Sheet Pan Mini Meatloaves with Vegetables is a great way to have an easy and delicious meal without much effort. Juicy meatloaves and crisp-tender vegetables are satisfying and delicious. No need to stand at the stove and stir pots and pans. Let the oven do all the work for you!
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Last year my life changed. No, it wasn’t a moment of some profound realization or clarity. It was a simple email.
A year and a half ago, I received a message and with those few simple lines of text, a dream came true. A dream that I was scared to admit to myself even existed.
In May 2017 I started working on my first cookbook and in August 2018 The Ultimate One-Pan Oven Cookbook finally was published.
It’s incredible to think of myself as an author. It’s a little bit surreal. It’s scary. It’s exciting.
I love cooking in the oven and my cookbook has a whole chapter on Full Meals made in the oven on one pan but I don’t have that many sheet pan recipes on my blog.
So, today I am going to remedy this situation and share this delicious recipe for Sheet Pan Mini Meatloaves with Vegetables. I made this meal three times in the past two weeks. It’s so easy, so delicious, so versatile!
Making mini meatloaves instead of one large meatloaf means that everything cooks faster. The mini meatloafs are juicy and tender with that perfect sweet and smokey bbq crust. The vegetables are crisp-tender and delicious.
Best of all, when you make Sheet Pan Mini Meatloaves with Vegetables, you get a complete meal in one pan without needing to stand at the stove and stir multiple pots and pans.
More sheet pan recipes:
- Easiest Sheet Pan Full Breakfast
- Sheet Pan Thanksgiving Dinner for Two
- Sheet Pan Christmas Ham Dinner for Two
Tips for making Sheet Pan Mini Meatloaves
Tip 1: Bread soaked in milk aka panade.
Growing up in Russia, bread soaked in milk was an integral part of making mini meatloaves. It adds moisture and bulk to the mixture and helps hold it together. I most often use breadcrumbs when cooking meatloaf because it’s easier but panade really makes a difference in the flavour and texture.
Ok, let me actually back up a bit.
In Russia we did not have meatloaves (mini or otherwise). We had something called kotleti which is a mix between a hamburger, meatball, salisbury steak, and meatloaf.
They are usually shaped into oval patties, similar to an egg-shape and pan-fried on the stove. And those kotleti are always made with panade.
This recipe for the Sheet Pan Mini Meatloaves with Vegetables resembles kotleti from my childhood in texture and flavour.
Tip 2: Grated onion.
I have a huge pet-peeve when I see big chunks of onion added to ground meat, whether for sauces or meatballs. Chunks of onion get all slippery and steamed and the texture is just so not something I care for.
Back in Russia that was one of my main reasons why I didn’t like eating kotleti if I visited friends. Most people just chopped their onion and added it to the ground meat, resulting in that weird texture.
My mom, however, almost always sautéed and caramelized the onion first. It added so much more flavour to the meat and melted inside. I don’t have the patience for it, so I grate the onion.
It creates almost an onion paste that makes you cry when you lift the grater. But it will most certainly make you very happy in the end as the onion paste melts into the mini meatloaves. It adds a lot of flavour and moisture without adding any distracting textures.
Alternatively, you could use a mini food processor to chop the onion into a paste.
Tip 3: Use different ground meats for different flavour
I have made these mini meatloaves with extra lean ground beef, ground veal, and lean ground pork. I am sure they will taste delicious with ground chicken or ground turkey. Panade (see Tip 1 above) will add necessary moisture to the lean poultry meats.
Tip 4: Use your favourite spices
When I have time, I carefully measure my spices. I add onion powder and granulated garlic. I mix up different peppers and herbs.
But when I am in a hurry, I love using Mrs. Dash seasoning. It really is one of my favourite secret ingredients. It’s wonderfully savoury, it hits all the notes, and it doesn’t have salt so I can adjust it myself.
Feel free to use your favourite seasonings that you like in meatloaf.
What vegetables to use for Sheet Pan Mini Meatloaves with Vegetables
In this particular recipe I used: cauliflower, peppers, and red onion.
However, I made it with other vegetables also. It is up to you what you’d like to use, as long as the vegetables cook in the 30 minutes that it takes to cook the mini meatloaves. Try these vegetables:
- broccoli
- Chinese eggplant
- Brussels sprouts
- sweet potatoes (make sure to chop them into small pieces)
- carrots (they most likely will be quite crisp so you may need to cook them longer)
- asparagus (you might want to remove it earlier or add it later to not overcook)
- green beans
- zucchini
Sheet Pan Mini Meatloaves with Vegetables
Ingredients
- 1 slice sandwich bread (I prefer white but I used multi-grain also with no issues)
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 large onion (or 1 small)
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (or more to taste)
- 1 teaspoon Mrs. Dash Original Spice Blend with No Salt
- 1 pound extra lean ground beef
- 2 tablespoons BBQ sauce
- 2 large bell peppers
- 1 red onion
- 1/2 head cauliflower
- 3-4 sprigs thyme
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- fresh spinach for serving
- more bbq sauce for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Tear the slice of bread into pieces and place in a large bowl.
- Pour the milk over the bread and mash with the fork until the mixture is smooth and puree-like.
- Grate half an onion using the small side of a grater. Alternatively, use a mini food processor and chop the onion into a paste.
- Add the onion with all its juices to the soaked bread.
- Add all the spices and mix well.
- Add the ground beef and mix to combine.
- Divide the mixture into 8-9 equal pieces and shape into mini meatloaves about the size of an egg.
- Place the mini meatloaves in the centre of a 13x18-inch sheet pan.
- Brush the mini meatloaves with BBQ Sauce
- Roughly chop the bell peppers, red onion, and cauliflower and spread the vegetables around the mini meatloaves.
- Sprinkle the leaves from the fresh thyme over the vegetables, drizzle with the olive oil and lightly mix to coat.
- Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until the mini meatloaves are cooked through. Safe internal cooking temperature for ground beef is: 160F.
- Serve with fresh spinach and extra bbq sauce.
Notes
Nutrition
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