Turkey Meatloaf Cupcakes

I saw these meatloaf 'cupcakes' with potato 'frosting', which sounds all sorts of wrong, but with two little girls at home I knew I wanted to make them. They were delicious! The meatloaf was super moist and flavorful and the potato topping was creamy and seasoned perfectly. You can dress these up with a sprinkle of chives and crumbled bacon too. Yum!

I've seen these meatloaf cupcakes with the potato frosting piped on top, but I prefer a rustic dollop of mashed potatoes instead. Plus, it saved me a piping bag and extra clean up. These would be fun to make in mini sizes or even regular-sized ones for a party or bbq.

These turned out cute and tasty and my kids and husband loved them, so I'll be adding this recipe to my 'keeps' files.

Meatloaf Cupcakes

Ingredients 

1 teaspoon olive oil 

1 cup finely chopped onion 

1/2 cup finely chopped carrot 

1 teaspoon dried oregano 

2 garlic cloves, minced 

1 cup ketchup, divided 

1 1/2 pounds ground beef, extra lean (raw)*

1 cup bread crumbs 

2 tablespoons prepared mustard 

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 

2 large eggs 

Cooking spray

Mashed Potatoes

4 cups cubed peeled Yukon gold potato (about 2 pounds) 

1/4 cup 2% reduced-fat milk 

1/4 cup low-fat sour cream 

3 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Garnish

3 tablespoons chopped chives 

4 pieces of bacon cooked and them chopped

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion, chopped carrot, dried oregano, and minced garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Cool.

Combine onion mixture, 1/2 cup ketchup, and the remaining ingredients except cooking spray in a large bowl.Spoon the meat mixture into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Top each with 2 teaspoons ketchup. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until a thermometer registers 160°. Let stand for 5 minutes.

While the meatloaf is cooking, make the mashed potatoes. Place potato in a saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until tender. Drain. Put potatoes into a ricer for best results. Return potato to pan. Add milk and remaining ingredients; stir with a spoon to desired consistency. If they are not creamy enough for you, add up to 1/4 cup more milk - although they need to be stiff enough to pipe on top.

Put the potatoes into a pastry bag with a wide star tip and pipe the mashed potatoes on top of the meatloaf. Sprinkle with bacon crumbles and chopped chives.

* I used lean ground turkey instead.