GF Beef & Veggie Meatloaf Muffins (inspired by HungryGirl's Turkey & Veggie Meatloaf Minis)
Ingredients
- 1 small onion, grated
- 1/4 cup GF ketchup (I use Heinz)
- 1/4 cup GF BBQ sauce
- 3 lbs lean ground beef
- 3 cups bagged dry coleslaw, pulverized*
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup quick-cooking oats **
- 4 tsp. garlic powder
- 2 tsp. salt
- Worcestershire sauce, to taste
*I ran the cole slaw mix through my Magic Bullet because my family would freak out if they saw large chunks of slaw in their muffins. The recipe calls for a rough chop but I needed something a bit more.
** Some people do not consider oats to be GF but I am going with Oats as A-OK for now in my book until I do further research. You can probably substitute the oats with a GF bread if you are oat-free or concerned otherwise.
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Using a box grater, grate onion into a large bowl. Add 1/4 cup ketchup and all other ingredients. Stir until thoroughly mixed.
- Line cups of 2 12-cup muffin pan with baking cups and/or spray with nonstick spray*. Evenly distribute beef-veggie mixture among the muffin cups, and top each with 1 tsp. ketchup. *I did not spray my pan (oops!) but did not have any issues with sticking. I used an ice cream scope to scope them into the muffin tins and then flattened the top into a small indention for the sauce.
- Bake in the oven until firm with lightly browned edges, 30 - 35 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
The Taste Test
I was in the middle of playing a video game with my husband and some friends when the muffins got done cooling, so I asked Caitey to plate for herself and her sisters. (Bad mommy moment? No, mommy was having a rare adult interaction!) The only reason I mention this is that normally I try to taste the food before anyone else so if there is a "weird" (aka healthy or veggie) taste to it, I can have an excuse at the ready! Anyway, Caitey ate a couple, said they were good but didn't have much taste (which I don't know what she was eating because mine had plenty of taste). Lindsey wouldn't eat hers without additional BBQ but she did eat it and liked it. Sierra had gotten to a meltdown point waiting for the food so she ate some noodles before and didn't touch the meatloaf muffins.
Now, when I finally got to taste my creation, I was VERY surprised that Caitey had said they had no taste. The numerous muffins that I ate (both last night and leading up to this posting) all had a distinct but not overwhelming coleslaw taste to it for me. But it was SOOOOO yummy. I love me some coleslaw! Brian ate them and said they were good, so the taste must not have been overly offensive as I had feared when I had my first bite. He really is pickier than the girls sometimes (but I love him!) so he was the one I actually feared would not eat these.
I still have leftover beef & veggie mix to cook into muffins today. So upping the meat in this from the original recipe (1 1/4 lbs which only made 9 muffins) makes more than 24 muffins (probably 30-36). This is great for us because this is one of those meals that I can make and freeze to pop into the girls' lunchboxes or for a quick lunch when I am home alone during the day. So if you half this recipe, it would be great for anyone not looking for a freezer food or feeding a smaller crowd.
And the only reason I went with beef instead of the turkey in my initial making of these was I was afraid the coleslaw taste would be too strong and wanted the beef to help mask it (if that makes sense to anyone). I will be using turkey the next time around.
Verdict
It appears we have another keeper!
JRenee
