I don’t know about you, but I’m always on a quest to find easy dinner recipes that my whole family will eat. And that includes a toddler.I’ve been lucky my whole marriage because I have a husband who will eat whatever I put in front of him, never once making a request or complaint. I can’t say the same for the toddler.
We love the Cracker Barrel meatloaf in this house, but I noticed something the last few times I’ve made it. The leftovers just…don’t really get eaten. Even when I slice it up and freeze it, it just sits in the freezer until I eventually throw it away. And as I’m sure is the case in most homes right now, throwing away food is not something I want to be doing. Not when our grocery bill rivals our mortgage.
I never thought to investigate further into this. Instead, I just stopped making meatloaf as often. Until my husband made a comment in passing.
He works in a college, and he was telling me about his day. “I got the end piece of meatloaf at lunch, which is my favorite.” He went on to explain that he loves how the topping caramelizes over the entire piece. And that comment right there triggered an idea.
Making mini meatloaf in a muffin tin
Of course, I hit the internet, searching for a mini meatloaf recipe that I could use. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m kind of picky when it comes to meatloaf. With the wrong recipe, it can come out dry and bland. And well, that’s what I was finding.
Recipe after recipe, all I could think was that can’t possibly be good. Every single one was some variation of boring, bland meatloaf. And again, with the way groceries are right now, I didn’t wan to risk making a boring, bland meatloaf, even in mini form.
So, I did what I always do: improvised.
Cracker Barrel Copycat Meatloaf
Like I mentioned earlier, Cracker Barrel meatloaf is a favorite in our house. It’s so different than any other meatloaf recipe we’ve ever used. And it’s certainly different than the meatloaf I grew up eating. It’s moist, rich and packed full of flavor. It has all of the elements you want in a classic comfort food.
So I decided to give it a try as a mini meatloaf in a muffin tin.
Mini meatloaf in a muffin tin mistakes
Admittedly, the first time I did this, I made some mistakes. I followed the recipe exactly except I rolled the meat into balls and placed it in a muffin tin. I baked for exactly the same amount of time you’d bake a traditional loaf.
Don’t do that. It turned out fine, and we still ate every last bite. But it only occurred to me when I’d already overcooked it that it probably didn’t need to back quite that long.
I was also scared of what the oils would do. We all know that ground beef produces grease. And as someone who has set her oven on fire once upon a time with grease spilling and hitting the hot coils of the oven, I wanted to avoid that. So I also placed bread in the base of the muffin tin in an attempt to soak up the grease.
You don’t need to do that, either.
This wasn’t necessarily a problem, but it is something I modified the second time I made these. I originally overstuffed the muffin tins. That’s not necessary. It’s perfectly tine to make them the size of an extra large meatball.
Mini Meatloaf in Muffin Tin | Copycat Cracker Barrel Meatloaf
Equipment
- 1 Frying pan
- 1 Muffin Tin
Ingredients
- 1/2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 Onion Diced
- 1/2 Cup Bell Pepper Diced (We leave this out)
- 2 lbs Ground Beef I usually only use 1 - 1.5 lbs and it's fine - I'm only feeding myself, my husband and our toddler.
- 1 cup Crushed Ritz Crackers I usually use a sleeve, sometimes 2 -- measure with your heart
- 2 Egg Whisked
- 1 cup Cheddar Cheese Shredded
- 1/2 cup Whole Milk
- 1 Tsp Salt
- 1/4 Tsp Black Pepper
Topping
- 1/2-3/4 Cup Ketchup
- 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
- 1 Tsp Yellow Mustard
Instructions
- Preheat the Oven to 350
- Sauté the diced onions & peppers in a small pan with olive oil until softened. Set aside to cool
- Combine the eggs, crackers, sautéd veggies, cheese, milk salt & pepper in a large bowl.
- Add the ground beef and mix with your hands. Be careful not to overwork the meat.
- Roll the mixture into large meatball sized balls and place in regular sized muffin tin
- Bake for 15 minutes
- While the meatloaf bakes, go ahead and mix together the topping ingredients
- At 15 minutes, remove the meatloaf minis and spoon on the topping
- Bake for an additional 15 minutes
- Let the muffins rest for about 15 minutes before serving.
- I like to serve this with roasted campfire potatoes & green beans. Enjoy!
Mini Meatloaf in Muffin Tin Questions
Do these freeze well? 100%. I find that these freeze better than regular meatloaf. The constitution and more dense and so it withstands the defrosting process better than a traditional slice of meatloaf which tends to fall apart in the process. I froze them (with the topping on) in a quart sized freezer bag then just placed them in the fridge the night before I wanted to serve them. To reheat, I nuked them in the microwave for about 45 seconds. Came out perfect.
What’s a serving size? Nutritionally, I don’t know. But as far as knowing how many you might need per person, my husband and I both agreed that 2 were too many initially. One wasn’t enough. We both were fully satisfied with 1.5. My toddler will eat one.
Were they dry? Not even a little bit. Even on the first batch that I aggressively overcooked, they were still very moist (sorry for the word 🤪).
This is such a great meal to meal prep and also a great option to make for a family member or friend in need of freezer meals.
If you try it out, let me know! I’d love to hear about any modifications you make!
0 Comments