Meatloaf Muffins Are An Adorably Easy Way To Serve A Crowd

When you are craving some classic comfort food, meatloaf can be a reliable choice. It's hearty, full of flavor, and relatively easy to make. Although this dish might be a popular and relatively economical family dinner, it can be tricky to serve a homemade meatloaf to a crowd as it is nearly impossible to divide a loaf into small, equal portions.

That's where making meatloaf muffins comes to the rescue. Rather than trying to slice a meatloaf thin enough to serve all of your guests, try baking the meat mixture in a muffin tray instead. The result is finger food that is evenly portioned and your guests can easily grab without making a mess. When topped with a ketchup glaze, meatloaf muffins give a playful wink to a classic frosted cupcake.

In general, the way to make meatloaf into muffins is to prepare your favorite meatloaf recipe – there are dozens of meatloaf recipes to consider if you don't have a favorite — and then swap your loaf pan for muffin tins when you're ready to bake it. However, there are a couple of tips you should know when you make this dish in order for it to be a success.

First, you'll want to consider what size muffin tray you'll be using. A full-size muffin tray is going to give your guests a nearly meal-sized meatloaf muffin; whereas a mini-muffin tray is going to produce a lot of bite-size appetizers. A meatloaf recipe that calls for using 1 pound of meat will make approximately 10 to 12 regular-sized muffins or about 36 mini muffins.

Once you've chosen your tray, grease each muffin cup then go ahead and pack the ground beef mixture into it — there's no need for muffin liners. If you glaze these miniature meatloafs, you can spread sauce on each one before baking them for between 20 and 35 minutes. Or you can cook them for about 20 minutes first, add a dollop of the sauce, and pop them back in the oven for another 5 to 10 minutes.

As your meatloaf cooks, keep in mind that meatloaf muffins cook faster than a traditional meatloaf. And, the smaller the muffin cups, the faster the muffins bake. You can check them as you go to make sure you don't over- or undercook them. To check for doneness, use a meat thermometer to make sure the inside of each muffin has reached the U.S. Department of Agriculture's recommended food-safe temperature for ground meat of 160 degrees Fahrenheit before taking them out of the oven.

Once you've mastered turning a classic meatloaf into meatloaf muffins, you can start to have some fun and play around with variations on the recipe. For one thing, you can stuff meatloaf muffins with mozzarella or any cheese that you prefer. Just wrap the patty mixture around a chunk of cheese before placing the muffin in the tray. When the mini meatloafs are fully cooked, they will each have a gooey, melty, flavorful center. If you're not into cheese, you could use a cooked egg or mashed potatoes as a stuffing. 

A relatively easy way to enliven a basic meatloaf recipe is to experiment with the glaze. Rather than using a standard ketchup topping, you can use mustard or chili sauce on the little meatloaves instead — you could even alternate glazes in the same batch to create variety. A bonus: Switching up the glazes doesn't require any alterations to your cooking time or process.

Using ground meats other than beef is another way to mix things up. Ground turkey is leaner and also packs extra B vitamins. Switch to ground pork or ground lamb instead of beef. Or make a mixture using more than one type of meat — incorporating ground pork into ground beef increases the amount of moisture- and flavor-enhancing fats that are absent in leaner ground beef. With all these variations, you've got plenty of room for creativity in making a fun, meaty snack for your next party.