I grew up loving my mom’s meatloaf. Really! I have no problem with the idea of multiple ground meats mixed together with some veggies and tomato sauce and baked to perfection. The only way I can see making it better is to cut the gluten and add bacon (words for life, eh?). Most recently I tried the Seriously Tasty Paleo Meatloaf over at Health-Bent.com – loved it and wanted to make it my own.
So, here is my take on some fun mini-meatloafs that would be great for a casual get-together or family meal… and everyone gets their own! I’ve opted to include veggies directly in the loaf in this recipe, but if you’ve got persnickety young ones, it tastes great without ’em, too.
Bacon-Wrapped Mini Paleo Meatloaf
Quantity: 7-8 single-serving meatloafs
Time: 10-15 prep time + 50 minutes cooking time
Paleo Grade: A (gluten-free, dairy-free)
- 1 lb. grass-fed ground beef
Mine’s from Fredericksburg Grassfed Beef (at the downtown Austin Farmers Market)
- 1lb. pastured ground pork
Mine’s from La Grange Smokehouse (at the downtown Austin Farmers Market) - 1/2 yellow or white onion, minced
- Handful of button/baby bella mushrooms, minced
- 2/3 cup almond flour
- 2 pastured eggs
- 2/3 cup of tomato sauce (see recipe below)
- Salt and pepper
- 7-8 slices of uncured, nitrate/nitrite-free bacon
I used cherry-smoked thick-cut.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and place your oven rack in the middle of the oven.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. It’s VERY important to use a baking sheet with sides (at least 1/2″).
Your meatloafs are going to release a lot of juice/fat in the cooking process, and I guarantee you don’t want it all over the bottom of your oven. - Create your tomato sauce by placing the fire-roasted tomatoes (with liquid), garlic, salt and pepper in your food processor and blending until smooth.
- In a large bowl, get your hands dirty and combine your ground meats, eggs, veggies, almond flour, tomato sauce, salt, and pepper.
- Separate your mixture into 7-8 portions and form into mini loafs, placing them on your lined baking sheet.
- For each loaf, cut a piece of thick-cut bacon in half, lay parallel across loaf, and tuck ends under.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. At 40 minutes, turn on your broiler and cook for another 10 minutes to crisp the bacon.
- Remove from oven and immediately transfer to another plate to cool.
- Enjoy!
I had this reheated for lunch today (60 seconds in the microwave) with some Super Easy, Go-To Salad… very satisfying!
Spicy Tomato and Green Chile Sauce Ingredients
- 1 14.5 oz can Fire-Roasted Tomatoes with Green Chiles
Not into spicy? Just use the regular fire-roasted kind… - 6 cloves garlic, peeled and whole
I love garlic – feel free to drop it down to 3-4 if you’re not a huge fan. - Salt and pepper
Made this on my lunch break today for dinner. very good! and yes, 6 cloves of garlic are a lot, lol, but so tasty! 🙂
Thanks.
I may have to make these for dinner tonight!
Hope you like ’em! 🙂
I can’t eat mushrooms right now (candida overgrowth), so I omitted. I used red onion instead and added garlic, basil and oregano, and a bit of whole grain dijon for zing. Then, I took the tomato sauce and added in some white balsamic and basil, salt and pepper. I saved some of the tomato sauce for the top, and it caramelized under the broiler while the bacon browned. This was sooo good! Served it with a side of organic green beans sauteed with olive oil, tomato, balsamic, coarse ground pepper. Simple and tasty meal. I’m loving this paleo cooking!
Sounds super yummy! 🙂 Thanks for the comment/alteration… love it!
Looks great! I don’t really “eat paleo” (yet) but I love it for recipes, as they are gluten-free. I like the idea of eating this with salad- sounds like a tasty, healthy lunch!
Thanks so much! I hope you enjoy it!
I don’t have the fire roasted tomatoes in a tin over here (Australia), what could I substitute. Do I just put the tin of tomatoes and garlic in a food processor and whizz it? Is that how it becomes “sauce-y”?
Thank you!
Hi Rhi! That seems like a good bet to try! Let me know how it goes… 🙂
Thanks for the awesome mention! I’m so glad you’re liking the site! 🙂
So glad you liked ’em! 🙂