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Home » Recipe Index » Winter Favorites

French Onion Mini Meatloaves

Published: Nov 6, 2015 · Modified: Nov 13, 2024 by Olga · This post may contain affiliate links

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French Onion Mini Meatloaves are the ultimate comfort food, combining the delicious flavors of French Onion Soup into individual-sized meatloafs. Topped with caramelized onions and melted cheese, these meatloaves are juicy, flavorful, and perfect for a cozy dinner.

French Onion Mini Meatloaves 3-2-2

If you love French Onion Soup, then these French Onion Mini Meatloaves are going to be your new favorite dinner. French Onion Soup is comforting and delicious for a reason—the sweet caramelized onions, rich beef broth, and gooey melted cheese create an irresistible combination. Now, imagine all of that cozy goodness packed into mini meatloaves! These little meatloaves bring together all the classic flavors of French Onion Soup, but in a fun, practical, and totally delicious way.

Mini meatloaves are not only cute, but they’re also super convenient. Everyone gets their own little personal meatloaf, no need to slice and serve. Plus, they cook faster than a full-sized loaf! The caramelized onions on top add extra flavor and make the meat even juicier, while the melted, golden cheese seals the deal with its gooey, cheesy perfection. These French Onion Mini Meatloaves are the perfect cozy meal to serve for dinner any night of the week.

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef

2 lbs onions

½ cup breadcrumbs

½ cup milk

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

½ - ¾ teaspoon ground black pepper (plus a little bit extra for the onions)

3 Tablespoons butter

2 Tablespoons sherry, optional

6-8 oz grated cheese (Gruyere, Mozzarella, cheddar, Monterey Jack, etc.)

French Onion Mini Meatloaves-3

How To Make French Onion Mini Meatloaves

I usually start by prepping the onions first. Finely mince one of the onions and place it into a large bowl.

In a medium bowl, place the breadcrumbs and pour the milk over the breadcrumbs. Set aside for about 5 minutes, just until the milk soaks into the breadcrumbs.

Meanwhile, slice the rest of the onions into ⅓ inch slices, pole to pole.

French Onion Mini Meatloaves-2

Slicing the onions pole to pole instead of across the grain will help the onions to hold up their shape much better while they are cooking. Otherwise, they will disintegrate because they will be cooked for so long.

French Onion Mini Meatloaves-1-25
French Onion Mini Meatloaves-4

Add the soaked breadcrumbs to the large bowl with the minced onion, along with the ground beef, egg, 1 teaspoon of salt, ½-3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper. Mix all of these ingredients together until evenly combined.

French Onion Mini Meatloaves-7

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

French Onion Mini Meatloaves-5
French Onion Mini Meatloaves-6

In a 10 inch skillet, melt the butter on medium heat and then pile in all the onions. It will be really full. Season with salt and ground black pepper. Start cooking the onions on medium heat, uncovered, until the onions become slightly softened. At this point, the onions will shrink a bit and you will be able to cover the skillet. Reduce the heat to low. Every 3-5 minutes, stir the onions in the skillet.

French Onion Mini Meatloaves-8

At first, the onions will exude a lot of liquid. After a little while, the onions will start to turn slightly golden on the bottom. Every time you stir them, the onions will become more golden. Since you are cooking such a large amount of onions, there should be a lot of liquid at the bottom of the skillet, since cooking the onions will draw out a lot of moisture out of them. The salt also draws moisture out of the onions. The liquid exuding out of the onions should be enough to sort of "deglaze the bottom of the skillet", but if your onions aren't very juicy, add about ¼ cup of water to deglaze the bottom of the skillet, scraping the brown parts off the bottom, until the skillet it pretty clean. In this case, it's pretty important to use a skillet that has a thick and heavy bottom, otherwise the onions will burn and cook unevenly.

French Onion Mini Meatloaves-9

Keep cooking the onions on low heat, mixing the onions every few minutes, until they are really dark brown and caramelized, about 35-45 minutes overall. At the very end, deglaze the bottom of the skillet with the sherry, if you're using it. It adds great flavor to the caramelized onions. It gives them a bit of a tangy acidity as well as a bit of sweetness. If you would rather not use alcohol, just use water.

French Onion Mini Meatloaves-11

Cool the onions slightly while you are shaping the meatloaves.

French Onion Mini Meatloaves-13
French Onion Mini Meatloaves-15

Shape the meatloaf mixture into 8 - 10 rectangular shapes, about 3 ½ inches x 2 inches each. Place the mini meatloaves onto a large rimmed baking sheet. Top each of the meatloaves with the caramelized onions and then with the grated cheese.

French Onion Mini Meatloaves-16

Bake the mini meatloaves in the preheated 400 degrees Fahrenheit oven for 15-20 minutes, until the cheese has melted and is slightly golden.

French Onion Mini Meatloaves-17
French Onion Mini Meatloaves 3-1-2
French Onion Mini Meatloaves 3-2-2

Serve immediately.
To reheat leftovers, place the mini meatloaves into a skillet. Pour in just enough water to cover the bottom of the skillet. Cover the skillet, and cook on medium low heat,until the meatloaves are heated through. As the water simmers on low heat, the steam will heat the meatloaves through, without drying them out. Isn't that a neat trick?

French Onion Mini Meatloaves

Olga Klyuchits
Get all the comforting flavors of French Onion Soup with these mini meatloaves topped with caramelized onions and melted cheese
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 25 minutes mins
Cook Time 1 hour hr
Total Time 1 hour hr 25 minutes mins
Course Entree
Cuisine American
Servings 8 -10 small meatloaves

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 2 lbs onions
  • ½ cup breadcrumbs
  • ½ cup milk
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ - ¾ teaspoon ground black pepper plus a little bit extra for the onions
  • 3 Tablespoons butter
  • 2 Tablespoons sherry optional
  • 6-8 oz grated cheese Gruyere, Mozzarella, cheddar, Monterey Jack, etc.

Instructions
 

  • I usually start by prepping the onions first. Finely mince one of the onions and place it into a large bowl.
  • In a medium bowl, place the breadcrumbs and pour the milk over the breadcrumbs. Set aside for about 5 minutes, just until the milk soaks into the breadcrumbs.
  • Meanwhile, slice the rest of the onions into ⅓ inch slices, pole to pole.
  • Slicing the onions pole to pole instead of across the grain will help the onions to hold up their shape much better while they are cooking. Otherwise, they will disintegrate because they will be cooked for so long.
  • Add the soaked breadcrumbs to the large bowl with the minced onion, along with the ground beef, egg, 1 teaspoon of salt, ½-3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper. Mix all of these ingredients together until evenly combined.
  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • In a 10 inch skillet, melt the butter on medium heat and then pile in all the onions. It will be really full. Season with salt and ground black pepper. Start cooking the onions on medium heat, uncovered, until the onions become slightly softened. At this point, the onions will shrink a bit and you will be able to cover the skillet. Reduce the heat to low. Every 3-5 minutes, stir the onions in the skillet.
  • At first, the onions will exude a lot of liquid. After a little while, the onions will start to turn slightly golden on the bottom. Every time you stir them, the onions will become more golden. Since you are cooking such a large amount of onions, there should be a lot of liquid at the bottom of the skillet, since cooking the onions will draw out a lot of moisture out of them. The salt also draws moisture out of the onions. The liquid exuding out of the onions should be enough to sort of "deglaze the bottom of the skillet", but if your onions aren't very juicy, add about ¼ cup of water to deglaze the bottom of the skillet, scraping the brown parts off the bottom, until the skillet it pretty clean. In this case, it's pretty important to use a skillet that has a thick and heavy bottom, otherwise the onions will burn and cook unevenly.
  • Keep cooking the onions on low heat, mixing the onions every few minutes, until they are really dark brown and caramelized, about 35-45 minutes overall. At the very end, deglaze the bottom of the skillet with the sherry, if you're using it. It adds great flavor to the caramelized onions. It gives them a bit of a tangy acidity as well as a bit of sweetness. If you would rather not use alcohol, just use water.
  • Cool the onions slightly while you are shaping the meatloaves.
  • Shape the meatloaf mixture into 8 - 10 rectangular shapes, about 3 ½ inches x 2 inches each. Place the mini meatloaves onto a large rimmed baking sheet. Top each of the meatloaves with the caramelized onions and then with the grated cheese. Bake the mini meatloaves in the preheated 400 degrees Fahrenheit oven for 15-20 minutes, until the cheese has melted and is slightly golden.
  • Serve immediately.

Notes

To reheat leftovers, place the mini meatloaves into a skillet. Pour in just enough water to cover the bottom of the skillet. Cover the skillet, and cook on medium low heat, until the meatloaves are heated through. As the water simmers on low heat, the steam will heat the meatloaves through, without drying them out.

 

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Comments

  1. Natalia says

    May 22, 2018 at 10:01 pm

    This is my new favorite dish! I’m fairly new to cooking and had no idea that it takes 45 minutes to caramelize onions (whaaaattt?))) but these mini meatloves are so mouth watering delicious, that even if it took 3 hours to caramelize onions, I’d still find time for this dish.

    Reply
    • olgak7 says

      May 28, 2018 at 1:14 pm

      I'm so happy to hear that you enjoyed the meatloaves, Natalia. Thank you for taking the time to write.

      Reply
  2. Natalia says

    May 07, 2018 at 10:52 pm

    I made these tonight - so delicious.

    I got impatient of how long it was taking to caramelize the onions so I started to bake the meat loaves while the onions were still cooking. About halfway through, the onions were ready and I put them on top of the mini meatloves and continued to bake them. I saved about 10 minutes by doing so (I have a toddler so time is extra precious 🙂 ) and I don’t think I lost any of the flavor!

    Thank you, Olga, for this awesome recipe!

    Reply
  3. Irina says

    January 28, 2016 at 3:56 pm

    I tried this recipe and I love it and my family loves it too!!! Thank you so much for so many ideas what to cook!

    Reply
    • olgak7 says

      January 29, 2016 at 1:07 pm

      That's great, Irina. Thank you for taking the time to write.

      Reply
  4. Ruslana says

    January 02, 2016 at 1:32 am

    Looks so delicious Olga. I was wondering if I could make these with chicken thighs? Thank you for your recipes they are delicious and easy to follow.

    Reply
    • olgak7 says

      January 02, 2016 at 6:18 pm

      I assume you're asking if you can use ground chicken thighs meat, in which case you definitely can, Ruslana. You can use any ground meat that you like.

      Reply
  5. Malou@maloupen says

    November 22, 2015 at 1:35 am

    Super delicious recipe! I made this last night and it was a big hit. My children loved it. They suggested that it will be a perfect gift to close friends and family this Christmas. And why not! It will something not ordinary. Thank you for this, Olga. Much love from the Philippines. God Bless you and your family always.

    Reply
    • olgak7 says

      November 22, 2015 at 5:37 pm

      Thanks so much for taking a time to comment, Malou! So happy to hear from another part of the world. I'm really happy that you and your family enjoyed the meatloaves.

      Reply
  6. Inna says

    November 17, 2015 at 11:25 pm

    I made it for dinner today and it's absolutely delicious!!! Recipe is easy to follow and meatloafs are moist and tender!!!! Thank you Olga for yummy recipe!!!! 🙂

    Reply
    • olgak7 says

      November 17, 2015 at 11:44 pm

      That's great, Inna! I love to hear feedback.

      Reply
  7. Anna D Kart says

    November 15, 2015 at 10:28 pm

    What a great idea! I love this

    Anna // Happy Medley

    Reply
  8. Dawn Borgman says

    November 11, 2015 at 7:26 pm

    Made these for dinner tonight. They were delicious!!! Mashed golden potatoes with skins on and candied butternut squash..........it was perfect. Thanks Olga.

    Reply
    • olgak7 says

      November 12, 2015 at 12:04 am

      That's great, Dawn. Thank you so much for taking the time to write. Mashed potatoes and butternut squash sound like the perfect side dishes.

      Reply
  9. Vera says

    November 06, 2015 at 12:02 pm

    Great recipe. Thank you dear.

    Reply
  10. Liz says

    November 06, 2015 at 11:25 am

    What a great idea! Can't wait to try these!!

    Reply
  11. Svetlana says

    November 06, 2015 at 9:32 am

    Looks so delish!!!😋😋😋

    Reply

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