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.
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
- Air Fryer Baked Potato
- Whole Roasted Cauliflower
- Wedge Salad
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Recipe
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
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I originally shared this recipe September 2013. Updated August 2019, February 2022 and January 2025.
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I can’t figure out what I did wrong, mine came out so greasy but I followed the recipe to the letter. I even removed them from the tin after the first 15 min, drained off the pooled grease, then returned them to the oven again as directed. They didn’t get any nice crispy edges like I’d hoped because of the steaming effect.
Will try again to see if I can solve the problem by doing the second bake out of the muffin pan. Really love the idea of portioned meatloaf because my two guys eat an entire loaf otherwise, and then we have no leftovers for meal prep!
What type of meat are you using? You want to use the leanest ground beef you can find.
I only had 1lb beef and replaced the other 1/2lb with Italian sausage and it turned out great!
Thank you for the recipe!
We enjoyed with some mashed potatoes, stir fried green beans and mushrooms.
Thank you for this recipe! It was excellent, as is. I didn’t make any changes. We’re empty nesters, so no picky kids to accommodate, but I make this for my Mom who has the beginnings of dementia and no longer cooks. She loves it, and I love that it’s easy to make, serve and freeze. I’ve always used oatmeal in my meatloaf recipes, and the Panko bread crumbs in this make it more dense and less crumbly. It’s a keeper!
This was absolutely delicious and so easy to make. I made it with chicken. I’ll definitely make this again. I made this for your January challenge but I totally forgot to take a picture.
My family LOVED these! I usually make a cheese-stuffed meatloaf so I didn’t know if they would go for these, but they were a hit! Very easy to prepare, perfect little serving sizes, and great with mashed potatoes. The sauce was perfect!
Unfortunately didn’t love this recipe – my family found that the meatloaf itself wasn’t very flavorful, although the sauce was tasty.
This version of meatloaf is perfect! We loved the individual loves so everyone gets crunchy edges and a nice coating of sauce. The bonus is they freeze well and are just right for pulling out one or two for lunch prep later in the week. Our family highly recommends this recipe.
Do you freeze cooked or raw?
This was great! I don’t think I will ever go back to actual full meatloaf again. This was so much easier, and I tried to tell the kids I was making cupcakes for dinner (they caught on, but worth a shot). I thought the sauce was delicious and no one complained about the nutmeg!
Delicious! My family also preferred omitting the nutmeg. Easy to make and I love how it cuts down the cook time of our regular meatloaf recipe.
My whole family loved these mini meat loaves! They were easy to make, cooked in a LOT less time, i didn’t have to worry that the middle wasn’t done while the outside was buring to a crisp (which too often happens with my traditional meat loaves) The only thing my family didnt care for was the sauce that goes on top. I personally loved it though, so I’ll keep making that for me and the rest of them can have ketchup!