This post contains affiliate links to make shopping easier for you. If you decide to buy after reading my rave reviews, I would love for you to use these links. Do you have a favorite comfort food that makes you think of a specific time or place? I have a few, including homemade birthday cake, mini pumpkin pies and my Gram’s meatloaf. Whenever we went to my Gram’s for dinner, my sister and I would beg for her meatloaf. It would not matter if we had eaten that meatloaf 4 times already that week, we could not get enough of it! She had a knack for making it so moist and flavorful that you would slap your mamma because it was that good! Go figure that one of the first dishes I learned to make as an adult was that meatloaf!
Now that I am worrying about things like my weight and high cholesterol, I have taken my favorite recipes and made them healthier. When I have a recipe that calls for ground beef, like my Gram’s meatloaf, I either use very lean, grain fed beef or ground turkey. Because my husband is not crazy about turkey, I have been known to make the recipe with half ground beef and half ground turkey. I also use skim milk, egg whites and panko breadcrumbs in this traditional meatloaf recipe. I promise, you will still get all those flavors just without the extra calories.
For this recipe, I like to kick it up once in awhile and make the kids favorite, Meatloaf Cupcakes With Mashed Potato Frosting. It is easy to make this recipe with the low fat and low calorie options and turn it into the Skinny Meatloaf Cupcakes With Mashed Potato Frosting Recipe my husband and I prefer and the kids do not notice I have made the switch, so we all win!
If you are going to use a muffin pan for this recipe, I would recommend the Cake Boss Deluxe Nonstick Bakeware 12-Cup Muffin Pan, Gray with Red Silicone Grips“>Cake Boss Deluxe Nonstick Bakeware 12-Cup Muffin Pan, Gray with Red Silicone Grips, which sells for $19.99 at Amazon. This pan is perfect for this recipe because when you are ready to do the dishes, a little bit of warm soapy water and a wipe from the dish sponge and it cleans right up. The kids say it is like a magic trick! Another favorite recipe I use my Cake Boss Deluxe Nonstick Bakeware 12-Cup Muffin Pan, Gray with Red Silicone Grip for are my Super Quick and Easy Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins. They are easy to make, the kids love them and they are a great on the go snack or breakfast option.
So, without further ado, here is my kids favorite recipe with my healthy twist:
Skinny Meatloaf Cupcakes With Mashed Potato Frosting Recipe
- Meatloaf:
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 cup finely chopped onion
- 1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup ketchup, divided
- 1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs (or finely chopped slice of bread)
- 2 teaspoons dry mustard
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 cup egg whitess
- Cooking spray
- Mashed Potatoes:
- 4 cups peeled potatoes (cubed)
- 1/4 cup 1% or skim milk
- 1/4 cup low-fat sour cream
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion, chopped carrot, and minced garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Cool.
- Combine onion mixture, 1/2 cup ketchup, and the remaining ingredients except cooking spray in a large bowl.
- Spoon the meat mixture into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Top each with 2 teaspoons ketchup. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes.
- While the meatloaf is cooking, make the mashed potatoes. Place potato in a saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until tender. Drain. Return potato to pan. Add milk and remaining ingredients; stir with a spoon to desired consistency. (add 1/4 cup more milk for creamier potatoes.)
- Put the potatoes into a pastry bag with a wide star tip and pipe the mashed potatoes on top of the meatloaf. Sprinkle with bacon crumbles and chopped chives.
