Meat Muffins

We hope you and your family had an awesome Thanksgiving! I didn't have the meal at my house, but I'll have some holiday food posts for you in the coming weeks -- so stay tuned! But, on with this week's Foodie Friday...

Hee hee. I can't stop giggling over that post title. But, yeah, I made some muffins...made of meat. Meat muffins.

Pfthwahahahaha!!!


I've made meatloaf and mini-meatloaves plenty, but realized that I hadn't shared a recipe. Yet, every time I make a loaf, I find a new recipe to try. I finally decided to get on the muffin tin mini-meatloaf bandwagon. While it was generally the same amount of work, it was easier to just shove the mixture into an oiled muffin tin rather than trying to get a loaf to hold its shape on a sheet pan, or split it up into mini-loaves -- yeck, math 'n stuff. ;-)

This is also the first time I threw in a carrot and celery...just because.

Mini Meatloaf Muffins

1 lb. ground meat (beef, in this case, but use whatchya got; this was grassfed from, of all places, Australia)
1 egg
1/2 c. oatmeal, uncooked
1/2 - 1 onion, diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 celery, trimmed and diced
Salt and pepper
Thyme and/or parsley
Worcestershire sauce
Ketchup

Topping (any measurements you like):
Ketchup
Mustard
Maple syrup (or brown sugar)

Place a few tablespoons of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Once you can see ripples, add your diced onion, carrot and celery. Season with a bit of salt and allow to soften, 5-7 minutes.

While veggies cook, place meat, oats, egg, seasonings, a squirt of ketchup and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl. Separately, mix topping together.

Add veggies to meat mixture and combine. Don't overmix.

Fill muffin cups about 2/3 full (no need to smooth in your hands first, unless you want to). Use a spoon to spread topping on each "muffin."

Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes (more if needed).

Serve with veggies and mashed potatoes (if you're in a comfort food mood, which we were) or a nice light salad. Add a squirt of fresh ketchup if you like.

These are GREAT for little ones. Hadley adores his for lunch...or anytime, really. If your toddler or child isn't a fan of veggies, this is a great way to get them to eat some carrots (and the rest of it) since they tend not to notice. But, we're lucky, and Hadley likes veggies...he just prefers them wrapped in meat better. ;-)

What's YOUR favorite comfort food? A nice, meaty meal? A soup, stew or chili? Or is it all about the dessert?