These vegan mini meatloaf cups–low in calories and made with wholesome ingredients–are a delicious addition to any weeknight OR fancy holiday meal.
I like to serve them with either this Vegan Mac And Cheese as a healthy vegan dinner or alongside homemade Tofu Scramble for breakfast.
They’re the perfect meatless option—with no tofu or fake meat products—to prepare for the holidays, because they go so well with all of the other dishes traditionally served at a holiday feast.
Mashed potatoes, homemade cranberry sauce, Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole or green bean casserole… and especially the gravy!
At just 55 calories each, they’re also great if you’re counting calories.
And if you aren’t counting calories, or even if you are, feel free to add the optional tahini, because they are extra amazing this way. I like to mix tahini into the ketchup to spread on top of the cupcakes.
If you haven’t tried combining tahini and ketchup, IT’S A MUST TRY!
Sorry for the all caps. But seriously, with the perfect salty-sweet balance, this is one of the most addictive food combinations ever, and you will want to put it over everything.
(To see how easy it is to make these mini vegan meatloaves, be sure to click to watch the step-y-step recipe video above.)
Because they’re so quick to make, you have plenty of time to whip up some Black Bean Brownies or a batch of homemade Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Bars for dessert.
Just saying…
I also really love to serve these meatloaf cups topped with Mushroom Gravy.
The recipe was adapted from my Veggie Burger Recipe.
Vegan Meatloaf Cups
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups canned or cooked white or black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 tbsp ketchup or tomato paste
- 1/2 tsp each dried thyme, basil, and garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup very finely diced mushrooms
- 1/3 cup very finely diced carrot or zucchini
- 1 1/2 tbsp tahini, optional
- 1/3 cup oat bran, flour, or breadcrumbs, gf if desired (If you try almond flour, be sure to report back with results!)
- 1/3 cup ketchup, optional for the tops
Instructions
- *Black or white beans (such as cannelini) work. Garbanzo beans will yield drier meatloaf cupcakes.Grease muffin tins or line with liners. Preheat the oven to 380 F. Either process all ingredients (except final ketchup) in a food processor OR Mash the beans very well in a mixing bowl. Add the 2 tbsp tomato paste or ketchup and spices, and stir. Then add all remaining ingredients except the final ketchup. Stir again, and smooth into the muffin tins. Bake on the center rack 20 minutes, then let cool at least 10 minutes before going around the sides with a knife and popping out. Smooth ketchup on top, either before or after baking. These are good topped with ketchup or homemade gravy, but my favorite way to eat them is topped with tahini. Try mixing ketchup and tahini together, because the sweet-salty combination is ridiculously good!View Nutrition Facts
Notes
Have you made this recipe?
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Jenn says
Oh my! These sound delicious! I have some chili I need to finish up, but I will definitely be making these for dinner tomorrow! Thank you!
luci says
these look so good! can’t wait to try them out… thank you for sharing. i completely love your blog by the way… all of your recipes are incredible!
Jennifer Bliss says
These look tasty as well as cute!
Emily says
These seriously look like the perfect weeknight meal! Love the inclusion of tahini!
xo,
Em
Danielle says
These look great. My almost 1 year old is going to be a fan too 🙂
Kris says
This is genius! It’s a great way to freeze in individual servings too! Dinner’ planned for tonight!!
Nina says
These look so yummy. I wish you could come cook for me. I will make these this weekend.
Jaime says
Must I cook the veggies and mushroom first?
Jason Sanford says
No you are not supposed to cook them first. Add them in raw.
Lisa says
Could you substitute Oatmeal for Oat bran?
Svenja says
These look amazing! If I want to double the recipe, how would it impact baking time? Thank you!
Becki says
I wouldn’t think that it would, because the size of the units (muffin cups) in which they are baking is not increasing; you’re just doubling the number of units. If you were going from a small loaf pan to a large one that would take longer to cook through, you might need to make adjustments.
Denise Hakanson says
I just doubled the recipe and and made it to work in a 12 tin muffin tray, and the cooking time worked perfectly.
Cassie Autumn Tran says
Okay, let me just make two batches to eat in one sitting now! LOL, I cannot WAIT to make these one day!
Aimee B. says
These were fabulous! I made them tonight for dinner. I used black beans, carrot, and oat bran. It made 6 for me. I served them with mashed potatoes and gravy and mixed veggies. Definitely a keeper. I would have taken a picture, but we ate them all too quickly, lol! Thank you. 🙂
Liz says
Is the optional tahini only for the topping? Or should I include it in the baked ingredients?
Michelle says
The is a good question – it sounds like it’s just for the topping…
Jason Sanford says
It is for both/either! 🙂
Jason (media relations)
Tam says
It’s very good added to the recipe (which, I think, was the intention)!
Kathryn Cheek says
Just made these with courgette, beetroot and carrot, porridge oats minced and cannelli beans, I used the tahini and added chilplii. We had no thyme so used sage. They looked preally meaty with the beetroot! Will let you know how they turn out!
Lucy says
I made these twice already. I mixed in some organic rolled oats and toasted sunflower seeds to the original recipe. The veggies I used were carrots, broccoli bits and celery. I served it with Vegan cornbread dressing and mushroom gravy. Thanks for a delicious and simple to make recipe.
Debbie says
Excellent easy healthy flexible flavours even pretty cheap – what more can you ask for! Thank you
Penny says
These were quick & easy to make & tasty! They’re also good leftover. Thanks!
Chocolate Covered Katie says
Aw thank you for making them!
Deborah says
These look delicious! I’m wondering if I could bake them in mini-muffin pans to serve as an appetizer. Do you think cutting the baking time down to 10 minutes might work for mini meatloaves?
Also, if I make them ahead of time, what is the best way to reheat?
Tone says
Katie, I love all your recipes! I really want to make them. Do you think I could omit the veggies? My son has multiple food issues and will not eat anything with vegetables. I imagine it makes up the bulk of the loaves though, right? Thank you. Happy Holidays!~
Jason Sanford says
Hmm, I don’t see why you couldn’t just add more beans to make up for it!
Jason
Tone says
Thank you Jason!~
Tam says
These were excellent! And easy! I doubled the recipe and it doubled the baking time.
Sally says
Made these last night
I used the almond flour and they turned out great! My husband really enjoyed these. I didn’t have fresh mushrooms so I used dried mushrooms instead ( I just soaked them first for like 5 min).
We aren’t vegan by a long shot but loved using vegan recipes when I am running low or are out of meat and dairy products. Also a little easier on the food budget. 😉
FYI- don’t know if it makes a difference but I keep my almond flour in the freezer. So in this recipe I just used it straight from the freezer into the other ingredients and baked.
Ashley says
Oh these are so cute and they look delicious! Love that they’re easy to make, too. ?
Gina says
I used curry paste in place of the ketchup And a mushroom cashew blended mix to add more protein. Everyone in the house were huge fans!
Sarah-Beth says
So good! I made these before and they fell apart because I cooked them for too long PLEASE STICK WITH THE COOKING TIME!!! Instead of the salt I put 1tsp of oregano, basil, garlic powder, and thyme. I’m having one now and they’re really nice, I think they’ll be really nice with gravy. Your blog makes being vegan sooo much easier and I love the positive messages. Thank you Katie!
Sarah-Beth says
Also I think I’ll switch the tomato paste for hot sauce next time and switch the herbs for spices, to make a curried version.
Sarah says
These look amazing! Can I use quick oats instead of oat bran?
Lynsi says
I have made these twice now. While they are absolutely delicious and easy, mine keep still being gooey in the middle. At first I thought it was from over mixing he first batch…. but the 2nd had the same issue. Do you think perhaps it is because I used canned mushrooms? I added a bit more flour/panko the 2nd time but it didn’t seem to help too much ?
Jason Sanford says
It does sound like that might be an issue since mushrooms are mostly water and canned mushrooms even more so. Maybe just bake longer on a low heat?
Andrea says
I made as directed but the used carrots and broccoli for the veggie and cup4cup for the flour. I did reduce the amount of flour a bit since GF flours tend to be rather “thirsty”. They were… Ok. I feel like I can only taste the thyme. I’m going to try it again and halve the thyme next round.
Denise Hakanson says
Such a fun idea, and the house smelled amazing with scents from childhood.
I added a tad of onion and a doubled the recipe. It was a little moist and that worked really well since I wanted it to cook it for a little longer and firm up. I also added fresh parsley and basil since I had it on hand. I took out the tray at the 10 minute mark and added the ketchup topping, so it was cooked but not too browned. Awesome!
Angela says
These were okay. My one year old ate a few bites, forced my 4 year old to take his second bite. I finished mine because hey, it’s dinner. Not at all swoon worthy, but also not terrible. Husband eats anything and said they were, “Interesting. A little dry, but good.” I thought maybe I needed to bake them longer. They seemed too moist to me!¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Sandra says
I don’t eat mushrooms, so I would like to substitute 1/2 cup of some other veggie instead. What would be good and work? Maybe just more zucchini and carrots.
Thanks to anyone who has a suggestion.
Sandy
Jason Sanford says
Carrots sound good!
Betty says
I’m allergic to mushrooms. Is there something that will work in their place?
Rhianna Elizabeth Murphy says
Do you think it would work to prep them the day before and then bake them the day of?
Jason Sanford says
I don’t see why it wouldn’t!
Lies says
I showed my husband the pictures first and told him that I was going to make these for dinner. When I served them he said: waw, just like on the website! *proud*
No picture, I’m sorry, but we loved this recipe!
Lyf says
These were the first savoury recipe I tried on your blog Katie and I’m so glad I did. They were so delicious, quick and opened my eyes to a whole new world of savory recipes from your site. My open problem is deciding what to try next. Any suggestions?
Henry says
I love this recipe, I’ve made it several times before. I want to make a large batch this weekend so I can pack them in my lunches next week. How long will these keep in the fridge? Do they freeze well? If so, after how many days should I move them to the freezer?
Jason Sanford says
They do! You can freeze either right away or after 3-4 days.
Henry says
Great! Thanks so much.
Henry says
Breakfast of champions.
Anna says
Can I make these & leave out the mushrooms or use another substitute?
CCK Media Team says
Hi we haven’t tried but don’t see why you couldn’t sub something else like roasted carrot or red pepper!
Kat says
My kids really liked these and ate them with ease. Great base recipe that you can tailor to your liking, I can see changing this up a touch (adding more veggies and tomato). They also held together well. Has anyone tried freezing them for another time?
Thank you Katie!
CCK Media Team says
You can definitely freeze them! 🙂
Iva says
This has become one of my staple main dishes. Really good.
Andrea - The Involuntary Vegan says
Quick, cheap, easy and they cook themselves. Taste great too. No fancy ingredients – you just need to have Tahini.