Pizza Meatloaf Cups

I had a friend tell me about these pizza meatloaf cups on my Audacious Cook Facebook Page.  My kids are really big meatloaf fans so I decided to give them a try.  Hogan said they were his new favorite way to eat meatloaf.  I threw in a bag of cut leaf spinach to get some hidden veggies into the kids tummies and also added some turkey pepperoni for extra 'pizza' flavor without the fat of regular pepperoni.  Anyways, they were good.  I only filled the muffin tin level with the top since I didn't want grease to overflow while it was bubbling.  This recipe made 28 pizza meatloaf cups (I had just a little more than 2 lbs ground beef), so you are aware you might have to bake a 3rd muffin tin of a few more while you're enjoying the others.

Pizza Meatloaf Cups

Ingredients:
2 pounds ground beef
1 16-ounce package cut leaf spinach
1/2 a 6-ounce package turkey pepperoni slices (stack your slices and cut into quarters)
2 eggs
1 14-ounce jar pizza sauce
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
1 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 1/2 cups reduced fat shredded Mexican cheese blend

Instructions:
Combine all ingredients except cheese in a large bowl.  I use my hands to combine meatloaf.  Then grease a couple of muffin tins and put enough of the meat mixture into each muffin tin so it's level with the top of the tin.  Add a pinch of cheese to the top of each cup.  Probably about a teaspoon or two, more if you want them really cheesy.  Bake at 350 for 35-40* minutes until internal temp of the meat reaches 160.  Keep an eye on them in your oven so you can watch for any grease that tries to come out the top of the muffin tin.


*The original recipe I had only said 20 minutes cooking time, since I added the spinach and turkey pepperoni it needed to be cooked longer.  I had originally checked it at 20 minutes and it wasn't done.  I believe I had both my muffin tins in the oven for about 40 minutes.

Nutrition per meatloaf cup (www.fatsecret.com) based on 85% lean ground beef and 28 meatloaf cups:
Calories - 123, Fat - 7.2g, Cholesterol - 46mg, Sodium - 281mg, Potassium - 100mg, Total Carbs - 3.3g, Protein - 10.2g