you kids were little because they cook so much faster. Plus, you guys liked the ‘little’ size. Plus-plus, I like crispy edges and the ratio of crispy edges is higher in a muffin cup. So wins all around.
This is another recipe where I don’t really measure. If I am being honest, I smell the mixture after I add all the ingredients. If it smells too strongly of one ingredient or another, I adjust accordingly. Weird, I know.
- 1 lb ground beef (some people do half beef, half ground pork. You could also do with ground chicken or turkey)
- 1 egg, whisked up (this binds everything together when you cook)
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs (plain, Italian, or panko – whatever you have on hand. You could also use crushed up crackers, uncooked, dry oatmeal, or even bread soaked in milk)
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
- 1 TB yellow mustard
- 3 TB Italian salad dressing
- 1 TB Frank’s red hot
- 1/2 cup ketchup + more for top
- 1/2 cup BBQ sauce + more for top
- splash of Worchester sauce
- garlic powder
- Italian seasoning (or just oregano, if that’s what you have)
- onion powder
- salt and pepper
- cooked bacon, diced (optional)
- shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
- pickled jalapenos (optional)
Mix all ingredients together.
(Yes, you have to stick your hands in there and smoosh everything around so all the ingredients are equally distributed.)
The mixture should be moist. If its dry and crumble-y, add more ketchup and Italian dressing. If it’s really wet, add equal amounts of breadcrumbs and parm cheese. Also, if you smell the mixture, it shouldn’t smell overwhelmingly like one ingredient or the other, rather it should smell Italian-y. (I wouldn’t know 😉 )
You can add the cheese, cooked bacon, and jalapenos, if you want to kick things up a notch, or skip them, if you are going for a traditional vibe.
Spray your muffin pan and squish equal amounts of the meat mixture into each cup. They should be just below the top. Do not overfill. I also press the edges down slightly so the grease released during cooking has somewhere to go instead of the bottom of my oven.
Once the cups are filled, I squirt ketchup on the top of each. Sometimes I do BBQ, too. Spread it out with the back of a spoon. Do a tiny bit more than you think it needs because that cooked ketchup really adds a nice bit of sweetness.
Bake 350* for 30 minutes or so. You can test with a meat thermometer (160* for red meat/165* for poultry), but I actually wait till they are looking ever so slightly burnt on the edges. I like crispy!
1 lb. of meat should make 8-10 meatloaf muffins. If you only have a 12-cup pan, space it out and don’t worry about the empty spots. If you only have a 6-cup pan, just stash the extra in the freezer. Do not overfill pan! Ask me how I know – LOL.
Depending on what type of meat you use, there will be grease in the muffin cups. I just remove the meatloaf and place it on a serving platter.
You can serve this with mashed potatoes and steamed veggies for a cold weather, Midwestern classic!