I would be grateful if you shared this recipe :-)

These mini Italian gluten free meatloaf muffins may look like cupcakes, but they are a savory and delicious dinner idea. Your kids will love these, even when they realize these meat loaves are healthy!

April Fool’s Day Hidden Veggies

This easy dinner recipe would have been a perfect April Fool’s joke for my family….but I am often behind the times because it’s already May. These mini meatloaves looked so plain, and quite frankly quite ugly sitting on their plate.

I couldn’t resist making these little meatloaf muffins to look just like cupcakes.

I wanted to see what my kids would think. Would they eat it?? This has all of the classic ingredients of a fabulous trick to play on my family.

Vegetables…check. Hidden sources of nutrition…check. Looks like a dessert…check.

Taste? Let’s not go there yet…but if you insist, my kids gobbled this gluten free meatloaf up. Even my picky eater loved them. The secret was lots of cheese. I may even try to make this meatloaf recipe with bacon next time too.

Check out these fabulous April Fool’s Day Food Pranks…next year I am planning ahead more to try a few of these out on my family!

TIP: You can freeze this recipe and thaw out the loaves as needed so feel free to make a lot. (The mashed potatoes won’t freeze on top of the muffins, so you may want to make that when you thaw them out.)”

(*If you love to hide veggies in your cooking, give these Gluten Free Acorn Squash Caramel Cookies or Gluten Free Butternut Squash Caramel Cake Bars a try!)

What is Green Garlic?

Spring is my favorite time for green garlic. Green garlic is garlic before the inside cloves become defined. This is usually only available fresh for a couple of months a year. This green garlic is the last of the bunch I got from our CSA. It is almost on the border of being full on garlic, but not quite.

Shopping List for Gluten Free Meatloaf:

• Ground beef or turkey
• Gluten free panko
• Mozzarella Cheese
• Green Garlic
• Eggs
• Fresh Basil

How to make this gluten free meatloaf:

You will love how easy this recipe is. No need to pre-cook anything, it comes together so quickly. Just dump all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix.

I chopped up the green garlic, added the gluten free panko, egg, fresh basil, and mozzarella cheese.

If you are looking for a healthier version, you will love this Gluten Free Turkey Meatloaf recipe!!

Spread the meat mixture out in a muffin tin to bake. Whip up this easy cream cheese mashed potatoes recipe and you can put it on top to look like your frosting.

Unfortunately, nobody was fooled for long. My son really dug in and enjoyed this new way to eat meatloaf. My picky one…well, let’s just say her teenaged palate was not impressed. More for everyone else who loved them:-).

Fun Side Dish Recipes to Serve with These Gluten Free Meatloaves:

• Cinnamon Brown Sugar Carrots
• Grandma’s Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon
• Kid Friendly Kale and Apple Salad (Yes, kids do love this!)
• Pan Fried Sweet Potatoes with Honey

Click here to see all of the meat recipes on this blog.

Substitutions and Tips:

• Feel free to make these with ground beef, or use ground turkey to make gluten free turkey meatloaf.
• If you want this to be a low carb meatloaf, grind up pork rinds and use these instead of breadcrumbs. Super yum!!

(*Please note this post has affiliate links. Ordering through my site will not change the price you pay. A tiny commission will come to Fearless Dining to help offset the cost of running this blog. I truly appreciate the support.)

Tools You Need To Make This Recipe:

1. Muffin pan: This is the easiest way to get those cute cupcake shapes for these meatloaves.
2. Electric mixer: My favorite way to whip up potatoes so they are creamy and fluffy! This is the brand I use. I also like that it has dough hooks and whisk attachments.

How to make gluten free meatloaf:

Gluten Free Italian Mini Meat Loaves

Yield: 12 people

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Easy gluten free meat loaf.

Print

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 pounds organic grass fed ground beef
• 1/3 cup gluten free panko
• 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
• 1 bulb fresh green garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil, thinly sliced

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, add all ingredients.
3. Mix well.
4. Take a muffin tin and fill each cup 3/4 full with the meat mixture.
5. Bake for 20 minutes until done.
6. Optional, serve with mashed potato.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 12
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 157 Saturated Fat: 4g Cholesterol: 52mg Sodium: 180mg Carbohydrates: 3g Protein: 9g

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I would be grateful if you shared this recipe :-)