Mini BBQ Meatloaves

Even if these were gross, I would probably still be in love with them because they are adorable. Little meatloaf muffins 😍. So cute. Luckily they are not only super fun, but they are also very yummy! These little guys take no time to throw together, and they perfectly distribute throughout your standard muffin tin – it’s quite satisfying, actually.

I never used to be the biggest fan of meatloaf…I felt like it was always kind of dry, and I HATE the baked ketchup coating. Ketchup and I aren’t super good friends as it is, but baked into the top of a meatloaf was always my least favorite way to eat the condiment. So I went with BBQ sauce here instead, and it actually ended up being my favorite part of these little dudes!

The combo of our yummy, flavorful meat and the BBQ sauce we smear all over the top of each mini-loaf is super, super tasty. BBQ sauce and ketchup have a bunch of similarities, so it’s a great substitution. Even if you are a big fan of the ketchup-topped meatloaf, you should give this a try – you’ll love it 👍.

Have you seen those “meatloaf cupcake” things where people use mashed potatoes as “frosting”? I thought about doing that here, but the whole it-looks-like-a-dessert-but-it’s-actually-meatloaf thing kind of weirds me out. Specifically the mashed potato frosting thing…I feel like if I grabbed something that looked like a cupcake, took a big bite, and it was meatloaf and mashed potatoes, I would be traumatized forever.

It’s like when you think something is Sprite and it’s water. Or vice versa…very disconcerting. Anyway, I just decided to stick with the meatloaves on their own rather than throwing any mashed potatoes over the top. These would be very delicious served along side some mashed potatoes, though!

The meat mixture for our mini meatloaves is really simple to throw together:

• Ground turkey
• Ground pork
• Onion
• Garlic
• Egg
• Panko
• Cheese

Cheese?? In meatloaf?? Yes. Simply because cheese makes everything better. We only throw 1/2 cup in there, but I like the flavor and moisture it adds to the meatloaf. I used white cheddar, but regular cheddar or any other kind of cheese your heart desires will be wonderful!

So all you do is throw those ingredients together, mix it up, distribute the meat into each cup of your muffin tin, and bake! Then we pull it out after about 15 minutes, slather some BBQ sauce on top, and bake it for another 10 minutes. So tasty 👅😍👍

I hope you all had an amazing Easter weekend! Mine has been very nice. Very busy, but very nice! On the actual day of Easter, I went to church with my family and listened to some awesome music and a great sermon. It was a baptism Sunday, which basically means the pastor preaches a bit of a shorter sermon, and then people have the chance to come up and get baptized for the remaining 20 minutes or so while the worship music continues.

My brother and sister-in-law decided to get baptized together during the service! They weren’t expecting to at all (she’s 40 weeks pregnant by the way 😳), so it was such a cool and exciting experience. Seth and I got baptized together a few years ago, and I just think it’s such a special thing to do together with your husband or wife – it was for us, at least!

Anyway, after church, we went home and had our Easter feast: glazed ham, baked mac and cheese, creamed corn, crescent rolls, and Brussels sprout salad. The creamed corn was my favorite. My sister-in-law made it in a Crock Pot, and I basically could have eaten eight cups of it and kept on goin’…

And then for dessert we had monkey bread, which I am petitioning to be a new family tradition as our dessert for any and all holidays. Monkey bread is lyfe. After eating and laying in our food coma for a while, we did an Easter egg hunt with my niece, and then I went home and chilled the rest of the day. And slept in super late today because I have the day of work, wooooooop!

Back to the grind tomorrow, but at least I’ll have Easter leftovers to bring for lunch 😃.

Or maybe I’ll bring mini meatloaves for lunch…decisions…🤔

If you make this or any of my other recipes, be sure to Instagram it and hashtag #thegarlicdiaries!

In the mood for more meatloaf recipes? Head over and check out this KILLER meatloaf – one of my all time faves ❤️.