Turkey Meatloaf and Sweet Potato Cup Cakes…wrapped in bacon!
What better way to eat a meat cup cake? Bacon makes the best wrapper!
I have to admit, I was a little deceptive when I told The Man that we were having meatloaf for dinner. He was less than excited for a loaf of meat. But it was a pleasant surprise when he saw these cute little guys!
I got this idea from The Rachael Ray Show.
{I only have a few channels so I make sure to hit the real important shows. Including The Price Is Right…}
I also have to admit that it was a little difficult to get my kiddos on board when I presented it to them as “a cup cake”… at first they were ecstatic about eating cup cakes for dinner, then the look of confusion set in when they saw the bacon…
{They are bright kids, and saw right through me}
Luckily they aren’t super picky, and enjoyed their meat-cakes!
The “frosting” to these little bad boys is simply mashed sweet potatoes!
Peel and dice the sweet potatoes…
I don’t know about you, but I thought that sweet potatoes were suppose to be orange… hmmm…
Throw these in a pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Continue until the taters are tender.
To beef up the little meat-cakes dice up some onion, celery, and green apple. The green apple really gives it a surprisingly sweet flavor!!
Sauté the diced goodies in a couple tablespoons of EVOO until soft and tender.
For the base of the meat loaf you’ll start with 1 1/2 pounds of ground turkey, bread crumbs, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper and one egg (see recipe below).
Add the sauteed onion, celery, and apple to the meat mixture. Mix it together with your hands.
Use 12 pieces of bacon to line the cup cake pan. Cut about 2 inches off one end of the bacon pieces and place it at the bottom of each cup.
Use an ice cream scooper to place a heaping scoop of meat into each bacon lined cup.
Repeat for all 12 cups. Bake for 20 minutes at 425 degrees.
Back to the frosting…
Drain the potatoes and throw them into a food processor{or a large bowl}.
Add buttermilk, honey, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Blend in the processor until smooth {or mash with a potato masher}.
So these guys turned out to be more yellow than orange… {what have I been eating at Thanksgiving for all these years!?!?}
Sweet fluffy frosting…
YUM!! Remove the meat loafs from the pan and transfer to a paper towel.
Put a nice heaping pile of sweet potato frosting on top…
It’s one of the most savory cup cakes you’ll ever try!
Such a fun way to mix up boring and bland meatloaf!
I don’t know if I’ll ever go back to regular meatloaf again!
Go ahead and give this simple recipe a try tonight!
Turkey Meatloaf and Sweet Potato Cup Cakes
Ingredients
- 3 medium sweet potatoes
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 2 stalks of celery, diced
- 1/2 granny smith apple, diced
- 1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 1 tbsp poultry seasoning
- 1 egg
- 12 strips of bacon
- Salt and Pepper
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 3 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil, EVOO
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Peel and cut sweet potatoes into 1 inch cubes. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Continue to cook until potatoes are tender. Saute onion, celery, and apple in 2 tsp of EVOO until soft and tender. In a large bowl combine turkey, bread crumbs, poultry seasoning, egg, sauteed onion, celery, and apple. Add salt and pepper to your liking. Use hands to mix thoroughly.
- Cut 2 inches off of the end of the bacon strips. Place the small piece on the bottom of each muffin cup. Use the rest of the bacon to wrap around the muffin cups. Use an ice cream scoop to place meatloaf mixture into bacon lined cups. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from muffin tin to paper towels.
- Drain cooked potatoes and place into a food processor. Add buttermilk, honey, nutmeg and salt and pepper. Blend till smooth. Frost the tops of each meatloaf with the mashed sweet potatoes. Enjoy!
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I don’t like sweet potatoes can I use white or red potatoes instead?
I just found your blog and this recipe which I made tonight for 3 adults. It was delicious and everyone loved it. Thank you for a lovely dinner idea and the recipe to go with it. I only had one small disappointment – there were almost no leftovers. I can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
Sweet potatoes come in a variety of shades, from white to purple! Yams are not even related to potatoes and those are orange. Also, typically what people use around Thanksgiving because they are cheaper.
Nice, but I certainly would NOT put the apple in them. I hate anything sweet with meat. Sweets are for dessert.
You could leave the apple out, but it adds a nice, unexpected flavor to the meatloaf. It’s not overly sweet at all. 🙂
i love ur blog!
but those sweet potatoes are of a different variety 🙂 the orange ones are a more american type (aka yams) and the white/yellow ones are simply more milder 🙂 I”m korean and all we eat are the white types! I never even had an orange sweet potato/yam until quite recently!
will certainly be trying these this week thanks for another amazing recipe!!!
This came out so good! My boyfriend and I used turkey bacon…we also cut the recipe in half. I will definitely make this again!
Yummy I am making this tonight!!
These look scrumptious! My son will eat almost anything made in muffin form so I'm hoping he'll go for these. Thanks so much!
Those are adorable. I think I'll have to make those for a party at some point. They would make great finger food.
I know 20 minutes doesn't sound like it would be long enough, but since the meatloaf is separated into little portions it cooks much faster! You can always be safe and use a meat thermometer though!
These look really good! 20 mins huh… I tend to overcook things in my paranoia 😉
I started making meatloaf like this a few years ago (only my fam calls them meatloaf muffins), but I never thought to wrap it in bacon! Oh my goodness, you've inspired me! I'll have to try this out, thanks!!
YUM!
Sweet potatoes are orange! That is weird!!! Unless there are different varieties of them.