Smoked Beef And Pork Meatloaf Muffins
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This smoked beef and pork meatloaf might possibly be the most tasty and moist smoked meatloaf I've ever tasted.
Made from ground chuck and spicy ground pork sausage with other vegetables, herbs and spices mixed in as well as my very own rub and sauce for an unbeatable smoked meatloaf recipe that you will be amazed at.
I made these muffin-size but you can also do the traditional large size if you want to.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Smoker Temp: 225°F
- Meat Finish Temp: 160°F
- Recommended Wood: Maple
- 2 TBS butter
- ½ cup green onions, chopped (ends and greens)
- 1 carrot, grated or chopped (I used 4 baby carrots)
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 3/4 onion, chopped fine
- ¾ cup celery, chopped
- 1/3 cup Jeff's barbecue sauce
- 1.5 lbs Ground Chuck (80/20)
- ¾ lb Hot Ground sausage (Jimmy Dean, Potter, etc.)
- 2 TBS Jeff's original rub
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 cup of bread crumbs
- 1/3 cup parsley leaves, chopped
- Large size muffin pan (pan)
The vegetables are cooked ahead of time to make sure they are soft since they may not have time to get soft during the smoking process.
Note: If you want to add some green peppers to the mix, feel free to add a few. I didn't and although I usually like green peppers in meatloaf, I didn't miss them at all.
Place the 2 TBS of butter into a large pan or skillet over medium heat.
Let the butter melt.
Add the green onions, celery, carrots, onions, and garlic to the melted butter. Let it cook for about 4-6 minutes stirring occasionally.
Once the carrots get slightly soft, (won't take long if you grated them) add the 1/3 cup of Jeff's barbecue sauce (Purchase formula here | Purchase bottled sauce) to the vegetables and mix together well.
Note: After about 4 minutes, if the carrots are not soft, cover the vegetables with a lid for a couple of minutes to help speed things along.
Set the vegetable/sauce mixture aside to cool for about 10-15 minutes. It will need to be room temperature or less before adding it to the meat.
Place 1.5 lbs of ground chuck (80/20) and ¾ lb of ground breakfast sausage (Hot) into a large mixing bowl.
Add the slightly beaten eggs, bread crumbs, chopped parsley, Jeff's original rub , and sautéed vegetables to the mixing bowl and mix the meat and other ingredients together until combined.
After it's mixed well, form into a loaf and set it out on the cutting board.
Separate the loaf into 6 equal portions and place each portion into an area of the large size muffin pan.
Press the meat into place and flatten the top.
Cover the top of the muffin pan with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight to firm it up.
After 2 hours or the next morning, remove the muffins from the muffin pan and arrange them on a Bradley rack or cookie sheet.
Note: if you have trouble getting them out, use a butter knife along the sides to help loosen them up. You could also line each hole with foil or wax paper to make it easier to get the meatloaf out.
Overall, I had very little trouble getting them out with a little persuasion and a butter knife.
Setup your smoker or cooker for cooking indirect at about 225°F using your electric, charcoal, gas or wood smoker.
If your smoker came with a water pan, be sure to use it.
Place the meatloaf muffins into the smoker directly on the smoker grate or to make it easy, use the Bradley rack and just lay the entire rack on the smoker grate.
Maintain 225°F of the entire time and keep the smoke going for at least 1 hour but for better smoke flavor, just keep the smoke going for the entire time.
About 30 minutes before the meatloaf is finished or at about 150°F, brush a layer of Jeff's barbecue sauce (Purchase formula here | Purchase bottled sauce) all over the top and sides of the meatloaf muffins.
A great tool for checking the temperature on these is the ThermoPop digital pocket thermometer which reads in 3-4 seconds (that's fast) and is splash-proof. One of my favorite toys.. er, tools;-)
The meatloaf is done when it reaches 160°F in the center.
When the meatloaf is done cooking, serve right away with mashed potatoes, corn, mixed vegetables, etc.
- If you are wanting meatloaf sandwiches, consider placing the meatloaf into the smoker as a whole loaf instead of in a muffin pan.
- Instead of using the Hot sausage, try italian, sage, maple, etc. for a slightly different flavor.
- Meatloaf freezes really well so make extra formed into loaves. Slice when done and place 1-2 slices into sandwich sized ziploc bags for quick and easy heating and use on a sandwich.
Smoked Beef And Pork Meatloaf Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 TBS butter
- ½ cup green onions (chopped, ends and greens)
- 1 carrot (grated or chopped, I used 4 baby carrots)
- 4 garlic cloves (minced)
- ¾ onion (chopped fine)
- ¾ cup celery (chopped)
- ⅓ cup Jeff's barbecue sauce
- 1.5 lbs Ground Chuck (80/20)
- ¾ lb Hot Ground sausage (Jimmy Dean, Potter, etc.)
- 2 TBS Jeff's original rub
- 2 large eggs (lightly beaten)
- 1 cup of bread crumbs
- ⅓ cup parsley leaves (chopped)
- Large size muffin pan (pan)
Instructions
Saute the Vegetables
- Place the 2 TBS of butter into a large pan or skillet over medium heat.
- Let the butter melt.
- Add the green onions, celery, carrots, onions, and garlic to the melted butter. Let it cook for about 4-6 minutes stirring occasionally.
- Once the carrots get slightly soft, (won’t take long if you grated them) add the 1/3 cup of Jeff's barbecue sauce to the vegetables and mix together well.
- Note: After about 4 minutes, if the carrots are not soft, cover the vegetables with a lid for a couple of minutes to help speed things along.
- Set the vegetable/sauce mixture aside to cool for about 10-15 minutes. It will need to be room temperature or less before adding it to the meat.
Mix the Meatloaf Together
- Place 1.5 lbs of ground chuck (80/20) and ¾ lb of ground breakfast sausage (Hot) into a large mixing bowl.
- Add the slightly beaten eggs, bread crumbs, chopped parsley, Jeff's original rub, and sautéed vegetables to the mixing bowl and mix the meat and other ingredients together until combined.
- After it’s mixed well, form into a loaf and set it out on the cutting board.
Form the Meatloaf into Muffins and Refrigerate
- Separate the loaf into 6 equal portions and place each portion into an area of the large size muffin pan.
- Press the meat into place and flatten the top.
- Cover the top of the muffin pan with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight to firm it up.
Remove Meatloaf Muffins from Pan
- After 2 hours or the next morning, remove the muffins from the muffin pan and arrange them on a Bradley rack or cookie sheet.
- Note: if you have trouble getting them out, use a butter knife along the sides to help loosen them up. You could also line each hole with foil or wax paper to make it easier to get the meatloaf out.
Setup the Smoker
- Setup your smoker or cooker for cooking indirect at about 225°F using your electric, charcoal, gas or wood smoker.
- If your smoker came with a water pan, be sure to use it.
Smoke the Beef and Pork Meatloaf
- Place the meatloaf muffins into the smoker directly on the smoker grate or to make it easy, use the Bradley rack and just lay the entire rack on the smoker grate.
- Maintain 225 °F of the entire time and keep the smoke going for at least 1 hour but for better smoke flavor, just keep the smoke going for the entire time.
- About 30 minutes before the meatloaf is finished or at about 150°F, brush a layer of Jeff's barbecue sauce all over the top and sides of the meatloaf muffins.
- The meatloaf is done when it reaches 160 °F in the center.
Serve it Up
- When the meatloaf is done cooking, serve immediately with mashed potatoes, corn, mixes vegetables, etc.
Jef this is fantastic. The whole family loved it, and the neighbors said it was the best meatloaf they’ve ever had. Thank you for sharing!
Frank, so glad to hear that you enjoyed them. We love smoked meatloaf!
I’m glad that I gave this a go for just my wife and I before trying them out with family/friends.
While the taste was great, overall the texture left something to be desired. It was quite loose, not at all firm like a meatloaf should be. This is most likely my own fault. I should have suspected something was a miss when we filled 6 jumbo muffin cups with plenty of meat left over. Maybe I should have packed it tighter, compacting the mixture in the muffin pan.
I also think next time, in addition to packing tighter, I’ll reduce the amount of bread crumbs. We found this out with making sausage at home. When a recipe calls for bread crumbs, we use about a quarter of what is called for. I think the bread crumbs absorb too much liquid which results in a less-than-desired mouth feel.
Obviously this is just my opinion which could be 180° out of phase with everyone else. Like I said, the taste was spot-on but it just fell apart while eating it.
Today we’re going for Texas Twinkies!
Made these tonight, they were awesome. I used 1# spicy Italian sausage and 1# ground chuck with Jeff’s rub and store bought bbq sauce . This is the second meatloaf recipe I have used from this site.
This recipe ratio of ingredients is spot on! So it is easy to swtich out flavors to my meatloaf mood. Sub in some peppers from the garden in place of a little of the celery. Use steak seasoning instead of bbq. Use ketchup, mustard and worcestishire in place of the bbq sauce. Heinz 57 as a glaze. Jimmy Dean regular sausage is my go to. And I go 85/15 on the beef becuz 80/20 taste like beefy water. I rather a little less moisture than less flavor. Picky me. Thanks again! Never do I need another meatloaf recipe! This one is good as is or easily modified to suit your meatloaf desires!
The only question I have is when reading these recipes is how much is 3/4 on an onion in cups? 1/2 cup? 2/3 cup? More? Less?
I used 3/4 of one medium onion and it turned out perfect. So I didn’t really answer you question , but your meatloaf will turn out just fine without knowing!
We are doing a musicians appreciation for the ones who perform music in our church. I have served smoked meatloaf on several occasions but when I saw this idea about smoked meatloaf muffins I had a brainstorm. We are making smoked meatloaf cupcakes. We are smoking the meatloaf muffins and then topping them with a “frosting” of mashed potatoes and then drizzling them with either barbecue sauce or bacon “ssprinkles” Thanks for the unique idea!
Stan Price
Navarre, FL