Beef-Spinach Mini-Meatloaves

4 from 1 vote

Beef-Spinach Mini-Meatloaves

These beef-spinach mini-meatloaves are a juicy, succulent blend of grass-fed beef, onions, spinach, oats (or quinoa) and seasonings. They bake quickly and are great as part of a meal or as party food. They reheat beautifully - if there are any left!

Course Dinner, Main Dish, Main Dish and Pasta

Cuisine American

Keyword easy dinner, Gluten-free, grass fed beef, meat balls, meat loaf, oats, spinach

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 22

Servings meatballs

Calories 405kcal

Author Beth of A Meal In Mind

Ingredients

1 tablespoon coconut oil
½ c onion chopped fine
3 cloves garlic minced (if making pasta as shown, mince 2 more cloves of garlic to cook for the pasta)
½ c chopped spinach
1 c chopped parsley divided (the second part is for the pasta)
1 lb grass-fed ground beef
¼ c Organic Ketchup
1 large egg
½ c Gluten Free Oats you can use Quinoa flakes
2 teaspoons salt divided
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried tarragon or other herb of choice, such as rosemary or sage
1 teaspoon prepared Organic Dijon Mustard

For the pasta:

1 4- ounce package of gluten-free spaghetti
2 tablespoons of ghee olive oil or butter
2 cloves of minced garlic the extra that you prepared
½ cup of parsley

Instructions

Sauté the onions until tender, 5-6 minutes on medium heat.
Stir in the 3 cloves of minced garlic and cook about 1 minute more. Allow to cool to the touch.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine all ingredients up through the mustard, and stir.
Form the meat mixture into balls of about 2 tablespoons each (aiming for 24 meatballs) and place on a baking sheet. (if using beef you don't need to grease it; if using ground turkey, you should).
Bake at 350 F for 20-22 minutes. If baking into one large loaf, place into a loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes.
Once you have placed the baking pan into the oven (or about 20 minutes before you expect a large loaf to be done), start the pasta water to boil. Boil the spaghetti according to the package directions (Banza garbanzo pasta shown, which took 12 minutes).
In the meantime, heat the oil or ghee in the same skillet you used for the onions. Saute the garlic until just tender, 2-3 minutes. Stir in the remaining parsley and ½ teaspoon salt. Once the pasta is done to your taste, drain it and place into the skillet. Stir to coat with the garlic-oil-parsley mixture.
Serve the seasoned pasta with meatballs and any condiments your eaters like with meatloaf. It's got lots of flavor on its own! But I will understand if they want to add ketchup!

Notes

Notes: There is little difference in flavor or texture between the meatballs with oats and those with quinoa. If you don’t eat grains but eat seeds, or if you can’t locate gluten-free oats, quinoa flakes are a great option. Quinoa flakes may be less expensive in bulk at a natural grocer's - if you can afford a bulk purchase, the product on Amazon is reasonably-priced

The beef I used for this recipe was 15% fat - we figure lots of those great omega-3's in there - but it works quite well with 7-10% grass-fed beef.

Nutrition