Cheesy Chicken Quinoa Enchilada Meatloaf Muffins
Easy, cheesy chicken quinoa enchilada meatloaf muffins packed with lean protein and wonderful flavors. These fun meatloaf muffins are freezer-friendly and make the perfect dinner for kiddos and adults!
Servings 6 servings
Calories 208cal
Ingredients
- For the quinoa:
- ⅓ cup uncooked quinoa
- ⅔ cup water
- For the muffins:
- 4 cloves of garlic
- ½ cup finely chopped yellow onion
- 1 red or orange pepper, finely diced
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- few dashes of your favorite hot sauce
- few dashes red pepper flakes, if desired
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
- freshly ground salt and black pepper, to taste
- ¾ cup red enchilada sauce, divided
- 1 pound ground chicken or lean ground turkey breast
- 2 egg whites (or 1 egg)
- ⅔ cup reduced fat shredded colby jack or mexican cheese
Instructions
- To cook quinoa: In a small saucepan, bring water and quinoa to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and let simmer for 15 minutes or until quinoa has absorbed all of the liquid. Remove from heat and fluff quinoa with fork; set aside to cool for about 5 minutes. While the quinoa cooks you can move on to the next step.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin generously with cooking spray.
- Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, and bell pepper. Cook for a few minutes or until the onions have softened. Transfer to a large bowl to cool for a few minutes.
- Add cooked quinoa, cumin, oregano, chili powder, hot sauce, red pepper flakes, cilantro, salt and pepper and half of enchilada sauce (you'll reserve the rest for topping the muffins later).
- Next stir in ground chicken (or turkey) and egg whites and 1/4 cup of the cheese. You may need to use your hands to ensure all ingredients are well combined.
- Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup or an ice cream scoop to add meatloaf mixture evenly to muffin cups.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and spoon remaining enchilada sauce and cheese over the tops of muffins.
- Place back in oven and bake for an additional 3-5 minutes or until cheese melts and muffins are cooked.
- Let cool for a few minutes then serve with fresh vegetables for a full meal. Makes 6 servings, 2 meatloaf muffins each
Notes
To make meatloaf less spicy and kid-friendly, omit red pepper flakes and hot sauce.
If you can't find ground chicken breast, you can ask the butcher to grind it for you at the grocery store - they always do this for me at whole foods. Another option is extra lean ground turkey!
Feel free to use 1 egg instead of 2 egg whites.
Nutrition
Serving: 2meatloaf muffins | Calories: 208cal | Carbohydrates: 13.3g | Protein: 25.9g | Fat: 6.5g | Fiber: 2.1g | Sugar: 3.7g