Meatloaf cupcakes are fun and tasty mini meatloaves made in muffin cups and topped with creamy mashed potatoes. Also known as Hassan Pasha kofte, this is your classic meatloaf with a twist! Adults and kids of all ages will love these individual meatloaves with a mashed potato icing.
Next time try this freezer friendly meatloaf recipe.
These meatloaf cupcakes are budget friendly, delicious and easy to prepare. They are perfect for an easy dinner with kids or a fancy meal with friends.
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❤️ Why You'll Love It
- Less time in the oven than a regular sized meatloaf.
- Great way to use leftover mashed potatoes.
- No eggs needed.
- Perfect for a fancy dinner or an easy kid friendly meal.
- Super moist with my secret ingredient.
Kids love these delicious little meatloaf cupcakes with mashed potatoes as topping. We love to make extra and freeze them. If you don't have a piping bag, mashed potatoes can be scooped and piled up on the meatloaf muffins.
📝 Ingredients
📋 Ingredient Notes
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- Bread: We used white bread, but you can use your favorite kind. It acts as a binding agent in the meatloaf. It's also my secret ingredient for moist meatloaf!
- Ground beef: The main ingredient to make meatloaf cupcakes.
- Mashed potatoes: Prepared mashed potatoes from either homemade, instant mashed potatoes or even pre-made from a store. Use your favorite.
- Onion: Adds a great flavor to the meatloaf cupcake.
- Garlic: Another must have for delicious flavor.
- Parsley: Adds a nice color to the mix.
- Salt & pepper: Brings out the flavor of the meatloaf muffins
- Dried oregano: A classic seasoning for meatloaf.
- Ketchup: For the glaze on top of the meatloaf cupcake.
🥄 Instructions
Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The detailed instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Tear up the bread slices with your hand into smaller pieces, then place in a bowl.
- Add 5-6 tablespoons of water and let it soak for 5-10 minutes, break with your hands to form a paste.
- In a large bowl combine bread paste, onions, garlic and parsley, mixing them all well.
- Add the salt, oregano and black pepper. Mix to combine.
- Mix in the ground beef until well combined.
- Take about ⅓ cup of the meatloaf mixture and form into a ball.
- Press the ball into one of the cups in a muffin pan. Repeat until you are done with the whole mixture. Bake until done.
- Place meatloaves on a serving plate, top each one with about a tablespoon of ketchup.
- Fill a pastry bag fitted with a star tip with mashed potatoes and pipe over the mini meatloaves or you can also make it dome shape.
💡 Expert Tips
- Use any bread you like, hotdog buns work well too.
- Use any mashed potatoes recipe you like or even a store-bought mix.
- If you do not want to use ketchup you can pretty much make any meatloaf glaze you like or use marinara sauce or bbq sauce. We've made it before here in this meatloaf recipe.
💬 FAQs
The secret to moist meatloaf in in the bread! Use bread soaked in a little bit of water as instructed in the recipe card. The result is moist meatloaf and you'll never want to use dry breadcrumbs again.
There are a couple of tips to ensure your meatloaf cupcakes with potatoes will not come out dry. Be sure the oven is preheated, meaning the oven should be hot when you put the muffin tin of meatloaf cupcakes as they do not take very long to cook. Also, do not overcook. These are much smaller than a regular sized meatloaf. Be sure to keep an eye on them and check for doneness to your liking after 15- 20 minutes.
There are so many ideas! Tomato paste, brown sugar, tomato sauce, barbecue sauce, Worcestershire sauce, steak sauce, a combination of any of these or even none at all.
⌛ Make Ahead
The mashed potatoes can be made ahead of time and warmed up before you pipe them on top of the meatloaf cupcakes.
🍽️ Serve With
Serve meatloaf cupcakes with mashed potatoes with a salad or roasted vegetables for a complete dinner.
👩🍳 Variations
- Add a dash of favorite dried seasonings such as thyme, Italian seasoning, dry mustard, basil.
- Top with a sprinkle of chopped parsley or paprika.
🧺 Storage
- Place meatloaf cupcakes with mashed potatoes leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate for 3-4 days.
- Freeze wrapped in plastic wrap then heavy duty foil and freeze for up to 3-4 months. Thaw in the fridge then reheat in the oven.
📣 More Recipes From the Blog
- Amazing homemade Meatloaf Recipe. Tender and flavorful ground beef mixture with a sweet and tangy sauce that glazes the meatloaf and adds so much flavor!
- An incredibly simple to make easy beef kafta (kefta) is a traditional middle eastern style dish that's full of flavor.
- Have some ground turkey? I highly recommend making this turkey meatloaf, it is so tender and delicious.
I hope you'll like this recipe and please if you make this recipe, snap a pic and hashtag it #amiraspantry — I love to see your creations on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter!
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Meatloaf Cupcakes
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- Piping bag fitted with star tip
Ingredients
- 2 slices white bread
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- ¼ cup parsley chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 pound ground beef
- ½ cup ketchup
- 2 cups mashed potatoes
Instructions
- Lightly spray muffin pan(s) with oil.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Tear up the bread slices with your hand into smaller pieces then place in a bowl.
- Ad 5-6 tablespoons of water and let it soak for 5-10 minutes, break with your hands to form a paste.
- Add onions and garlic, mixing them all well.
- Add the salt, oregano, black pepper and parsley.
- Mix in the ground beef until well combined.
- Take about ⅓ cup of the meat mixture an form into a ball.
- Press the ball into one of the cups in a muffin pan. Repeat until you are done with the whole mixture.
- Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until done.
- Take the meatloaf cupcakes out and drain excess fat.
- Place meatloaves on a serving plate, top each one with about a tablespoon of ketchup.
- Pipe mashed potatoes through a piping bag fitted with a start tip or you can also make it in a dome shape.
Notes
- Use any bread you like, hotdog buns work well too.
- Use any mashed potatoes recipe you like or even a store-bought mix.
- If you do not want to use ketchup you can pretty much make any meatloaf glaze you like. We've made it before here in this meatloaf recipe.
- You can also brown the mashed potatoes a bit in the oven after piping on the meatloaf.
- Place leftover meatloaf cupcakes with mashed potatoes in an airtight container and refrigerate for 3-4 days.
- Free wrapped in plastic wrap then heavy duty foil and freeze for up to 3-4 months. Thaw in the fridge then reheat in the oven.
Nutrition
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First published Dec 26, 2014 . Last updated March 10, 2022 with important tips, clear step by step instructions and readability.
Henna
This is such a great idea! I bet it would be a favorite amongst the kids!