Baby meatloaf is great. It ticks nearly every nutritional box for healthy happy mealtime, and generally, it’s pretty freaking delicious. It is also wrapped up in the very convenient form of a meat stick/loaf/disc that is easy to transport, easy for baby to grasp, and also breaks apart when baby chomps down.

The recipe that I use is less of a recipe and more of an equation. You can substitute whatever your heart/child desires!

Meatloaf equation:

Protein + Allium + Herbs + Leafy Green + Quinoa +Eggs = Coagulated Stick of Yum

So, for example, I’ll use beef mince, garlic, parsley, and spinach for one meatloaf, and chicken mince, leeks, basil, and kale for another. The important part is to make sure that all of the ingredients are chopped pretty fine so they are all roughly the same size.

As for amounts, I have to say that I generally wing it. Here’s the recipe I jotted down last time I meatloafed:

500g minced meat (beef, chicken, lamb, turkey, pork)
100g cooked quinoa*
80g wilted/cooked leafy green (chard, spinach, kale)
5g chopped herb (dill, parsley, basil, tarragon)
30g minced allium (onion, garlic, leeks, scallions, chives)
2 ea eggs
Any additional seasonings you deem delicious

Method:

Add everything into a bowl except the eggs.
Lightly beat the eggs in a small bowl.
Add eggs to the everything else mix.
Squish/mix everything together with your plastic glove-lined hand. You could use a utensil for this, I suppose, but i think it’s very therapeutic to squish it, and also it definitely incorporates all of the ingredients much better. You could also use your bare hand, just wash really well before and after.
Spoon the meat mixture into silicone molds and fill to just below the top. I spray my silicone molds with an oil spray just to give them a little more incentive not to stick to the sides.
Bake at 200*C for roughly 15-20 minutes. I always crack one open to taste and make sure its cooked all the way.
Let cool, pop out of molds, and freeze.

**If your baby isn’t into the texture of quinoa, or you don’t feel like cooking quinoa, you can also sub breadcrumbs.

(These were technically over-baked…look below to see how to fix it!)

Notes for reheating/troubleshooting:

We do not have a microwave, so I’m not sure how the meatloafs do there, but I would guess that reheating on low power would work best (kind of like defrosting meat). Be extra careful when giving baby food heated from the microwave! The core can be molten while the outside is warmish, since microwaves heat from the inside, out.
We defrost our meatloaves in the oven (or toaster oven if you have one) in a ceramic ramekin with a touch of water at the bottom and foil over the top.
If your baby isn’t up to eating giant meat sticks/discs, you can cut them into bit-sized cube for baby to grab and munch on.
If you accidentally over baked your meatloaves and they are as dry as sand, never fear! You can fix it! Heat the meatloaf until it is defrosted, cut it in half (lengthwise, or whatever way exposes the most surface area) and place the cut side down in stock or water. Continue reheating until warm. The meatloaf will soak up the liquid like a sponge.

That’s all! Hope that some of you find this recipe useful…if you have any questions, comments, or thoughts, please comment below and I will get back to you!

Baby Meatloaf

Protein + Allium + Herbs + Leafy Green + Quinoa +Eggs = Coagulated Stick of Yum