Zucchini Meatloaf Minis

It's late summer and either your garden is overflowing with zucchini, or your friends and family's gardens are overflowing with zucchini and they're begging you to take some off their hands, or they're sneaking some into your car, or they're leaving some at your front door, etc, etc.  Right?  So here's a great recipe that will help you use up some of that bounty.  These mini zucchini meatloaves are so moist and tasty, and because they're so small, the oven won't be on long enough to heat up the house.  I like to make a double batch so we have leftovers in the fridge to snack on.  We pop them in the microwave for about a minute and that's that.  Great for the kid's lunch box too.   

You can mix the ingredients by hand, but I like to mix them in my stand mixer using the dough hook attachment.  It mixes everything together so quickly and evenly.

This recipe makes 10 mini meatloaves - I made a double batch so that's why you see all 12 indentations filled.  If I had made a single batch, I would have left the two cups in the center empty.  By the way, these commercial quality USA Pans are totally awesome.

Are you a fan of ketchup or bbq sauce on your meatloaf?  We are.  I usually make a ketchup/brown sugar topping, but I had a jar of this country ketchup in the pantry.  It's very sweet and tangy, almost bbq-y, it was excellent all by itself.

Fun for any age.

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• stand mixer https://amzn.to/3g69Uxw

• professional muffin pan https://amzn.to/3re3ymi

• baker’s joy https://amzn.to/3IP7jUW

---

ZUCCHINI MEATLOAF MINIS

makes 10 mini meatloaves

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef

• 1 cup grated zucchini

• 2 tablespoons grated onion

• 3/4 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs

• 1/4 cup ketchup

• 1 egg

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

• 1/2 cup ketchup or barbecue sauce (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F and spray a 12-cup muffin pan with non-stick baking spray.

2. Combine the beef, zucchini, onion, bread crumbs, ketchup, egg, salt, and pepper (I like to do this in the stand mixer fitted with a dough hook).

3. Divide meat mixture evenly among 10 muffin cups and top each with about a tablespoon of barbecue sauce (or your favorite ketchup/brown sugar meatloaf topping).

4. Bake for about 25 minutes.

5. Rest for 5 minutes before removing from pan.

Notes

• Depending on the fat content of the beef used, you may need to blot fat to drain from mini meatloaves after removing them from the pan.

• Also, if your shredded zucchini is very wet, you may want to squeeze some of the moisture out of it before adding to the meat mixture. I used medium sized zucchinis and didn't feel the need to squeeze any moisture out of them.

Marinated Skirt Steak

The weather is going to be beautiful this weekend and I can't wait to sink my teeth into this fantastic marinated skirt steak.  This marinade is so tasty, my mouth is watering just thinking about it.  Feel free to substitute flap steak or hanger steak if you like.  My favorite way to eat these paper thin flavor bombs is on top of a tossed green salad, but they're great in tacos and fajitas, and I've even been known to snack on them cold right out of the fridge.  Enjoy!   

You can use skirt steak, flap steak, or hanger steak for this recipe.  They're all fantastic.

To make the the marinade, you'll need worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar, canola oil, salt, pepper, a clove a garlic, a scallion, and McCormick Hamburger seasoning (magic stuff!).

Combine the marinade ingredients together in a small food processor.

Blitz, blitz, blitz.  Reserve 2 tablespoons of the marinade and chill.  This will be used as sauce later.

Put the trimmed steak in a large zip-top bag and pour in the remaining marinade.  Close the bag and massage the marinade so all the meat gets coated.

Refrigerate the marinating meat for 4-24 hours, tossing every now and then if you think about it.

Grill for 2-4 minutes per side.  Here's I cooked them on an indoor griddle, but sometimes we cook them on the grill outside.  

My mouth is watering!

Slice very thin across the grain.

Toss with pan drippings and/or the 2 tablespoons of reserved sauce.  Enjoy! 

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• balsamic vinegar https://amzn.to/3ouwtAP

• double burner grill pan https://amzn.to/3INKgKo

• small food processor https://amzn.to/35zks6o

• mccormick hamburger seasoning https://amzn.to/3uaYsco

---

Balsamic Marinated Skirt Steak

makes 4 servings

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 pounds skirt steak, flap steak, or hanger steak, trimmed and cut into 4-inch wide pieces

• 6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce

• 1 scallion

• 1 clove garlic

• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

• 1 1/2 teaspoons McCormick "Hamburger" Seasoning (or any steak seasoning, but trust me, the hamburger seasoning is the bomb)

Directions

1. Trim skirt steak of excess fat or silver skin.

2. Cut steaks, in the direction of the grain, into approximately 4-inch wide pieces; place in a gallon-size zip top bag.

3. Make marinade by processing the remaining ingredients in a blender or food processor; reserving 2 tablespoons of the marinade to serve as a sauce.

4. Pour remaining marinade over steaks in zip top bag; seal bag well and knead to make sure the marinade reaches all surfaces of the meat; chill for 4 to 24 hours (tossing every few hours). Chill the reserved 2 tablespoons of marinade separately.

5. Remove steaks from marinade and dry with paper towels.

6. Preheat grill (or cast iron pan on the stove top); cook steaks for 2-4 minutes per side.

7. Allow steaks to rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing thinly across the grain.

8. Toss with reserved marinade and serve. Makes 4 servings.

Notes

• If cooking on the stove top, remove steaks from pan and deglaze pan with 1/4 cup water and reserved marinade; boil until mixture reduces by half, then pour over sliced steaks and serve.

• One pound of skirt steak will feed 2 people.