When’s the last time YOU had cupcakes for dinner?
My wonderful neighbor Megan was telling me about these little meatloaf cupcakes she would have as a kid. As soon as she told me the story about them, I knew what I was making for dinner that night.
The original idea came from a Kraft recipe I got a while back, but I had to switch things up a bit to make a vegetarian friendly version for my hubby. That being said, the pictures are of the vegetarian version using MorningStar Farms® Meal Starters® Grillers® Recipe Crumbles, but I give directions for both meat and meatless versions.
So yes, your meat will look different. For you “real meat” folks out there….you do use raw ground beef. Feel free to use your favorite meatloaf recipe….this is just a quick and easy version you can whip up in no time!
NOTE: Here is an updated post of this recipe
Mini Meatloaf Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Season beef to taste with salt and pepper. Mix beef (or veggie crumble), stuffing mix, egg, garlic powder, 1/4 cup of bbq sauce, and water in a large bowl.
- Spray muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. Divide mixture into 12 muffin tin cups and use your finger to make an indentation in each muffin.
- Fill the indents evenly with the remaining 1/4 cup of bbq sauce.
- Bake for about 25-30 minutes (or for vegetarian version, for 20 minutes.) Top each evenly with shredded cheese and bake for 5 more minutes.
- Let cool for 5 minutes. This step is for those who are doing the optional mashed potato topping. I used a ziplock bag with a cut off tip to “frost” the meatloaves. Simply fill bag with mashed potatoes, cut off corner of the bag and frost
- Top with peas and serve right away!
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Mini Meatloaf Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 lb. extra-lean ground beef or vegetarian crumble as pictured
- 1 package of stuffing mix
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup of bbq sauce divided
- 1/2 cheddar cheese or cheese blend
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 cup of water
- salt and pepper
- For optional mashed potato topping
- 3 cups of prepared mashed potatoes and 1/4 cup of frozen peas.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Season beef to taste with salt and pepper. Mix beef (or veggie crumble), stuffing mix, egg, garlic powder, 1/4 cup of bbq sauce, and water in a large bowl.
- Spray muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. Divide mixture into 12 muffin tin cups and use your finger to make an indentation in each muffin.
- Fill the indents evenly with the remaining 1/4 cup of bbq sauce.
- Bake for about 25-30 minutes (or for vegetarian version, 20 minutes.) Top each evenly with shredded cheese and bake for 5 more minutes.
- Let cool for 5 minutes. This step is for those who are doing the optional mashed potato topping. I used a ziplock bag with a cut off tip to “frost” the meatloaves. Simply fill bag with mashed potatoes, cut off corner of the bag and frost
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Nutrition Disclaimer
Family Fresh Meals is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
Jennifer @ Peanut Butter and Peppers says
I love it! So cute!!!
Marie Hui says
Yum! We love meatloaves 🙂 I would definitely try this out. Thanks for sharing.
JenW says
I’m interested to try the morning star meatless crumbles for this! Is your husband a vegetarian? Do you use an egg substitute or will he eat eggs? Awesome topper idea btw!
JenW says
Forget my last comment…except the last part. A friend just educated me on the difference between vegan and vegetarian:)
Corey @ Family Fresh Meals says
hehehe 🙂 He is an ovo lacto vegetarian. So he eats dairy and eggs. The easy rule for him is…”nothing with a face”
Maureen | Orgasmic Chef says
These would be great as minis for walk around food. Great idea, thanks!
Crystal says
Making these as we speak!! They smell super yummy and can’t wait to try them!!
Corey says
These are a huge hit at our house! I can’t wait to hear how you like them!
Ashley says
So I made these for my kids and fiancee tonight for dinner and it was a hit. EVERYONE loved it. This is such a cute idea and I will be making this again for sure!! Thanks!
Sandy K says
I wonder if anyone knows
if these would freeze well? That would be so convenient
Sara says
I just made the vegetarian version, and they were delicious! This is a great recipe, thank you.
Corey says
Awesome Sara! I am so happy to hear that you loved them 🙂
Theresa @aloveafare says
These were so easy and very well received. I made them with ground turkey. Thank you for a recipe that made my taste testers and favorite guy run to the dinner table.
Ben Hain says
These are awesome and I usually make the vegetarian version. They have totally become my partners favorite dish and turn out better than expected and are so damn cute. I want to continue to use the recipe but every time I make them, I find I have a few outstanding questions:
1. When using the veggie crumblers, do you thaw them before using?
2. I find that stuffing mix often has meat in it (dry broth of some sort), I have usually found other stuffing mix that omits meat but find that the mixture is very thick and very moist when adding all the other ingredients. I can typically make about a half of a muffin tin. I assume that I would just match the dry amounts when substituting? Your thoughts?
LL says
I don’t think I can rate this recipe properly because I didn’t have stuffing mix so I eye-balled breadcrumbs instead. I kind of eye-balled the BBQ sauce too. I should have used less water since I wasn’t using stuffing mix. I bet the stuffing mix gave it all the flavor. Don’t substitute!
Katie says
Delicious!! I substituted sweet potatoes for regular and served with mixed veggies 🙂
Carrie P says
How many ounces of stuffing mix?
Corey says
I use the Stove Top 6 oz box