I wanted to share a recipe and idea with you all. This idea came to my sister last year when her daughter (step-daughter, but truly her little girl ~ even looks like her!) made the decision to live with her full time. In celebration of this big leap and in light of the fact that her daughter LOVES all things cupcake, she surprised her with an entire cupcake dinner. Her daughter, along with the rest of the family, loved every bit of the turkey cupcakes topped with delicious, whipped mashed potato icing and cheesy broccoli stuffing cupcakes. What a fun way to mix up dinner and a cute way to celebrate just about anything. My sister has made this meal since and added variety by simply placing different pieces of the meal in different colored cupcake liners (a simple salad, mixed fruit, corn casserole – the possibilities go on and on). I tried the recipe and knew as soon as I took a bite that it had to be passed on! And the icing on the cupcake 😉 ~ super easy to make as well.
It’s been a little while since I made these last and I decided to try them with beef this time. Just as amazing AND my kids ate them too. We’re talking about picky little boys and they loved them.
TURKEY (Or Beef) MEATLOAF CUPCAKES
-2 lbs. ground turkey and add 1 1/2 tbsp worcestershire sauce, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tsp pepper and 1 tbsp dried minced onion (mix together)
(if using beef like I did this time you do not need to add any of the above ingredients to the meat)
-2c whole wheat bread torn into pieces or 1 to 1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
-16 oz shredded cheddar cheese
-2 eggs, lightly beaten (3 eggs if using beef)
-1/4 cup ketchup
-1/4 cup tomato sauce
-1 med diced onion
-2 tsp salt
-1 tsp pepper
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-Combine all ingredients well (mix turkey with it’s own seasoning first if you use turkey)
*MUST USE ALUMINUM LINERS in cupcake pan (this recipe makes about 18-22 cupcakes)
*Fill each cup with mixture (don’t push in too hard) and mold top with a little mound like a cupcake would look like as they do not rise.
-Bake for 30 minutes before adding sauce (recipe below) bake another 30 minutes after spooning sauce onto the top of the cupcakes. I felt I needed to bake the 2 pans separate for the second half of the cooking (after I topped with the sauce) and put a cookie sheet under the pan. I am very glad I did or my oven would have been a little bit of a mess.
SAUCE:
-1/2 cup tomato sauce
-1/2 cup ketchup
-2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
-3 tbsp brown sugar
-2 tbsp mustard
-3 tbsp vinegar
Whisk together.
I double the sauce recipe because it so good to add a little on top of them when they are all done as well. This time I only had apple cider vinegar and it tasted the same.
Below are the cupcakes when they came out of the oven. It looks like a big sticky mess but it cleans up so easy.
This time I opted to not do the “icing” on top and plop it right on the side. Simple mashed potatoes 🙂 AND we have plenty for leftovers.
I just pinned this so I can make it this week 🙂 do these freeze well? I cook for 1 so leftovers are always my problem when I do actually cook from scratch
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It does make a lot. I told my parents to cut it in half for them and they will still have left overs. I haven’t tried since I am feeding a family of 5 but you can easily freeze these. Store in an air tight container or wrap in foil and then in a ziplock bag. If you freeze it uncooked you can cook the same way just cook for 1 1/2-2 times as long. If I were to cook and then freeze, I would put in the fridge the night before and heat up in the microwave. Mmmmm, I’m going to have to make these soon again, talking about this is making me hungry. This time I’m going to make extra to freeze, thanks for the idea.
What a great idea!! I think my teenagers would even love this because easy to grab and go! Thanks!!
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