Individual meat loaves

This recipe for individual meat loaves is made with ground beef, egg, oats, onion and spices. The sweet and slightly tangy sauce is made with ketchup, mustard and brown sugar.

My mom used to make this when I was growing up and it was always one of my favorite meals. Serve it with mashed potatoes, broccoli or green beans, and fresh fruit for a delicious dinner.

What are individual meat loaves?

Individual meat loaves are just like the name says – loaves of meat formed in individual portions. Think of them like hamburgers, but thicker and baked in the oven. I think individual meatloaves are more commonly made both at home and in restaurants than one big meatloaf, so the name always seemed a bit funny to me.

What kind of ground meat should be used?

You should use ground beef that is around 85 percent lean and 15 percent fat. I suppose you could use other kinds of ground meat besides beef, such as turkey or pork, as long as it has a similar lean to fat ratio. If you use something that is very lean, such as 93 percent lean, it may be dry unless you increase the liquid ingredients. A vegetarian ground beef substitute should work well. Comment below if you try anything besides ground beef and share your experience, please.

If you like this recipe, you may also like:

Individual Meatloaves

Yield: 6 servings.

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 (5 ounce) can evaporated milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon prepared mustard

In a bowl, combine the first seven ingredients and mix well. Shape into six loaves, about 4 x 2 1/2 inches. Place in an ungreased 13 x 9 x 2-inch. baking dish. Combine ketchup, sugar and mustard.; spoon over loaves. Bake uncovered, at 350 F for 35 to 45 minutes or until no pink remains.

Notes:

Just in case, you accidentally buy just 1 pound of ground beef instead of 1 1/2 pounds, here how you can scale down the recipe to make just 4 servings. I have done this at least once before. For 4 servings: Use 1 pound ground beef, 3 ounces of evaporated milk, 1 egg, 1/2 cup quick cooking oats, 1/8 cup chopped onion, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. The pictures shown above were made using this scaled down recipe for 4 servings.
When scaling down the individual meatloaf recipe, I still make the same amount of sauce. If you really like the sauce too, you could increase the recipe by 1 1/2 times when making 6 servings.
My mom usually makes the meatloaf with chopped onion as stated in the recipe, but I like to leave it out. I don’t like chopping onions and my husband isn’t a big fan. I add in one or two cloves of minced garlic instead. I bet it would taste great with both onions and garlic.