RECIPE: Mini meatloaves are comfort food in minutes

Meatloaf isn’t something I consider making on a weeknight because of the typically long ingredient list and extended cooking time. But, if you think more creatively about what a meatloaf can look like, it is possible to turn out a similar dish in less than 30 minutes.

The first trick is to turn a single meatloaf into several meatloaves. By dividing a pound of ground beef’s worth of meatloaf mix into eight small loaves, you can cook the mixture in 15 minutes. A few additional minutes under the broiler will caramelize a glaze and it will be ready to serve.

The second trick is to streamline the ingredient list. Most meatloaf recipes call for multiple aromatics, vegetables and seasonings, in addition to the eggs, milk and breadcrumbs that are necessary to give structure to the loaf while maintaining a light texture. There’s also the glaze to consider, which often includes ketchup and myriad more seasonings.

To keep these meatloaves simple, I’ve cut the aromatics and vegetables in the meat mix, opting instead for seasoned panko breadcrumbs to bring the flavors of garlic, cheese, onion and herbs to the meat. Also, instead of starting with ketchup as the foundation for the glaze, I use barbecue sauce. After all, most barbecue sauces are nothing more than ketchup, sugar, vinegar and spices, which is exactly what I’d put in a glaze made from scratch.

I add the barbecue sauce in two stages: prior to cooking the raw meatloaves and before broiling them. The first application will sink down into the loaves as they cook, bringing flavor further into the meat. The second application will turn sticky and caramelized under the boiler for an additional layer of flavor and a nice shiny color to the finished loaves.

Quick Barbecue Meatloaves