Do you ever feel like giving yourself a gold star when your kids actually eat the dinner you worked so hard to make? I won’t lie, I do! Inside I feel my mommy heart bursting for joy when I see them chowing down on their dinner without complaining.
Of course, I also have to pinch myself to be sure I’m not dreaming too. My son is the one that really amazes me. In his early years, he ate everything. Then, all of the sudden, around age 3, he just decided he didn’t like anything we served anymore. He literally ate the same four things every single day and nearly every meal, until I went on strike. That was probably around age five. I decided he would eat what we eat, and if he didn’t, he would be hungry.
At first it worked well, although he was very good at making himself sick to get out of dinner. He went through a long stage of not wanting ground beef at all. Then, out of nowhere in the past few months he LOVES it! When I saw how much he loved hamburger, I knew we had to make mini meatloaf.
Meatloaf is now one of his favorite dinner foods. I also think he’s going into a growth spurt because he is nearly eating us out of the house now. This recipe was passed down from my aunt to me shortly after my husband and I were married. I honestly didn’t make it for us until YEARS later, and then I could not believe I did not make this when she first gave it to me.
We do so many variations of it now. I make meatballs with this recipe, full-size meatloaf, mini meatloaf, and I even use the sauce for other types of meals too.
These little mini meatloaves are perfect though for parties or dinner night, the kids will especially love having their own personal meatloaf. They can be made either with a mini loaf pan or simply by shaping them.
Ready for a tasty dinner? Time to eat up!
Gluten Free Mini Meatloaf Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Egg beaten
- 2 Certified Gluten Free Oats or quick cooking oats (will not be gluten-free if oats are not certified)
- 0.5 Evaporated Milk
- 0.5 Chopped Onion
- 1 Salt
- 0.5 Black Pepper
- 0.5 Garlic Powder
- 2 Lean Ground Beef
- 2 Ketchup
- 1.5 Brown Sugar packed
- 0.5 Chopped Onion
- 1 Liquid Smoke
- 0.5 Garlic Powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- In a large bowl combine the meatloaf ingredients.
- Spray a 9×13-baking dish or a mini meatloaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- Shape small portions of the meat mixture into small loaves and place in the pan about 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 30 minutes at 400°F.
- Carefully remove the dish from the oven, drain if needed.
- In a small saucepan, bring all sauce ingredients to a boil.
- Pour over the meatloaf.
- Return to the oven for an additional 30 minutes or until cooked all the way through.