Make it and Forget it Barbecue Mini-Meatloaves

Monday was meatloaf night growing up – and it was usually my favorite dinner of the week. Luckily, our diner boys all love it too. These Barbecue Mini-Meatloaves are mixed together and formed into patties, then put into the crock pot to bubble away for the afternoon. These are ready when you are.

I have this really low-tech crock pot, (affiliate link) but it serves me well (and often).

A pet peeve of mine is the virtual cooking of all aspects of a dish before it is put together in the crock pot. It always feels like the slow cooker is just there as a holding vessel. I like a slow cooker recipe that doesn’t need any cooking prior to being cooked. Amirite? Plus, I don’t think the browning/searing helps the end flavor all that much.

Put some veggies in the bottom of your crock pot so you can add the mini-meatloaves as you are done forming them.

I use this really big bowl (affiliate link) (I like to dirty as few prep dishes as possible) and mix the milk, eggs, and spices on one side while I keep the beef on the other. Add the panko bread crumbs and mix really well before mixing into the beef.

Mix them up and form into little meatloaf shaped patties. Yeah. These are basically big burgers. Don’t tell anyone.

Smear on your favorite barbecue sauce and add the second layer. This recipe is easily split in half – I make this many because they make killer sandwiches the next day.

Cook for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low. The liquid in the pot is really greasy – I used 80/20 (thanks Timmy) ground beef, so there is plenty of rendered fat. You could try to remove the fat and serve the pan sauce with the meatloaves, or you can be like us and ignore the pan sauce. (Dispose of it properly though – do not put it down the sink unless you want to call the plumber).  Add a little bit more of your favorite barbecue sauce to the top right before serving.

This is fabulous with mashed potatoes and green beans – and they provide a nice little classic throwback to your meal.

Barbecue Mini Meatloaves

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Barbecue Meat Loaf

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 4 hours hours

Total Time: 4 hours hours 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 8 servings

These easy "mini-meatloaves" are made in the crock pot so they don't heat up the whole kitchen. Delicious for dinner or on a sandwich for lunch.

Print Recipe

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Ingredients

Vegetables

• 3 - 4 small Carrots, peeled, cut in quarters
• 1 med Onion, sliced
• 1/2 Red Pepper, sliced

Meat Mixture

• 3 pounds Ground Beef
• 2 Eggs
• 1 cup Milk (1% used here)
• 1 tbsp Dried Parsley
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
• 1 tsp Chili Powder
• 1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 tsp Onion Powder
• 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1 cup Panko Breadcrumbs

Sauce

• 1/4 - 1/2 cup Prepared Barbecue Sauce, plus more for serving

Instructions

• Spray slow cooker with cooking spray. Evenly spread carrots, peppers and onions across bottom.
  
• Combine milk, eggs and all spices in large bowl. Add breadcrumbs. Whisk together well before combining with meat, using impeccably clean hands. 
  
• Form meat mixture into 8 oval patties. (Using your hands, eyeball the meat into halves, then quarters, then halve again, until you have eight roughly equal segments.)
  
• Place four patties on top of vegetable mixture and spread with about 1/4 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce.
  
• Top with the remaining four patties, and spread again with barbecue sauce.
  
• Turn slow cooker on and cook for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low.
  
• Serve mini-meatloaves with additional barbecue sauce.
  

Yum!!