Sheet Pan Meatloaf Bites, Camp Version
Ground beef, stuffing mix, and ketchup pressed into pucks and baked in a foil pan over coals.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 11 oz
- cal / oz
- 56
- protein
- 28 g
- serves
- 5, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 30 min
- total time
- 45 min
- water
- 120 ml cold
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Nut free
- Foil packet
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Ground beef | 1 lb | 80/20; keep it cold until it goes in the pan |
|---|---|---|
| Boxed stuffing mix | 6 oz box | seasoning packet included, this replaces breadcrumbs and salt |
| Eggs | 2 | carry in a hard egg case |
| Water | 1/2 cup | |
| Ketchup | 1/2 cup | packets work if you count out about 16 |
| Barbecue sauce | 3 tbsp | for brushing the tops |
| Yellow potatoes | 4 medium | diced small, 1/2 inch |
| Broccoli florets | 3 cups | cut at home, they bruise in a cooler |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | |
| Garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper | to taste |
Method
- Build a bed of coals and set a grate over it, or heat a dutch oven with coals on the lid. You want steady medium heat, not flames.
- Mix beef, stuffing mix, eggs, water, and ketchup in a bag or bowl until no dry crumbs are left. It should hold a shape without weeping.
- Press into five flat pucks about an inch thick and set them in a foil pan. Flat cooks faster than loaf-shaped, which is the whole point.
- Toss the diced potatoes with the oil and the powders, then scatter them around the pucks in the same pan.
- Cover the pan with foil and cook 20 minutes over the coals. Rotate the pan a quarter turn every five minutes so one side does not burn.
- Pull the foil, brush the tops with barbecue sauce, add the broccoli to the open spots, and cook 10 more minutes uncovered.
- Check one puck in the middle. No pink, juices run clear. Coal heat lies, so trust the cut and not the clock.
This is a weeknight sheet pan dinner moved onto coals. The pucks matter more than the shape sounds like it should: a full loaf needs an hour of even oven heat, and a campfire does not do even heat for an hour. An inch thick cooks through in twenty minutes and forgives a hot spot.
The stuffing mix is doing three jobs at once. It binds like breadcrumbs, it seasons the meat so you carry no separate spice blend for the loaf, and it comes shelf-stable in a box. It is also wheat, so this is not gluten-free, and the beef and eggs mean it needs a cooler. Cook it the first night out.
Packing
Beef, eggs, and broccoli ride in the cooler. Stuffing mix, oil, and spices go in a dry bag. Dice the potatoes at home and hold them in water in a sealed jar or they brown.
Variations
- Green beans or cauliflower instead of broccoli. Anything that roasts in ten minutes works.
- Swap the beef for ground turkey and add another tablespoon of oil, since turkey has nothing to give up.
- No cooler? Use a foil pouch of cooked chicken and skip the eggs, but you are making a hash at that point, not meatloaf.
https://mealswithmaria.site/mini-meatloafs