One muffin for the small kid, two for the one who plays two sports
A full meatloaf means someone has to slice it, and slicing a hot loaf at 6:15 while a kid is already looking for shin guards is one more thing you do not need. A standard twelve-cup muffin tin turns the same ground beef mixture into twelve individual portions that bake in a fraction of the time a loaf takes.
Ground beef, one egg, a handful of breadcrumbs, ketchup, and diced onion mixed together and pressed into greased cups bakes at 400°F for twenty minutes, which is roughly half the time a full loaf pan needs at the same temperature. Let them cool five minutes in the tin before you try to pop them out, or the bottoms stick and tear.
Freeze the muffins on a tray first so they stay separate in the freezer bag, and pull out one for a smaller appetite or three for a kid who just got off the field starving.
Ingredients
The batch makes 12 muffin-sized meatloaves. Plan on about 40 minutes, then freeze.
- 2 pounds ground beef or turkey
- 1 cup breadcrumbs and 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup ketchup, plus more for tops
- 1 teaspoon each salt, garlic powder, and onion powder
- Optional: 1/2 cup finely grated carrot or zucchini
How to Make It
- Mix all the ingredients gently; do not overwork it or the meatloaves get tough.
- Press into a greased 12-cup muffin tin and brush the tops with ketchup.
- Bake at 375F for 22 to 25 minutes, until they reach 160F.
- Cool completely.
Freeze It
Baking these in a muffin tin gives you pre-portioned, kid-sized servings that reheat fast, with no slicing a frozen loaf.
- Freeze the baked, cooled muffins on a tray first, then bag them once solid
- Bagging after they are frozen keeps them from sticking together
- Label with the date and reheat time (best within 3 months)
Thaw and reheat on practice night
These are already cooked, so reheating just warms them through.
- Microwave from frozen: 1.5 to 2 minutes per muffin, until hot in the center
- Oven from frozen: 350F for 20 to 25 minutes
- Two small muffins is a typical kid portion
- Serve with: mashed potatoes or rice, steamed green beans, a roll
Parent Tip
Grated carrot or zucchini disappears into the meat and adds a vegetable without a fight.
Make it fit tonight
Small changes that make this one fit your night
One muffin equals a kid-sized portion, no cutting
A single muffin runs close to four ounces of meat, which is a fair dinner serving for most kids under ten without weighing anything out.
Grease the cups even in a nonstick tin
Meatloaf mixture sticks to nonstick coating more than most batters do, so a light spray still saves you from tearing muffins in half getting them out.
Add a ketchup glaze in the last five minutes only
Glaze brushed on too early burns at 400°F before the centers finish cooking, so wait until the last five minutes to add it.
Two muffins covers the kid who just finished practice
A twelve-year-old off the field at 7:00 usually needs closer to eight ounces, so two muffins plus a side gets them full without a second dish.
Reheat from frozen at 350°F for eighteen minutes
Straight from the freezer to a low oven keeps the muffins from drying out the way a hard microwave blast tends to.
Plan the next step
Bake a tray
Add a meatloaf-muffin batch to the planner and freeze a full dozen.