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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.
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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.
Delicious, a huge hit!
This recipe is a winner. My hubby loved the tiny meat loved and especially loved the sauce. He scraped out the rest of the sauce and used on his fries.
I will be saving this recipe!
These were very simple to make, using ingredients I had on hand. Everything mixes in one bowl! Love that. They were very good, I made a double batch, the sauce makes A LOT, I think next time I would double the mini meatloaf recipe and keep the sauce a single recipe. I do think I over baked mine, I baked for 15, out for topping, then 15 more minutes, ours were very well done. Haha. But we still gobbled them up. The main reason I didn’t give 5 stars was clean up!! It was not fun getting all that grease out of the muffin pans or washing the pans out after. Other than that, it was a very simple, hearty, tasty recipe.
The meatloaf was super easy to prepare and make. I liked the idea of the muffin tin because it felt like your own smaller serving instead of cutting into a big loaf. I’m not a huge sauce person, so a little went a long way. My husband isn’t a huge fan of meatloaf, but he said this recipe was good!
I made this recipe. And it was very well liked by the family! Very delicious!
I made this recipe last night. I think that the sauce really makes this meatloaf recipe stand out from other meatloaf recipes! It is yummy! Thanks for a delicious recipe! Happy 2024!
This is the easiest and BEST meatloaf I have ever made! Thank you! Delish! A little bit messy, getting up the grease, but so worth it! This is going to be a staple.
Husband says this is a definite keeper! I made it with ground elk. The sauce is so easy and delicious. Had all the ingredients on hand so no need to buy specialty items.
Very good! Fam enjoyed it!!
Made these for dinner last night with some roasted vegetables and mash potatoes and oh my goodness they were so yummy. The sauce that goes on top was one of the best I’ve tasted on a meatloaf in ages even with how simple the ingredients are. Don’t think I’d change anything about the recipe and I love the mini loaf idea. Makes things a littler easier and they remained juicy and moist. I’d recommend giving the recipe a try if you love meatloaf, but want to keep it simple and delicious.