These are little mini balls of goodness & I cannot get enough. So many things I adore about this recipe. So great ready for this lighter, healthier rendition of you “grandmas” meatloaf, that turns it into the hit of your kitchen!
I LOVE meatloaf & I feel like it gets an oh so bad rep. However, if you have this recipe I know you will change your mind. Also the fact that they are proportioned out already, which means it is that much easier to serve, as well as prep for easy lunches the next day!
This would be perfect to prepare for guests coming over or a quick dinner during the week.
Why Ground Chicken over Ground Beef?
Now, you sure could eat ground beef for every meal… however, for your health we may not recommend it! That is where ground chicken comes in to save the day, It is a lean protein packed alternative to ground beef! It is lighter in taste, fat & calories. I prefer to use ground chicken thigh, it does add a little more fat to it, however it adds a little more taste in my onion! However, when substituting ground chicken in a ground beef recipe isn’t exactly one to one. Here are a few things you need to know :
- Bread crumbs: A lot of times you will need a some breadcrumbs to bind some of the protein to create a tighter mixture. For example when making turkey burgers or these yummy meatloaves, we want them to hold together– so we are in need of adding bread crumbs! Now if we were doing ground chicken for tacos & breaking up the meat… no need for breadcrumbs, see where I’m going with this? 🙂 Now GF breadcrumbs work great as well. In this recipe I have used GF panko breadcrumbs & also 1 cup of butter garlic croutons crushed up! Choose what deliciousness works best for you.
- Seasoning:Ground chicken can be pretty bland. So that is where you will see heavier amounts of salt in this recipe & other seasonings! Ground chicken tends to soak it up faster, so that is also why I sautés the veggies before adding to the meat as well!
Can this recipe by Gluten Free and/or Dairy Free?
Short Answer:YES!
Breadcrumbs: Use GF Panko Breadcrumbs instead
Sour Cream: Use 2 tbsp of dairy free cream cheese
Gouda Cheese: Use DF slices of cheese
See told you all this can be the best of both worlds for everyone 🙂
Healthy Mini Chicken Gouda Stuffed Meatloaf
Equipment
- Muffin Tin
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground chicken thigh
- 1 cup crushed breadcrumbs I like the butter garlic kind for this recipe, but see above for GF option
- 2 stalks celery chopped finely
- 2 carrots chopped finely
- 1/2 onion chopped finely
- 6 baby Bella mushrooms sliced omit if mushrooms are not your thing
- 2 tbsp dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp Organic Valley Sour Cream or DF cream cheese, see above for DF option
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 6 slices of Smoked Gouda cheese or see above for DF option
- 4-5 dashes of Worcester Sauce
- 2 cup ketchup love the organic ketchup– Whole Foods brand is our favorite
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tbsp olive oil
To season the veggies you will need:
- 1/2 tsp Onion powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/8 tsp cayenne
- 1/4 cup red wine
Instructions
- In a large bowl put the 2 lbs ground chicken thigh & set aside. Then heat up a medium frying pan with 1 tbsp olive oil. After it has heated about 2 minutes, add in onion & minced garlic. Let it sauce for about 3-4 minutes until it starts to get a little brown. Then add in the carrots, celery & mushrooms– all chopped finely.
- Add in 1/4 cup red wine and cook down the veggies until all liquid is absorbed & cooked through about 5-8 minutes. While it is cooking, season with 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp paprika, 1/4 tsp pepper and 1/8 tsp cayenne. Season to taste. Once the veggies are soft, cooked & seasoned, even starting to brown, you will pour this mixture on top of the meat in the large bowl.
- On top of the meat & veggie mixture now, add 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp Italian seasoning, Worcester sauce, sour cream, dijon mustard & crushed bread crumbs. With a spoon, mix all of this mixture until well combined.
- Next take each slice of gouda & fold it in half. Each half will be in the center of your meatloaves. You will then keep folding up the half until you get a smaller square. Keep repeating until you have 12, set aside on a plate so they are ready when you are ready to stuff each one.
- Grease a 12 cup muffin tin, then divide mixture into 12 (about 1/4 cup mixture) push down the middle to put the cheese then add more mixture to the top, then continue to shape into a ball, you want enough to be around it so the cheese does not leak out & is completely in the middle. Repeat for all 12 mini meat loaves.
- Cook on 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then take out, top each meatloaf with ketchup & place back into oven for 3 minutes. Check to make sure cooked all the way through (usually just cut into one in the muffin tin a tad. If not put into oven for another 2 minutes. Then serve on top of crispy butternut squash straws, potatoes, zoodles, salad etc.
This mini meatloaf recipe is the perfect upgrade to my mom’s traditional meatloaf. The smoked Gouda is my favorite part! The recipe was easy to follow and there aren’t a bunch of “special” ingredients that require an extra shopping trip. I definitely recommend this recipe!
Gouda makes everything better 🙂 Thank you so much, we all need that extra special surprise during dinner! Thanks for sharing!
Made these for dinner, and they were amazing! We halved the recipe since it was for two, and still have plenty for leftovers, which we will definitely be eating! Very easy to follow and quick to make! We 10/10 recommend!
Yay!! I am so glad you enjoyed it and were able to cut it in half in order to make it work for you guys! Thank you so much for commenting and letting others know that cutting it worked well!!
I would give these 10 stars if I could! We eat these AT LEAST once a week in our house! So yummy and so much flavor. And super easy to make! All the important things I look for when trying to figure out what to make. YUM!!
This made my whole week! Thanks for the best compliment ever. I am so glad to hear that! It is for sure one of our favorites too 🙂 Thanks for commenting!
These were so dang good!! I used ground venison instead of ground chicken, because that’s what we had in the freezer and it is now our new favorite meatloaf recipe! Thank you so much!!
Ah yay Arianne!! That makes me so happy to hear, thank you so much for sharing! I love your idea of using venison! Hope you have a wonderful holiday!
These were so tasty and so easy to make!! The best ground chicken recipe I’ve ever made!
Ah Hannah!! That makes me so happy to hear!! Thank you for sharing!! Hope it is one you keep coming back to!
Finally tried this recipe tonight and it is Gouda! Haha but really, kid approved! All of my boys ages 1, 3, & 5 all loved and asked for seconds! Easy to make and delicious! This recipe will be on regular rotation in our house!
Yay Jessie!! All kids approving?! That is the biggest compliment 🙂 Hope you had a wonderful Memorial Weekend!
My father in law is a meatloaf snob! I started cooking this and kept telling me how “he does it”. I just kept telling him, just wait, nothing beats Alaina’s recipes.
Not only did he go back for seconds, but asked to have it again next week.
They take meatloaf to the next level and family approved!
okay this is by far the best comment I have ever received! hahah thank you so much! I held my breath reading that… so glad to pass his approval :)!
Meatloaf is a favorite at our house and this version does not disappoint! Love the combo of healthy ingredients and flavors!
Yay Kelly!! I am so glad to hear! What a compliment 🙂
These are amazing! Everyone in the teacher’s lounge was jealous with how delicious they smelled. The mini meatloafs were super easy to make and I can’t wait to make them again.
ah yay!!! I am so glad to hear!! Thank you so much for sharing & thanks so much for all your hard work as a teacher– you are appreciated!
Great Sunday night dinner for our family. Was happy to find a recipe that included a sneaky veggies….and I was even able to include a few handfuls of kale without a single complaint. Baked perfectly
ah yay Tracy!! I love the idea of Kale, I will have to try that next time– thank you so much for taking the time to review!
I made this tonight for my family while we are on vacation. They LOVED it! They were very excited when I pulled a second pan of it out of the oven. We didn’t have a second muffin pan so we just used a bread loaf pan and cooked it for longer. It was just as good and easy to serve! It was super easy to make gluten free which is always nice. Also, it was great that I could update the number of servings I needed before I printed the recipe so it changed all the amounts needed for me. I’m already looking forward to the next time I can make these amazing mini meatloafs!