What do you get when dinner and dessert have a baby? You get BBQ Meatloaf Muffins with Sweet Potato Topping that are almost too cute to eat.
Small in size but mighty in flavor
Meatloaf regularly finds its way on my weekly meal plan for several reasons, not only because it’s delicious and one of my favorite comfort foods, but it’s also easy to make ahead, freezes well (both raw and fully cooked) and it’s a more economical way to get grass-fed beef into our diet because ground meat is way less expensive than steak, but you already knew that.
The only downside is that it takes a while to a bake an entire 2-lb. loaf of meat. That and my kids don’t think it’s the prettiest meal. So for those two reasons alone I’ve started making these mini-meatloaves using a muffin pan. Aren’t they cute?
They’re also great because they’re pre-portioned making them an easy addition to my hubby’s lunchbox as well.
Because saving time in the kitchen is of the utmost importance here at The Real Food Dietitians, we’ve kept this recipe simple with just five ingredients in the meatloaf (not including salt and pepper) and two ingredients in the topping. Just seven ingredients total!
Sweet potatoes make the perfect topping for savory meatloaf.
Don’t be intimidated by the pretty sweet potato topping swirls in the picture. Keep in mind, we’re food bloggers and piping pureed root vegetables onto small discs of meat is what we do.
Feel free to dollop, scoop or spread your topping on if that’s easiest for you. It’s still going to be ridiculously mouth-watering delicious, especially with a little drizzle of your favorite barbecue or hot sauce. We like Tessemae’s and The New Primal when we’re Whole 30-ing because it doesn’t have any added refined sugar, but you can use any good-quality store-bought sauce without high-fructose corn syrup. Heck, you can even use this easy Homemade BBQ Sauce that you can whip up in just minutes (it’s even Whole30 and super budget-friendly).
For more easy ground beef recipes, try these 20 Healthy Ground Beef Recipes
If you do want to get all fancy-schmancy with the topping, just scoop your pureed sweet potatoes into a piping bag fitted with a star tip. Or you can use a quart-sized zip-top bag in which case you’ll want to gently press the mixture to the bottom of the bag and seal it. Then snip off a small bit of one corner of the bag to create a piping bag. Now you can squeeze and swirl your way to fancy BBQ meatloaf muffins with sweet potato topping. Just like the pros do.
Wondering if you should purchase grass-fed beef? Learn how to choose quality red meat in this post!
Ready, Set, Garnish!
An extra drizzle of smoky barbecue sauce and a sprinkle of thyme or chopped parsley elevates these cute little BBQ meatloaf muffins to glorious, savory dinner cupcake status almost instantly. Garnish is always optional, of course.
You can see why these are so kid-friendly. They don’t even look like meatloaf – and they’re easy to freeze once baked, cooled and topped. Just return them to the muffin pan and place in the freezer until frozen before transferring to a freezer-safe container with lid or a large zip-top bag. Thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat in a covered skillet with a few drops of water until heated through or reheat in a toaster oven or microwave. You’ll just need to add a vegetable side dish or two and dinner will be on the table in no time.
Alternatively, you can bake the meatloaf muffins, cool and freeze them. Then, thaw overnight in the fridge. Reheat as directed above and top with freshly made sweet potato topping just before serving if you want to keep them looking fancy.
Video: How to make BBQ Meatloaf Muffins
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BBQ Meatloaf Muffins with Sweet Potato Topping
Ingredients
Meatloaf:
- 1 1/2 lb. ground beef
- 2 tsp. cooking oil or ghee (avocado oil, coconut oil or olive oil)
- 1 small onion, minced
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
- 1/2 cup Whole30-compliant barbecue sauce (such as Tessemae’s or The New Primal)
- 1 tsp. dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
Topping:
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 1 Tbsp. coconut oil or ghee (may use butter if you don’t need them to be Whole30)
- 1/4 tsp. salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Place ground beef in a medium bowl and set aside.
- Heat oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add onions and sauté, stirring occasionally, until they start to soften.
- Add garlic, cook 30 seconds or until fragrant.
- Add onion-garlic mixture to ground beef. Add barbecue sauce, sea salt, pepper and dried thyme. Using your hands or a spoon, mix well to combine.
- Divide meat mixture evenly among 12 wells of a muffin pan.
- Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until meat is no longer pink in the center.
- While meatloaves are baking, steam sweet potatoes until tender, about 10-12 minutes. Drain and puree sweet potatoes and coconut oil or butter in a food processor, or mash well with a fork.
- Scoop topping onto meatloaves or fill a plastic zip-top with topping, trim the corner of the bag with a scissors and pipe topping onto meatloaves. Or use a spoon to top.
- Drizzle with additional barbecue sauce, if desired.
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Notes
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Nutrition Information
- Serving Size: 2 ‘muffins’ with topping
- Calories: 300
- Fat: 12 g
- (Sat Fat: 4 g)
- Sodium: 600 mg
- Carbohydrate: 22 g
- (Fiber: 3 g
- Sugar: 5 g)
- Protein: 25 g
Dietary
Photo Credit: Photos for this post were taken by Jess of Plays Well With Butter
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I made these on the weekend and we all loved them!! We are in the middle of our first round of Whole30, so this really worked for us. I followed the recipe exactly except I had some cooked mushrooms that I really needed to use up, so chopped them and mixed them in with the meat before putting it in the muffin tins. Will def make these again, even after we are done our Whole30!!
Hey Jennifer!
I’m so glad you loved these. They’re a huge hit with my family too – and great idea to add cooked mushrooms. I think I’ll be adding those to the next batch I make. Good luck with your Whole30 – don’t forget to check out all of our Whole30-friendly recipes in the drop down menu under “recipes”.
It sounds like this is a regular sized muffin tin. How long would these cook for mini muffins? I’m looking to make them as an appetizer for a pot luck.
Hi Alicia,
I haven’t tried making them as minis yet (though I LOVE that idea) but I’m guessing the baking time would be about half that fit regular sized muffins.
Great recipe,
It looks so delicious and so easy to make.
I think I will try to cook it tomorrow.
Thank You!
We think you’ll love ’em!!
what kind of BBQ sauce did you use?
Hi Katy! If you’re looking for a Whole30 Friendly Bbq sauce we recommend Tessemae’s. If you’re just looking for a good Organic one, Annie’s is a great option! Hope that helps 🙂
Love love love this recipe. It’s made its way into our regulars. I hide shredded carrots in there and the kids don’t know the wiser!
Awesome! Hiding veggies is the best 🙂