Meat Muffins: An Introduction

There are fewer meals in the US that feel as simultaneously comforting and retro as meatloaf. Everyone I know has a go-to recipe, adapted from a grandmother, mother or mother-of-all-crafters, Martha Stewart. My great-grandmother was famous for covering her meatloaf with strips of bacon, something my mother luckily picked up and implemented in the meatloaves of my childhood. It was a standard meal in my family's household and I've come to realize that most people share my nostalgic feelings for the food.

These days, however, the sustainably-minded and fusion-preaching hostess wouldn't dream of serving meatloaf and mash potatoes at a dinner party - it's too informal, too normal and nowhere near exciting enough for our foodie friends and neighbors. Which is why I've taken to creating 'meatmuffins' - still the same great idea of mixing meat with breadcrumbs, herbs and other flavors, then popping them into a muffin tin and serving up in cute little cups. Who knew meat could be adorable? And that's not all, making these mini-meatloaves is still a super quick endeavor as they take less time in the oven than a traditional loaf: 20-30 minutes @ 350, max! Plus, since they are pre-portioned, those of us who have zero self-control and will keep cutting slivers off the loaf every time we pass it until we realize there are no leftovers for a sandwich tomorrow can take two muffins and stop there.

The creative options are endless with these, too, which make them fun. So far, always using ground turkey, we've made a traditional basil/garlic pesto meatmuffin, spinach/lemon pesto muffin, bacon-mushroom meatmuffins (picture above) and a cheddar-pepper-taco meatmuffin. Delicious, easy to freeze or pack for a picnic (along with a baguette and some mustard, yum!), and fun to serve your friends. Meatloaf Meatmuffins, shall we say, are back on the table.

Here are some pictures from our recent Bacon-Mushroom Meat-Muffin extravaganza.


To one package of Jennie-O lean ground turkey we added: sauteed mushrooms (cooked and cooled), chopped raw red onion, chopped crispy bacon (cooked and drained on paper towels).

Then we added breadcrumbs (about a quarter cup), a hefty tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce and some powdered garlic because we were being too lazy to grate in a few fresh cloves.

We sprayed a muffin tin with PAM, and dropped a quarter cup of (for lack of a better term) meat batter into each cup. Twenty minutes in our oven, seat at 350F did the trick. These were moist, savory, had a little bit of crunch thanks to the bacon and onion. And man did they taste great in a sandwich the next day! We know it sounds weird, but try it - it's a weird thing worth eating!