I bought a "brownie muffin" pan with 12 square "muffin" cups months ago and as of a couple days ago hadn't even used it yet! So when I decided I wanted to make meatloaf I thought - "Why not make mini loaves in this fancy new pan I haven't used yet?!"
Special Equipment:
12-cup mini brownie pan (can use regular muffin tins instead, makes 18)
Ingredients:
1.5 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup ground pork rinds (I use these from Pork King Good)
1 egg
1.5-2 cups shredded cheese, divided (I used Queso Quesadilla cheese from Aldi - that stuff is the bomb-diggity!)
1 cup of your favorite low-carb salsa, divided
Instructions:
Spray or line the brownie (or muffin) pan(s). (Silicone muffin liners work well, and no need to spray them!)
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Mix the beef, pork rinds, egg, 1 cup of cheese and 1/2 cup of the salsa together until mixed.
Press the mix into the brownie cups; they will be about 2/3 full. (Don't worry if they seem too full, as there'll be shrinkage as they bake.)
Make a generous indent into the top of each mini loaf with a spoon or tart shaper (this one worked well). This will be the crater for the salsa you add later.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until meatloaves are done (160°F).
Top each mini loaf with the remaining salsa and cheese.
Bake another 3 minutes or so until the cheese is melted to your satisfaction.
Let cool 5 minutes before serving (if you can wait that long!).
Modifications: The possibilities are endless! If you like it spicier, use medium or spicy salsa or add your favorite hot spice to the mix. You could also use regular low-carb tomato or pizza sauce instead of salsa and just top it with cheese. The great thing is that if you have fussy family members, they can dress up their mini loaves however they like! Everyone wins! :)
Serving Sizes: Makes 12 brownie-sized mini loaves (serving size = 2) or 18 muffin-sized mini loaves (serving size = 3).
Nutrition Facts: I have yet to find a nutrition calculator that can successfully identify every single ingredient I use, so I now manually figure out the fat, carbs, and protein. More work, but less frustration! My salsa was 3 carbs/serving (2 Tblsp), so that's where the majority of carbs come from. I did use darn near 2 full cups of cheese too, because . . . well . . . you can never have enough CHEESE! :)
Total Grams: Fat 35g / Carbs 5g / Protein 33g
Macro %: 67% Fat / 5% Carbs / 28% Protein
Hope you liked it! Let me know if you made any modifications and how they worked out!