• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Low-Carb, So Simple!

  • Home
  • About
  • Meal Plans
    • The Ultimate Weight Loss Kick-Start 7-Day Keto-Paleo Meal Plan
  • Recipes
    • Accompaniments & Side Dishes
    • Appetizers
    • Breakfasts
    • Breads
    • Desserts
      • Brownies, Blondies & Bars
      • Candies & Chocolate
      • Cookies
      • Fruits, Berries & Jams
      • Ice Creams & Frozen Treats
      • Icings, Spreads & Fudges
      • Jellies, Custards, Mousses & Puddings
      • Muffins & Cupcakes
      • Pancakes & Waffles
      • Pies, Cobblers & Crumbles
    • Drinks
    • Main courses
    • Salads
    • Sauces & Dressings
    • Snacks & Savory Treats
    • Soups
  • My Pantry
  • My Library
  • Contact

Meatloaf in a Mug — Two Variations

September 26, 2014 By elviira 14 Comments

Spicy Pumpkin Meatloaf in a Mug | Low-Carb, So Simple!

Before I’ll start posting crazy Halloween recipes, I want to give you quickly two extremely easy recipes for good old meatloaf in a mug. The first variation of these one-pot one-serving wonders is simple and tasty, and the second variation is really exciting! Have you ever thought pumpkin meatloaf with exotic, warm spices? Believe me, it’s a success! Pumpkin also makes the meatloaf juicy and moist. Both variations are egg-free, and the pumpkin meatloaf is also dairy-free.

 

 

Salsa Meatloaf in a Mug (Egg-Free)

Salsa Meatloaf in a Mug (Egg-Free)

4 oz = 115 g organic ground beef from grass-fed cows
1/4 cup = 60 ml = 1 oz = 30 g shredded Cheddar cheese
3 tablespoons homemade or other sugar-free, food additive free salsa
1/4 teaspoon organic onion powder
1/4 teaspoon (or to taste) unrefined sea salt

 

Directions

  1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Mix with a clean hands until the mixture is well mixed.
  2. Place the mixture into an 8-ounce (230 ml) or larger microwave-safe mug.
  3. Microwave at 250 watts for 6–8 minutes. Check after a couple of minutes and adjust the total cooking time according to your microwave oven. Don’t cook too long, otherwise the meat becomes too dry.
  4. Let cool to a convenient temperature and serve.

 

 


 

Nutrition Information In Total (recipe makes 1 serving)
Protein 30.4 g
Fat 20.9 g
Net carbs 2.6 g
kcal 320 kcal

 

Salsa Meatloaf in a Mug | Low-Carb, So Simple!

 

 

 

Spicy Pumpkin Meatloaf in a Mug (Egg-Free, Dairy-Free)

Spicy Pumpkin Meatloaf in a Mug (Egg-Free, Dairy-Free)

4 oz = 115 g organic ground beef from grass-fed cows
1/4 cup = 60 ml = 2 oz = 60 g homeroasted pumpkin OR canned organic solid-pack pumpkin
1 teaspoon organic garam masala
1/2 teaspoon (or to taste) unrefined sea salt

 

Directions

  1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Mix with a clean hands until the mixture is well mixed.
  2. Place the mixture into an 8-ounce (230 ml) or larger microwave-safe mug.
  3. Microwave at 250 watts for 6–8 minutes. Check after a couple of minutes and adjust the total cooking time according to your microwave oven. Don’t cook too long, otherwise the meat becomes too dry.
  4. Let cool to a convenient temperature and serve.

 

 


 

Nutrition Information In Total (recipe makes 1 serving)
Protein 23.8 g
Fat 11.5 g
Net carbs 1.8 g
kcal 206 kcal

 

Spicy Pumpkin Meatloaf in a Mug | Low-Carb, So Simple!

 

 

My meatloaf in a mug experiments

My microwave usage is virtually non-existent. We do have a combination microwave oven, and I’ve used the microwave mainly for sterilizing stuff. When my husband still consumed considerable amounts of commercial frozen pizzas, he used the machine for heating those. It does have a handy pizza program.

Lately, I’ve obviously become self-indulgent and even more busy since the microwave has been in more a frequent use for some cooking experiments. I still prefer to heat food on a stovetop but use microwave increasingly. I think I’ve always been a bit afraid of the radiation, but I guess there is really no reason for that in the end.

I’ve been craving for easy meals. Since I’m writing my cookbook, I want to include very easy meals in the book, but as I’m writing, I also need to prepare easy and quick meals for my family. Meatloaf in a mug is perfect, single-serving dish which I can quickly whip up any time.

My first meatloaf in a mug (…why do I always write “meatload” by accident…) experiments were pretty dry. After some forays I tried if salsa gives moistness so that I don’t have to add any eggs. Salsa indeed worked very well. After I came to the idea to add shredded cheese, the result was perfect, both tastewise and texturewise.

I don’t remember how and why I was thinking of pumpkin in meatloaf. Maybe it was because salsa was working so well and made the meatloaf nicely juicy. I might have thought that maybe pumpkin gives similar juiciness.

Last year my garden gave some 13 st (a bit over 80 kg) pumpkin. My freezer was filled with pumpkin. This spring, I planted several different varieties but I didn’t get a single pumpkin! The plants were just blossoming and blossoming (they still do even it’s late fall), but there are no pumpkins! Knowing that my gardening skills are close to zero that’s nothing new, but I just wonder why I managed to grow so much pumpkin last year. Well, the exception obviously proves the rule, what comes to my gardening skills.

I still had canned pumpkin and decided to use the leftovers in my meatloaf experiment. I was pondering which spices to use with pumpkin. In sweet creations pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon would have been natural choices, but I didn’t want to get too experimental with my meatloaf. Nevertheless, I thought some exotic, warm spices would go well with pumpkin. Since I had great-quality garam masala in my pantry, I wanted to give it a try. It suited so well that I didn’t want to try anything else. Garam masala just was a perfect spice with a savory pumpkin dish.

When I used the microwave, I first was using high heat. The meatloaf experiments were spilling over and after getting fed up with cleaning the spills, I decided to try out how lower heat and less power works. That turned out to be a good decision: there were no spillings and the meatloaf experiments were juicy and tender.

Well, if my garden didn’t give any pumpkins but just pumpkin flowers, at least I got some nice nature photos.

 

 

Fly in a Pumpkin Flower | Low-Carb, So Simple!

 

 

 

 

Related posts:

Tasty Feta Burgers | Low-Carb, So Simple!Tasty Feta Burgers (Egg-Free) Lemon Parsley Chicken | Low-Carb, So Simple!Lemon Parsley Chicken (Dairy-Free) Chicken in Creamy Green Onion Sauce | Low-Carb, So Simple!Chicken in Creamy Green Onion Sauce ABC Meatballs | Low-Carb, So SimpleABC (Avocado Bacon Cajun) Meatballs

Filed Under: Beef, Main courses Tagged With: carbs under 5, dairy-free, egg-free, main course, pumpkin

Previous Post: « Egg “Porridge”
Next Post: Peach Panna Cotta with Raspberries »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. rose

    November 21, 2019 at 20:48

    hi, not to single this blogger out, it goes for all recipes, but i really wish that only people who have MADE a recipe would post comments (except for questions, obviously). so so so tired of wasting my TIME reading an endless array of worthless comments such as “LOOKS YUMMY! I WILL MAKE THIS SOON! YOU’RE MAKING MY MOUTH WATER! OH YOU’VE POSTED ANOTHER FABULOUS LOOKING RECIPE!”. thanx!

    Reply
    • elviira

      November 21, 2019 at 21:34

      Well, I strongly think everybody is allowed to post — at least to my blog — whether they have made the recipe or not. I’m always happy to hear about my readers. 99.99999% of them won’t leave a comment anyway. I wish more people would leave a comment!

      Reply
  2. Bridgette

    August 9, 2018 at 20:43

    Is this raw ground beef or already cooked, I know the recipe is very simple but since I don’t cook much just wanted clarification. Thank you.

    Reply
    • elviira

      August 9, 2018 at 20:48

      Hi Bridgette, it’s raw ground beef.

      Reply
  3. Greta

    August 16, 2016 at 22:40

    Hi!
    I am someone who doesn’t own a microwave (on purpose).Any idea what the baking time and temp would be in the oven?
    Thanks,
    Greta

    Reply
    • elviira

      August 17, 2016 at 06:19

      I would try 350 F (175 C) and 25 minutes if you are baking them in mugs or ramekins.

      Reply
  4. FoodSnob

    October 3, 2014 at 07:20

    I love these recipes for meatloaf in a mug. Found your website courtesy of TasteSpotting. My little sister is Anemic, so we are always looking out for foods easy to prepare and iron rich. I can’t wait to see what else you have on your website, and have bookmarked it, but it will have to wait till another day b/c it’s well past my bedtime!

    Reply
    • elviira

      October 3, 2014 at 08:26

      Hi FoodSnob, welcome on board! Yes, meatloaf in a mug is one of the easiest dishes and you can vary it endlessly, always tweaking it and using the spices that you have on hand. Hope you like my other recipes, too!

      P.S. I’m soon going to publish an ebook full of simple, iron-rich recipes!

      Reply
  5. Tekesha

    September 29, 2014 at 14:21

    What a great idea! I had never heard of making meatloaf (or “meatload”, ha ha ha!) in the microwave in a mug. Looking forward to making the pumpkin/garam masala version!

    Reply
    • elviira

      September 29, 2014 at 15:37

      Hi Tekesha! I would love to hear how you like it if you try it out!

      Reply
  6. Irini

    September 26, 2014 at 16:52

    For us who do not have a microwave oven???!!
    Greetings and wishes from Greece!!

    Reply
    • elviira

      September 26, 2014 at 18:16

      🙂 You can naturally make a patty and fry it on a skillet. Greetings from cold Finland!

      Reply
  7. Mari

    September 26, 2014 at 15:34

    What a brilliant idea this was! There are hundreds of recipes for cakes and muffins in cups, but this is the first one I have seen for meatloaf. I love meatloaf, but I don’t always have the time or inclination to make one, and I don’t always feel like eating leftovers for the next week, and I don’t always have room in the freezer for the leftovers either. This solves both problems, and both variations sound wonderful. This will certainly be helpful for those busy days when I need a quick but healthy meal on the table and I am trying to figure out what to make. My husband will really love this idea!

    Reply
    • elviira

      September 26, 2014 at 16:40

      Hi Mari, great that you find the recipe useful, it really is very handy and you can create a different variation for each person, using their favorite spices! Please feel free to make your own variations. I would love to hear from those as well!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Awards

Welcome to My Blog!

Hi! I’m Elviira, Certified Keto Coach, Certified Nutritional Adviser, and Finland-based blogger. My passion is to help you with innovative gluten-free, sugar-free low-carb and keto recipes that are of high quality, simple, and super-easy to make. Forget the complex recipes with dozens of ingredients; meet the true art of easiness and simplicity!

Keto Coach Badge New

Get My New Online Course:

Keto Desserts by Elviira Krebber

Order My Book:

Get My Weight-Loss Meal Plan:

Image of the Cover of The Ultimate WEIGHT LOSS KICK-START 7-Day Keto-Paleo Meal Plan

Get My Keto-Vegan Meal Plan:

My 7-Day Keto-Vegan Meal Plan

Get My eBooks:

Subscribe to This Blog:

Join over 700,000 Facebook fans for extra recipes, giveaways and other fun!

Tags

carbs under 5 dessert veggies vegan chocolate dairy‑free berry main course accompaniment appetizer snack drink breakfast fruit almond flour sauce bacon pumpkin egg‑free fat bomb salad chicken frosting ice cream dip cheese holiday spread candy soup bread savory treat cookie icing peanut butter halloween coconut flour cake muffin jam mousse pie pudding fish almond butter pancake whey protein bar seafood seasoning

Follow us – get the free Keto App

Footer

  • Privacy Policy, Disclaimer and Affiliate Disclosure
All text and images are fully copyrighted. Unauthorized use is strictly prohibited and all possible legal actions will be taken if any copyright infringement is noticed. If you wish to use images on this site, contact first to info @ lowcarbsosimple.com and always link back to lowcarbsosimple.com if you refer to any material (e.g. text or images) used in this site.
DMCA.com Protection Status

Copyright © 2023 Low-Carb, So Simple! on the Foodie Pro Theme