Sheet Pan Mini Meatloaves (2024)

When I was little, one of my favorite meals (and still one of my favorite comfort foods) was meatloaf. I didn’t understand why it got such a bad rap. It seemed to be one of those things my friends complained about, that was in books and movies as the worst dinner ever, and I was all like, “Beef? Good. Onions? Good. Ketchup? Good.”

Even as I got older, meatloaf continued to be one of my favorites, but I could start to see the issue some people took with it. My biggest problem was always the layer of fat that rose to the surface and then kind of congealed on the top. Another problem I had was that I kind of discovered oatmeal probably doesn’t have a place in meatloaf. Also, it took forever to bake in a bread pan. Luckily, these problems are all easily remedied with a few easily solutions: making free-form loaves let’s the grease drain away naturally, panko bread crumbs are way less creepy than oatmeal and serve the same purpose, and making individualminimeatloaves instead of one big pan means you can have dinner on the tablein a fraction of the time.

I got this recipe from Hello Fresh, which I’m sure some of you are saying, “Why in the world does a food blogger need a meal delivery service???” and my answer is that I am tired and they help me get dinner on the table. I’m not actually using it right now for a variety of reasons (although if you guys want my thoughts on the different meal delivery services, I do have them…) and many of their family-oriented meals were a little too basic for my taste (or it felt like we were eating the same thing again and again, just in different ways), but this was always a meal my family and I were alwayshappy to see in the rotation.

To make these meatloaves, you’ll need baby potatoes,

young carrots (small-ish whole carrots with the greens attached) or baby carrots, a shallot (look for them near the specialty produce like ginger), fresh thyme, panko bread crumbs, ketchup, and ground beef.

Quick note about beef–these are going to taste better and have a better texture if you use a slightly fattier ground beef like 85/15 or 80/20, but if you’re watching calories, ground sirloin (90/10) works pretty well. I wouldn’t go any leaner than that or these will be very dry.

If you want to make the optional gravy (which is super delicious, I just didn’t make it this time because my kids won’t eat it), you’ll also need beef base, some more garlic and thyme, another shallot, some flour, butter, salt and pepper.

Make sure all veggies are prepped and ready to go before you start cooking to make sure the meatloaves and veggies are done cooking at the same time.

Preheat oven to 450 F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and set aside.

Place peeled (or baby) carrots and halved baby potatoes on the baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil (about 1-2 tablespoons) and sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Roast in oven for about 25 minutes (we’ll be adding to the baking sheet in a few minutes).

While the veggies start roasting, combine beef, grated shallot, bread crumbs, garlic, salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons thyme leaves in a medium bowl.

Shape into 4 individual meatloaves about 1″ tall.

Remove baking sheet from oven, stir carrots and potatoes (and make room if necessary), then add the meatloaves. Brush with ketchup

and return to the oven for the remaining baking time or until the meatloaves reach an internal temperature of 165 F.

If desired, you can make the optional gravy while the meatloaves are baking. Melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Add minced shallot, 2 cloves garlic, and 1 tablespoon thyme leaves, stirring frequently, until fragrant and the shallot is tender. Sprinkle the flour into the pan and stir to combine. Whisk in the beef base and water and simmer, whisking until smooth and thickened (about 3-4 minutes). Season with salt and pepper.

When the meatloaves are done, divide the veggies and meatloaves among plates and serve with gravy if desired.