Meatloaf gets a bad rep for being “boring” or “old-fashioned” or “dull” – but it doesn’t have to be. You can make meatloaf fun again by adding in bacon and cheese. Because let’s face it – bacon and cheese makes everything great! You can also liven things up in the way you present it – like making individual mini meatloaves instead of one big one. Those are the thoughts that came together to make Mini Bacon Cheddar Meatloaf!
I used my brownie pan from Pampered Chef to make these but you could use any type of muffin tin or even this pan specifically for mini meatloaves. You will have to adjust things slightly if your pan has more or less than 12 cups in it. As with many of my recipes, a lot of the end result depends on the preparation of the dish. Here is a GIF to help you see the steps to build the meatloaf.
Side dishes can be all sorts of things with the Mini Bacon Cheddar Meatloaf. You could do a quick Mac & Cheese, a baked potato, roasted potatoes or even whipped potatoes (you will find a recipe for whipped potatoes on my Salisbury Steak post)
I know a lot of people like to eat their meatloaf with ketchup – which you could totally do with this recipe. But I decided to make up a batch of my “special sauce” to go with it. You can find the recipe for the sauce in the Bacon Cheeseburger Bowl post.
Now let’s get cookin’!
Mini Bacon Cheddar Meatloaf
Ingredients
- ½ lb Bacon cut in half
- ½ lb Block Cheddar Cheese cut into 1 inch cubes
- 2 lb Ground Beef
- 2 Eggs beaten
- ½ White Onion grated
- 2 Garlic Cloves minced
- 1 tsp Coarse Black Pepper
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Paprika
Instructions
- Prepare all of the ingredients. Preheat the oven to 400 deg.
- In a bowl combine all of the ingredients except the cheese and bacon. Form into 1½-inch meatballs (you will need 24)
- In a muffin tin, place a piece of bacon in each cup leaving the edges out to wrap over the top. Place a meatball in the cup and smash it down. Place a cube of cheese in the center and cover with another meatball, smashed down to flat and fill the cup. Wrap the bacon over the top. Repeat with remaining cups.
- Place in oven and cook for 20 minutes. Bacon should be slightly crispy.
Estelle Forrest self-published this cookbook after a lot of playing around in the kitchen. You can purchase your own copy here:
AVAILABLE IN PRINT OR KINDLE eBOOK VERSIONS
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Many years ago I started baking my meatloaf in muffin tins. My family turned up their noses at a traditional, whole meatloaf but LOVEd the mini meatloafs (same recipe, same ingredients, just a different shape) – crazy!
They will flip over these with the bacon and cheddar. I’ll be serving soon – thank you!
Thanks so much for sharing your awesome post with us at Full Plate Thursday,507! We featured your post this past week and hope you will come back to see us real soon!
Miz Helen
Thanks again! I really appreciate it.