I hated meatloaf as a kid. And honestly, most of the time, I wasn’t wrong. But I have changed my mind and with this little recipe I bet I can change any haters out there too! Yes, of course I added a veggie, you should know me by now. This recipe is similar to my Meal in a Meatball. So if you love them you’ll love this one too.
Ingredients:
For the meatloaf itself –
2 pounds of ground turkey (organic when possible)
1/2 cup of quick oats (bread crumbs, ground flax or binder of choice also works)
2 eggs
2 teaspoons of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
1 teaspoon salt
6 oz of tomato paste
2 small zucchini
Food processor or blender
Two muffin tins
For the topping – essentially we are making homemade ketchup
6 oz tomato paste
1/2 cup tomato sauce
3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons of maple syrup
1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 375.
Grease two muffin tins.
Pull out al ingredients and a blender or food processor.
Rinse, chop, and blend the zucchini. You can peel the zucchini if you want but it is not necessary.
Sprinkle a pinch or 1/4 tsp salt in the shredded zucchini and set aside.
In a bowl add the meat, oats, eggs, seasoning and tomato paste.
Return to the zucchini, some liquid should have risen to the top.
Carefully pour off some of the access liquid.
Add zucchini to the meatloaf mixture and mix well to incorporate all of the ingredients.
Using a cookie scoop, if you have one or a spoon if you don’t, fill each muffin tin with a scoop.
You should be able to fill 2, 12 cup muffin tins.
Moving on to the topping, mix ingredients until well incorporated.
Add roughly 1 tablespoon of topping to each mini meatloaf.
Bake on 375 for 25 minutes.
Allow to cool for 5 -10 minutes and then ENJOY!
They make the best leftovers.
A few tips:
Zucchini has high water content. Large ones hold more water so try to find two small zucchini.
If you want absolutely no green specks take the extra step to peel it.
A lot of recipes using zucchini will call for you to squeeze all of the access water out.
All that extra work is not necessary only draining off a little bit of the access liquid.
Salting the shredded zucchini is necessary for helping pull out the liquid.
I have not tried using any another types of ground meat than ground turkey but I know most would work well if you have other preferences.
I love the special flavor of smoked paprika and think it is necessary. I use this seasoning in a few other recipes including meal in a meatball and a homemade BBQ sauce which I will be sharing soon. I believe you will be coming back to the recipe again so there is value in purchasing this seasoning if you do not already have it.
The muffin tins do add to the clean up but my kids prefer (and so do I) a mini meatloaf. Just more fun. But if you want to stick with the traditional load you can.
Make one large or two small traditional meatloafs on a greased baking sheet, add topping and bake for 30 minutes on 400.
Make it and report back!
Live well friends,
Christy <><
