These baby meatloaf muffin tins are the perfect freezer-friendly finger food meal for the baby or your toddler. Super easy to make and they only require four ingredients!
Today I’ve got a fun recipe for you guys! For those of you looking for recipe ideas for your baby or toddler, you’ll love this four-ingredient freezer-friendly recipe!
Let me take a minute to post a little disclaimer.
I do not/did not practice baby-led weaning. Baby K got purees from 5.5 months until he started to refuse being fed from a spoon at around 8.5 months. Then it was GAME ON trying to find finger foods to serve him that fit his dietary restrictions. So, if you got to this post from a Pinterest pin or other social media labeled “baby-led weaning” it’s simply because through my research, that’s what people are searching for when they want finger foods for their baby.
As a Dietitian, I think baby-led weaning is a great concept and I’m in full support of it. However, for many many many reasons, some of which were medical, strict BLW wasn’t for us. I think of BLW the same as breastfeeding, it’s good, but fed is best. Each family should do what works for them!
As I was saying, little man started boycotting the spoon at around 8.5 months. Which made meal times challenging, pretty much overnight. I’ve since broken down and bought refillable pouches so I’m not spending $2 dollars per pouch on a pre-packaged version every single meal.
But man on man, I hate cleaning that reusable pouch, I hate it with a passion (mostly because I just hate dishes.) So, more often than not Baby K was eating finger food meals from 8.5 months on and these baby meatloaf muffin tins are one of his favorite things to eat! (His other favorite are the baby muffins I posted a couple of weeks ago!)
Good thing too, because when I have nothing to feed him I’ve always got these as a quick hail mary in the freezer. Just defrost and serve!
I KNOW. In the photo, it shows ketchup, but you try taking a picture of meatloaf without any condiments. It looks like it belongs in a diaper, not on your plate, you feel me? So, no. I do not serve my now 10-month-old these meatloaf muffin tins with the ketchup on top simply because it’s too messy, but maybe you could with your toddler? Just keeping it real over here.
How to Make Meatloaf For Baby
These took me a couple tries to get right. At, first I was using ketchup as the binder, but I was feeling bad about the extra sugar and salt in that, not bad enough to make my own ketchup but still a little bad. Then, I had a can of pumpkin out on the table for something else, and I thought, what the heck let’s use that instead!
So that’s what I did. I mixed up the four ingredients and said a little prayer because my baby can be kind of opinionated about food. Not picky, but definitely opinionated.
He loved them so much, I immediately made two more batches for the freezer! Let me know if you try these guys and how it goes over with your little one! And if you serve them with ketchup or not!
More Recipes for Babies and Toddlers
- Baby Waffle Recipe
- Beaba Babycook Neo Review & 5 Babyfood Combinationsn
- Vegan Cinnamon Apple Baby Muffins
- Homemade Hummus for Babies
- French Toast for Babies
Baby Meatloaf Muffin Tins
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb 100% Grassfed Grass Finished Ground Beef
- 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup oat flour or chickpea flour
- 2 large eggs or two flax eggs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and line muffin pan with silicone muffin liners.
- Using your hands or a spoon, combine all four ingredients until thoroughly mixed.
- Divide meat mixture among 12 muffin tins.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, until meatloaf muffin tins are firm and have reached an internal temperature of 165F.
- Let cool completely before serving or freezing.
To reheat from the freezer:
- I heat them at half power for 3-5 minutes, checking them every 1-2 minutes. You want them to reach an internal temperature of 165F for safety reasons. However, if you nuke them too long in the microwave they can become overcooked and hard, not good for baby!
Notes
Nutrition
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Love this for my 8m old!!
I cut up small and put a table spoon or two of low sodium tomato sauce on it.
Great recipe (from a fellow RD :))
That’s awesome, I’m so glad your little one liked it!!! I tried tomato sauce and tried low sodium ketchup, he didn’t want either, but it looked pretty in the pictures! haha AND LOVE when I hear other RDs are reading my blog and even better making my recipes! It makes me SOOOOO happy! I would love to hear if you are working and what field you work in!
Could regular flour or almond flour be used? If so, would be the same measurement? Thanks!
That’s a good question! Oat flour is SUPER absorbent compared to almond flour or regular flour. I think maybe bread crumbs would be a better alternative. Let me know if you try it!
I would like to try this recipe, but my daughter is allergic to pumpkin (among many other things). Is there another vegetable or sauce I could substitute in? Thanks so much!
You could do canned sweet potato or butternut squash!
Does it need to be canned ?
Does what need to be canned?
Could you use baby cereal instead of the flour? (Trying to use up what I have in fun recipes other than just giving plain cereal!)
I’ve done it and it works! Use that stuff up!
I’m keen to give these a go, such a great simple recipe.
I want to say thank you for your little comment about breastfeeding, that fed is best. I did mixed feeding with my son until 9 months, and I’d almost forgotten the everyday battle. But your comment was a reminder that I did the best I could, so thank you.
100%! It’s crazy how we forget right? Enjoy the meatloaf muffins!
Hello Kelli,
I hope that all is well.
A couple of weeks ago, while I was searching for a great recipe to make for my toddler I found this. The baby meatloaf is absolutely perfect for my toddler. Instead of using pumpkin I used roasted sweet potato and it was delicious. As a matter of fact, today I will make another batch. From now on, this recipe will be made in my household monthly. Thank you!
Keep making these amazing recipes because they are greatly appreciated.
Lots of love from Canada
Tia
So glad you guys liked it! We love these too!
Can you sub ground turkey?
Yes, absolutely!
How long can you freeze these for?
Up to 3 months 🙂
How long can you freeze these?
Hello! Looking into making these for my 9 month old. Curious on the texture..are these softer than a traditional meatloaf/burger?
More like a meatloaf, definitely not as tough as a burger!