Glazed Mini Meatloaves

I am always in the search for a good meatloaf recipe. I know meatloaf doesn’t scream healthy but it’s a good comfort food. Now that fall is in full swing, I occasionally want a hot dinner that makes me feel like putting on my sweats, slipping on my slippers and curling up on the couch. Meatloaf does that for me. Unfortunately I’ve tried a slew of meatloaf recipes and have had numerous fails. I’ve pretty much settled on sticking with the recipe on the box of French onion soup mix.

I knew that my husband was going to be outside all day on a cold Saturday for work and wanted to make something warm and hearty for when he got home. I came across this meatloaf recipe at My Kitchen Addiction and thought I’d give them a try. As prepared on the original recipe, each serving provides:

6 servings

466 calories

27.3 g fat

28.0 g carbohydrate

0.5 g fiber

27.3 g protein

Now I wasn’t planning on making this the healthiest meatloaf ever, just tweaking it here and there to make a small improvement. I’ve had a roll of sage sausage in my freezer for what seems like forever and I never knew what to do with it (I mean really, what do people do with SAGE sausage?). So I thawed it out and used that as the pork portion of this recipe. I also changed the saltines to reduced fat Ritz crackers, used skim milk instead of whole milk, eliminated the oil for browning in the pan and decreased the brown sugar in the glaze.

These were AWESOME! My husband is still raving about the best-meatloaf-EVER two days later. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’m excited that I’m having one for leftovers tonight. Give them a try!

Glazed Mini Meatloaves – BETTER (Makes 6 loaves)

17-20 Reduced fat Ritz crackers, crushed fine

¼ cup skim milk

1/3 cup minced fresh parsley (Or 2 Tbsp dried)

3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 large egg

1 ½ Tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

1 ½ pounds ground meat (I used a combination of lean ground chuck and sage sausage)

Glaze:

½ cup ketchup

2 Tbsp packed brown sugar

4 tsp cider vinegar

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 425 degrees. Stir cracker crumbs, milk, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, egg, mustard, onion powder, garlic powder, 1 tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper together in a large bow. Add ground meat and combine until uniform (I found this easiest to do with my hands – yuck!). Shape mixture into oval loaves. I made six loaves.

Heat nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add meatloaves (without letting them touch sides and brown well on one side, 3-5 minutes. Carefully flip loaves over. Brown on this side for another 2-3 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix glaze ingredients together until smooth. Transfer mini meatloaves to a foil-lined baking pan and spoon the glaze over the top of each meatloaf. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until the center of the loaf registers 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer.

Nutrition facts:

396 calories

27.9 g fat

16.6 g carbohydrate

0.2 g fiber

18.2 g protein.

***Before baking, you can wrap individual loaves in plastic wrap, then foil and deep freeze for later. Just thaw individual meatloaf and bake as described... it may need an extra minute or two.