It's hard to find kid-friendly recipes your children will actually eat. If your kids love hamburgers, though, then they'll devour these mini meatloafs that are not only delicious, they're bite-sized so even your tiny picky eaters can pop them in their mouths to get a good meal in their bellies. You only need a dozen ingredients and a mini muffin tray to get started.

To keep the prep time down and to simplify this recipe, you don't need to tear bread for your mini meatloafs.


Saltine crackers work great and the kids will enjoy helping you out by crushing them up.

The best part about this recipe is that you can adapt it to give your children an even more nutritious bite. Add 1/4 cup of corn, sliced carrots or even peas to add some new flavors that are also nutritious. You'll be able to give your kids their protein and veggies in one bite while hiding some of those foods they cry about when asked to eat them on their own.

Ingredients

• 1 tsp olive oil
  
• 1 c. finely chopped onion
  
• 1 tsp dried oregano
  
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
  
• 1 cup ketchup, divided
  
• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef, extra lean 
  
• 1 cup finely crushed saltine crackers 
  
• 2 tablespoons mustard
  
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  
• Eggs 
  
• Butter cooking spray
  

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Add olive oil to the skillet and heat over medium heat.

Saute the chopped onion, oregano and minced garlic. About 2-3 minutes will soften up the onions and garlic. Then let that cool before moving on to the next step.

Combine the ingredients from the skillet with 1/2 of the ketchup. Add the rest of the ingredients to the mixture except your cooking spray.

Spray each cup of your mini muffin tray with cooking spray. Butter cooking spray works best to give the bottom of the mini meatloaf a crusty edge. The kids love this!

Spoon a dollop of the meat mixture into each cup of the mini muffin tray. Spread the remaining ketchup over the top of each mini meatloaf.

Bake at 350 degrees until the meatloaf has a crusty edge or until an internal thermometer reaches 160 degrees. This will take approximately 30 minutes.

Pull from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes.

Serve with your favorite sides. Suggestions include creamed spinach, macaroni and cheese, peas and carrots or mashed potatoes.

In one quick-bite, these mini meatloafs will become a regular in your family's meal plan.