This post contains affiliate links.
The best Mini Meatloaf recipe is delicious and easy to make, cooked in a muffin tin. We top it with a simple homemade sauce that is irresistible.
Mini Meatloaf is a kid favorite meal that we ALL crave.
As much as I love our traditional meatloaf recipe, I make this mini meatloaf in a muffin pan much more often because the meatloaf cooks so quickly, and I love the individual portion sizes.
This is a go-to for me on busy weeknights because the meatloaf and sauce can be made in advance, so they're ready to go in the oven at dinnertime. Plus, meatloaf muffins are freezer-friendly, so it's worth making a double batch to have a quick freezer meal ready for another day.
How to make Mini Meatloaf:
Combine: With clean hands, a large spoon, or meat chopper, mix ground beef (or ground turkey), breadcrumbs, BBQ sauce, mustard, onion, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and egg until combined.
Bake: Press meat mixture into a standard 12 cup muffin tin, pressing down to fill the cup. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 15 minutes. While baking, mix all sauce ingredients.
Add Sauce: Spoon sauce over each meatloaf muffin then bake again for 10-15 minutes, or until cooked through (160°F on meat thermometer). Serve with extra sauce, cauliflower salad, roasted vegetables, or mashed potatoes.
Make Ahead, Storing, and Freezing Instructions:
- Store leftover meatloaf muffins in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- To Make Ahead: Combine meatloaf mixture and press into muffin tin. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate up to overnight.
- To Freeze: Combine meatloaf mixture and press into greased muffin tin. Cover with plastic wrap and “flash freeze” in the freezer for about an hour. Carefully remove each partially frozen mini meatloaf and transfer to a freezer-safe container. Freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to bake, place frozen meatloaf muffins in the muffin tin and thaw in the frdige overnight. Bake as instructed.
Recipe Variations:
- Turkey Mini Meatloaf: With lean ground beef, each mini meatloaf muffin is only 140 calories. If you use ground turkey, it's only 120 calories (both include the sauce).
- Gluten-free Adaptation: Use gluten-free panko breadcrumbs, and gluten-free BBQ sauce.
Serve With:
- Brussels Sprout Salad
- Mashed Potatoes
- Twice Baked Potatoes
- Roasted Vegetables
- French Green Beans
- Wild Rice Pilaf
- Potatoes Au Gratin
- Homemade Dinner Rolls
- Whole Roasted Cauliflower
- Wedge Salad
Mini Meatloaf Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef, ,or ground turkey (680 grams)
- 2/3 cup panko bread crumbs, , or regular breadcrumbs (100 grams)
- 1/2 cup onion, chopped, (70 grams)
- 1 Tablespoon barbecue sauce
- 1 Tablespoon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 egg, , lightly beaten
Meatloaf sauce:
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar, (73 grams)
- 1/2 cup ketchup, (120 grams)
- 2 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Mix Meatloaf Sauce ingredients: brown sugar, ketchup, dijon mustard and nutmeg.
- Meatloaf Mixture: In a large mixing bowl (using your hands, meat chopper, or a large spoon), combine ground beef, breadcrumbs, onion, 1 Tbsp barbecue sauce, mustard, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and egg.
- Press into muffin tin, divide the mixture evenly among the 12 cups, pressing meat down to fill the cup.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and use a paper towel to soak up any grease on the meatloaf. Generously spoon meatloaf sauce over each mini meat loaf. Return to oven for an additional 10-15 minutes or until the meat is cooked through.
- Serve with mashed potatoes and any extra sauce.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Text me new recipe ideas!
Simple, tasty ideas sent once a week. No spam.
Follow Me
I originally shared this recipe September 2013. Updated August 2019, February 2022 and January 2025.
Love this. I decided to give meatloaf another shot because I haven’t hated it since I was a child. Wow!! I loved it, my husband loved it and my 4 & 7 year old picky eaters couldn’t get enough!! Thanks!!
I’ve made mini meatloaf many times but all of my family agreed this was the BEST EVER! So delicious and so easy!
These were delicious! Love all of your recipes – thank you for always being my “go-to” when coming up with what to make for dinner!
Thank you so much Kate! That means a lot.
Didn’t make these in tins (I have cupcake tins and was thinking muffin tins were larger) but I love Tastes Better From Scratch recipes and just made little loaves.
So. So. So. Good.
It is kind of a sweet meatloaf (which is just fine for my sweet tooth!), but i definitely understand if some would prefer to cut on the sugar in the sauce. I served it with lemon pepper green beans and while it might sound like a weird combo, it actually went really well together. I’ll make it with potatoes next time, but I was just working with what I had on hand tonight.
So happy for another winner! Feels a lot lighter than regular meatloaf, too 🙂
I just stumbled upon this recipe after not being able to find the one I typically use. I am so glad I saw this one. We just had it for supper. It’s definitely my new favorite! The nutmeg is the secret ingredient that makes it stand out!
I found this recipe about a year ago and make it often, definitely have added it to my repertoire. My husband is a chef and does most of the savory cooking (I am the baker in the family) – he enjoys this recipe when I make it and adds the mashed potatoes. I have even used the mini mini muffin tin when I use 2 pounds of beef and a little left over. Just like little poppers, they are actually really yummy if you are looking for a protein snack. I enjoy the sweetness of thr sauce topping, but I can understand those that think it’s too sweet. Thanks for sharing it!
made these for dinner tonight—they are delicious, esp that sauce!
This was the quickest and best turkey meatloaf I have ever cooked! I have a great recipe for cooking turkey meatloaf that my family loves, but it just takes too long to prepare and too long to cook. This recipe is amazingly delicious and it only took 25 minutes to cook! My family loved it! Second helpings all around!
LOVE this recipe! This is the second time I’ve made them this month. Our kids requested them again for supper tonight!
My family loved it ! Even my toddlers , no leftovers with this meal. Would even be a great maindish for a holiday
This was a great idea for many meatloafs. Usually I’ll just make mini meatloafs and put it on a baking sheet. The only thing that I would do differently is there’s too much sugar in here. I followed the topping part and even left out some of the sugar especially that brown sugar and it was still too sweet. So if you are looking for a sweet recipe for meatloaf this is the one for you. If you’re looking for a recipe that tastes like regular meatloaf this is not the correct way to do it. I think what I did was the barbecue sauce had sugar in it the ketchup had sugar in it everything had sugar in it in terms of sauces that you added to the meatloaf or the topping. I would do probably no sugar and then add that brown sugar in there. Overall I’m still going to give it a 5-stars for the fact that I never thought to use a muffin pan. The meatloaf part other than the sauce was excellent. I think the sauce added too much sweetness even though I only added a few tablespoons. I will continue to use this recipe because it was great but modifying the sauce with other no sugar condiments. Thank you! 🙂
My whole family loved this! Even my 2 & 5 year old 🙂
Loved this recipe! And my partner enjoyed it too and requested it stay in the rotation. 🙂