Thursday, March 19, 2009

Junior Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf


It didn't make the Quaker Top Chef semifinals, so I promised I would share it with all of you. Since I am on the road this week, it seemed like the best time to post. This recipe comes from a variety of inspirations including my father who taught me how to make my first meatloaf when I was a young 4-H member. I won a blue ribbon at Food Fiesta!

You can reduce the calories and fat in this by using light cheese, but I just love the flavor of the extra sharp cheddar I used, and there isn't much on each piece!

1 lb 93% lean ground beef
8 slices of center cut bacon
1/2 large red onion
1 cup Quaker oatmeal
1/4 cup BBQ sauce
1 egg
2 tsp seasoning salt
1 tsp chili powder
2 oz of extra sharp cheddar cheese, slices into 8 thin slices

1. Cook six slices of bacon until crispy. You want these slices on the crispy side for easy dicing later. Use cooked bacon to grease inside of muffin tins. Then let bacon cool.

2. Toast oatmeal. Heat oven to 350 degrees and lay oats out in a single layer on baking sheet. Toast in oven for ten minutes, stirring halfway through. Place toasted oats in mixing bowl. Oven should then be turned up to 450 degrees to preheat.

3. Dice red onions and cooked bacon finely. Add to mixing bowl.

4. Add seasoning salt and chili powder to bowl. Stir to blend.

5. In a separate bowl, whisk egg until frothy.

6. Add beef, egg and barbecue sauce to mixing bowl with dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly. This is a great time to get dirty by using your hands to ensure the ingredients are well mixed? Don't like to get messy? Use a large wooden spoon to aid the process.

7. Evenly distribute meatloaf into 8 bacon-greased muffin tins. Bake for 15 minutes.

8. While meatloaf is baking, slice remaining two slices of bacon into quarters.

9. Remove meatloaf from over. Place one slice of cheese on top and finish off with a slice of bacon. Place back in oven for an additional 5 minutes or until bacon reaches a desired doneness. I sometimes use the broiler for one or two minutes after the five additional minutes of cook time. This allows the bacon to crisp up. If you prefer your bacon on the chewy side, skip this part.

These meatloaf muffins are a perfect serving size and are full of healthy ingredients!

Nutritional Information: 202 calories/10.5 grams of fat/1 gram of fiber/19 grams of protein

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds yummy with oatmeal!

Anonymous said...

Now that's what I call meatloaf!! I am definitely going to try this :)

Anonymous said...

Darn on the Quaker Oats contest. I wonder what won then, because your meatloaf muffins definitely sound like winners to me.

Anonymous said...

I think it's clever how you added in the oatmeal, this sounds delicious. A blue ribbon is still impressive!

C.G. the Foodie said...

Awwww thanks guys! I have had to make it again (with a finer dice on the onions) for the boy because he is in love!

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