This easy Mini Meatloaf recipe is made with ground beef or ground turkey and topped with a delicious meatloaf sauce. They cook faster, are easier and healthier than traditional meatloaf.

Looking for more kid-friendly meals? Try Hawaiian Meatballs, American Goulash, or Chicken Pot Pie!

Two easy mini meatloaf with sauce on a plate next to a green salad, ready to be enjoyed.

Why I love this meal:

  • Fast – Making meatloaf in a muffin tin is easier to make and faster to cook than regular meatloaf.
  • Make Ahead – This meatloaf is easily prepped in the morning or even the night before, making dinnertime way less stressful. I also like to make extra and freeze the individual portion sizes for future quick meals.
  • The Sauce – The homemade sauce only has four simple ingredients and couldn’t be easier to whip up. It takes this meal over the top with how delicious and flavorful it is!

How to make Mini Meatloaf:

Combine Meatloaf Ingredients: In a large mixing bowl (using your hands or a large spoon), combine ground beef, breadcrumbs, onion, barbecue sauce, mustard, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and egg.

Two images showing all of the meatloaf ingredients in a bowl, and then all of it mixed together for Mini Meatloaf.

Press Into Muffin Tin: Divide the meat among the 12 cups in a standard muffin tin, pressing them down to fill the cup. Bake for 15 minutes.

A scoop of meatloaf mixture in each compartment of a muffin pan.

Make the Sauce:  Mix all ingredients in a small bowl. Once meatloaf has cooked for 15 minutes, remove them and blot out any grease in the muffin cups. Spoon the sauce over them.

Two images showing brown sugar, ketchup, dijon mustard, and nutmeg in a bowl to make a meatloaf sauce, and then that sauce being spread on top of mini meatloaf.

Return to oven for 10-15 minutes until cooked through.  Serve mini meatloaf muffins with a side of Perfect Mashed Potatoes or this Apple Pecan Salad.

Three mini meatloaf with a fork cutting into one, with a simple green side salad on the plate next to it.

Healthy Meatloaf?

These easy mini meatloaf muffins are only 140 calories made with lean ground beef or about 120 calories made with ground turkey (that’s including the sauce!). I often use ground turkey instead of ground beef because once I add the sauce, my family really can’t tell the difference.

Make Ahead, Freezing, and Storing Instructions:

  • To Make Ahead: Combine meatloaf ingredients and then press into a muffin tin. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until ready to bake, or up to overnight.
  • To Freeze: Grease muffin tin and press meatloaf mixture into each. Cover and “flash freeze” for about an hour.  Carefully remove each partially frozen meatloaf muffin and place them in a freezer safe container.  Freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to bake, place the frozen servings back in muffin tin and allow them to thaw completely in the fridge. Then bake as instructed.
  • To Store: Place the cooked muffins in a container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

Serve With:

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Recipe

Two mini meatloaf with sauce on a plate with a green salad, ready to be enjoyed!
Prep 10 minutes
Cook 25 minutes
Total 35 minutes
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Ingredients
 
 

Meatloaf sauce:

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  • In a large mixing bowl (using your hands, meat chopper, or a large spoon), combine ground beef, breadcrumbs, onion, 1 Tbsp barbecue sauce, mustard, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and egg.
  • Divide the mixture among the 12 cups in a standard muffin tin, pressing them down to fill the cup. Bake for 15 minutes.
  •  In the meantime, in a small bowl mix together all of the ingredients for the sauce.  
  • Remove the meatloaf from oven and use a paper towel to soak up any grease on the meatloaf.
  • Generously spoon sauce over each mini meat loaf. Return to oven for an additional 10-15 minutes or until the meat is cooked through.
  • Serve with mashed potatoes and any extra sauce.

Notes

Love it? Try our traditional meatloaf!
Store Leftover meatloaf in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
To Make Ahead: Combine meatloaf ingredients and then press into a muffin tin. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until ready to bake, or up to overnight.
To Freeze: Grease muffin tin and press meatloaf mixture into each. Cover and “flash freeze” for about an hour.  Carefully remove each partially frozen meatloaf muffin and place them in a freezer safe container.  Freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to bake, place the frozen servings back in muffin tin and allow them to thaw completely in the fridge. Then bake as instructed.
Gluten-free Adaptations: use gluten-free panko breadcrumbs, and BBQ sauce.

Nutrition

Calories: 137kcalCarbohydrates: 13gProtein: 13gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.3gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 49mgSodium: 299mgPotassium: 268mgFiber: 1gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 151IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 25mgIron: 2mg

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I originally shared this recipe September 2013. Updated August 2019 and February 2022.

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Lauren Allen

Welcome! I’m Lauren, a mom of four and lover of good food. Here you’ll find easy recipes and weeknight meal ideas made with real ingredients, with step-by-step photos and videos.

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Janae
28 days ago

4 stars
These are delicious! A great fast meal.

Natalie
1 month ago

5 stars
My whole family devours these.

Michelle Sander
2 months ago

Found this recipe and made it tonight. So easy and good! Thank you!

Dee
3 months ago

5 stars
I have made these a few times, absolutely love them. There is no need to tweak this recipe much, It’s delicious! The only thing I did different is I didn’t add the nutmeg. For 1/4 of a teaspoon of Nutmeg I wasn’t going to go out and buy it, because I don’t use in anything else. It was perfect without it, I don’t think it’s needed at all.

Grace Boender
8 months ago

5 stars
This is the second time I have made these! They’re fantastic and definitely in the rotation! Love them!

Marty
8 months ago

3 stars
The meat was good but i found the sauce a bit too sweet… Maybe i have miscalculated the brown sugar ? One sure thing, if i do it again, I’ll put less brown sugar.

Ilse
8 months ago

5 stars
First time making any meatloafs and these are SO good. I only used 1lb so didn’t quite make 12 big ones but definitely will use 1 1/2 next time. I ate 5 of them lol

Sarah
9 months ago

5 stars
My kids LOVE these. They are already meatloaf eaters, but they love these little individual ones. I use my homemade BBQ sauce in this recipe and substitute it for the sauce on top as well. So yummy and I love how it cooks so much faster than typical meatloaf.

Pam Gorman
10 months ago

5 stars
Easy and delicious, thank you!

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