Meat Loaf Miniatures

Name: Meat Loaf Miniatures
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 1-1/2 dozen.
Ingredients: 1 cup ketchup; 3 to 4 tablespoons packed brown sugar; 1 teaspoon ground mustard; 2 large eggs, lightly beaten; 4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce; 3 cups Crispix cereal, crushed; 3 teaspoons onion powder; 1/2 to 1 teaspoon seasoned salt; 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder; 1/2 teaspoon pepper; 3 pounds lean ground beef (90% lean)

My family and I can't get enough of these little muffins topped with a sweet ketchup sauce. They are the perfect portion size. This recipe requires no chopping, so it's quick and easy to make a double batch and have extras for another day. They're great to give to new moms, too. —Joyce Wegmann, Burlington, Iowa

Ingredients

1 cup ketchup
3 to 4 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground mustard
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
3 cups Crispix cereal, crushed
3 teaspoons onion powder
1/2 to 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 pounds lean ground beef (90% lean)

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the ketchup, brown sugar and mustard. Remove 1/2 cup for topping; set aside. Add the eggs, Worcestershire sauce, cereal and seasonings to remaining ketchup mixture. Let stand for 5 minutes. Crumble beef over cereal mixture and mix well.
Press meat mixture into 18 muffin cups (about 1/3 cup each). Bake at 375° for 18-20 minutes. Drizzle with reserved ketchup mixture; bake 10 minutes longer or until meat is no longer pink and a thermometer reads 160°.
Serve desired number of meat loaves. Cool remaining loaves. Transfer to freezer container; close and freeze for up to 3 months.
To use frozen meat loaves: Completely thaw in the refrigerator. Place loaves in a greased baking dish. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until heated through, or cover and microwave on high for 1 minute or until heated through.

Nutrition Facts

1 each: 165 calories, 6g fat (2g saturated fat), 61mg cholesterol, 305mg sodium, 11g carbohydrate (4g sugars, 0 fiber), 16g protein.

Originally published as Meat Loaf Miniatures in Quick Cooking January/February 2001

Reviews

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Stacey4gop

Sep 28, 2017

We make these a head of time and freeze. When went a meatloaf sandwich all we have to do is heat up one.
juliekimm

Sep 13, 2017

These are great! They freeze so well. They are superb to give to anyone needing some comfort food!
CaliforniaCook

Sep 9, 2017

I made this as a loaf and used crushed plain cornflakes instead of cereal mix. My teenage son loves this, Good hot or as leftovers in meatloaf sandwiches. I usually double the sauce/topping.
Debglass11

May 4, 2017

Great recipe! I halved the recipe by using 1 1/2 lbs of ground chuck and adjusted the other ingredients accordingly. The only substitutions I made were that I used panko crumbs instead of the cereal and minced onion instead of onion powder. Even though I halved the recipe, I did make the same amount of the sauce as indicated and used it in the meat mixture and topped each mini with plenty of sauce at the beginning of baking. Everyone loved them! Kid-friendly too!
redhen1970

Aug 26, 2016

So easy and a fun "bite size" . The flavors are spot on. Thanks!
amiracle2012

Aug 25, 2016

This was similar to my Meatloaf that I had to try it for my family. They noticed right away it wasn't mine. So it was good but not quite a homerun.
melissab888

Apr 17, 2016

These are delicious! My children love the ketchup sauce so much I have to make extra. It's great to have these in the freezer when I don't have time or a plan for supper-if they last long enough. My picky teenage son loves them so much he eats them for a snack. As for the messy cleanup I found a way around that. Line a baking sheet with foil and make muffin size mounds. They can be baked the same way but when done you can throw away the foil instead of trying to scrub out muffin pans.
khegeman

Feb 5, 2016

We did not care for these. I love the idea of muffin cups and we really liked the ketchup sauce on top of the muffins, but the meatloaf itself had too strong of a cereal flavor. The Crispix cereal overwhelmed the meatloaf. If I were to make again, I would substitute bread crumbs instead.
doriv

Feb 4, 2016

Due to husband's heart surgery, we use 3lbs of 93% lean ground beef, so I adjusted for moistness by using 1/4 c ketchup plus 1 bottle (12oz) chili sauce. We use a scant 3 TBSP of brown sugar; rest of ingredients as given on recipe above. Super successful using silicone muffin cups (we found these at Walmart) in the muffin pans and a scoop to measure meat evenly. This yields 24 meatloaf muffins. These freeze and reheat so well. An absolute 5-Star favorite!!
gebi

Dec 2, 2015

Flavorful but the CLEANUP was HORRENDOUS! Way too many good recipes to make this one again using muffin cups! And I used 95/5 ground beef. Very upsetting.