I get a lot of questions about variations on my recipes. “Can the be made gluten-free?” “Can this be substituted for that?” That kind of thing. And unfortunately, I can’t always answer. I wish I could test out ever possible version of every recipe. There just aren’t enough hours in the day for that, but I try to at least answer the questions I get again and again. A bunch of people have asked if my vegan meatloaf recipe could be baked in muffin tins, and my answer has always been that I think it would work. Well finally, after over three years and making my meatloaf at least a dozen times, I decided to give it a go as muffins. I didn’t use the exact same ingredients as my meatloaf. That seemed like a bit of a cop-out, particularly considering the fact that I’d already turned my meatloaf into a veggie burger recipe. I stuck with chickpeas as the base, but I decided to switch up the seasonings. I went for Italian-style meatloaf muffins. If you love the original meatloaf recipe and want your muffins to taste just it, just use the ingredients for that recipe and follow the baking instructions from this recipe. (But keep in mind that this recipe uses about half the volume of ingredients as the original loaf, so either cut it in half or you’ll end up with ten to twelve muffins instead of five or six). Likewise, if you want an Italian-style loaf, double the batch size for this recipe, put it in a loaf pan, and bake it up according to my original meatloaf recipe. Now, on to the process! Making vegan meatloaf is a lot like making veggie burgers, and this one starts with chickpeas, like many of my veggie burger recipes do! Load your food processor bowl up with some chickpeas, panko breadcrumbs, tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, carrots, celery, onions, garlic and herbs. Pulse everything until finely chopped and well mixed. Don’t overdo it! Keep some texture in the mixture. Spoon the mixture into muffin tins. I ended up with 5 muffins, which kind of bugged me out a bit, simply because most recipes serve an even number of people. Which is pretty silly when you think about it! There are plenty of meals enjoyed together by an odd number of people every day. Anyhow, feel free to make six smaller muffins if you prefer. The bake time might be a smidge less — just keep an eye on them! Whip up a quick Italian-style tomato sauce while your meatloaf muffins bake. Or, if you’re feeling lazy, use your favorite store-bought marinara sauce. Take the muffins out of the oven when they’re almost done and top them with the sauce. Then bake them for 5 to 10 minutes more, just to set the sauce. Serve with your favorite side dishes for an incredibly comforting vegan dinner. I really like these muffins with some vegan mashed potatoes, gravy, vegan green bean casserole, and roasted Brussels sprouts!
Don’t overblend the meatloaf mixture in the food processor! This is so important, as overblending usually results in mushy muffins. These muffins are super freezer friendly. Just seal them up in a storage container or plastic bag, then thaw at room temperature. I like to reheat mine in the microwave, but the oven works too. Feel free to sauté your veggies before adding them to the food processor. Totally not necessary, and personally, I’m just too lazy to bother with it. If you know you won’t be eating the whole batch, try just baking up as many muffins as you’ll be eating. Save the leftover chickpea mixture and sauce, store them in sealed containers in the fridge or freezer. When you’re ready, pop it out, thaw (if it was frozen), put it in tins, and bake it according to the recipe. Can these be made gluten-free? Try substituting gluten-free tamari for the soy sauce and using gluten-free panko breadcrumbs. Oat flour might work as well, but reduce the amount a bit, as it can suck up quite a bit of moisture and give you dry meatloaf muffins.
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