Garlic Parmesan Chicken Meatloaves are easy, juicy, and loaded with garlic and parmesan flavor! Individually portioned chicken meatloaves baked to juicy perfection and topped with homemade garlic parmesan cream sauce.
For more ground chicken recipes, try my delicious Chicken Burgers and Chicken Meatballs.
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It’s safe to say that my family is pretty obsessed with these mini chicken meatloaves. I recently made them twice in one week, which is pretty rare for me! You know I had a successful recipe for my family when they ask me to make it again as soon as they finished the first batch.
I think it’s the combination of creamy sauce with the juicy meatloaves. The creamy parmesan sauce here is outstanding, and it’s so easy to make too. Just a few ingredients, a few minutes cooking, and you got the very best cheesy sauce. That sauce is SO good, you’ll just want to drink it by spoonful (no judgement here)!
The meatloaves themselves are also super quick and easy to make as well. Plus, I love that they’re individually portioned! You can serve them as an after-school snack or accompany them with a side dish to make it a great easy dinner. Truly, there’s no bad way to enjoy mini meatloaves this good.
Ingredient Notes
Ground Chicken – This may be known as a drier protein, but have no fear! It’s all dressed up with the other ingredients to make the juiciest meatloaves.
Onion – A yellow or vidalia onion is preferred.
Garlic – Fresh garlic creates the best flavor and aroma in the meatloaves. Add a few extra cloves if you’re a real garlic lover!
Breadcrumbs – Alternately, you could use two slices of dense bread that are crumbled.
Parmesan Cheese – I prefer to freshly grate the parmesan cheese right off the block for the best flavor and consistency. If you’re in a time crunch though, bagged pre-shredded cheese will also get the job done.
All Purpose Flour – This is used to thicken the sauce. You may need a little more to thicken it to your desired consistency.
Heavy Whipping Cream – I don’t recommend swapping this with any other dairy product. It’s what makes the sauce supremely creamy!
See the recipe card below for the full list of ingredients and instructions.
How to Make Garlic Parmesan Chicken Meatloaves
Prepare. Preheat the oven to 375°F and grease a muffin pan.
Make the meatloaf mixture. In a large mixing bowl, combine ground chicken, diced yellow onion, pressed garlic, bread crumbs, egg, parsley, parmesan, salt, and pepper (1). Mix very well, until all ingredients are evenly incorporated (2).
Bake. Use an ice creams scoop to scoop out even amounts of chicken mixture (3). Shape balls of ground chicken mixture and gently press them into a muffin cup (4). You can add some more parmesan cheese on top if you wish. Bake for 22-25 minutes (6), until juices run clean and internal temperature of the meatloaves reaches 165°.
PRO TIP: Remember to not over-mix the mixture! Mix just until the ingredients are evenly incorporated, otherwise the meatloaves could become tough.
Start making the sauce. Heat a sauce pot over medium heat. Sauté the garlic in oil until fragrant, then whisk in the flour until it’s incorporated with butter. Lower the heat to medium-low and start pouring in the heavy whipping cream while slowly and continuously whisking. Keep whisking slowly until smooth and heated through.
Add cheese. Once the heavy cream mixture in hot (but not boiling), whisk in the parmesan cheese and salt. Keep mixing slowly until the cheese is incorporated and sauce is thickened. Stir in parsley and take off heat (5).
Serve and enjoy! Top each mini meatloaf with creamy sauce as you serve it.
Recipe FAQs
Yes! To make this dish gluten-free, you can use 2 slices of gluten-free bread or gluten–free breadcrumbs instead of breadcrumbs in the actual meatloaf mixture.
For the sauce, use gluten-free all-purpose flour instead of regular one. If you don’t want to use gluten-free flour and don’t mind the sauce being thinner, you can just eliminate the flour altogether.
Cook the meatloaves until the internal temperature reaches 165°F. Use an digital instant-read cooking thermometer to check the internal temperature at the center of one of the meatloaves.
Absolutely! To make one whole meatloaf, mix the chicken meatloaf mixture the same way. Spread the mixture evenly in a 9×5 loaf baking pan. Bake at 350°F for 55-65 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 165°F. Remember to always take the measurement at the center of the thickest part. Prepare the sauce separately, according to the recipe and add it to the cooked meatloaf.
Storing and Reheating
I highly recommend storing the chicken meatloaves and the sauce separately mostly for reheating purposes. The meatloaves take much longer to reheat than the sauce and if those are stored together, you will overheat the sauce and scald it. Store the chicken meatloaves in an airtight food storage container and the sauce in another airtight food storage container. Store both in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
You can reheat individual portions in the microwave, but make sure to reheat the sauce separately. To reheat the sauce, place it in a small microwave-safe bowl and reheat it in 30 second increments until heated through, stirring in-between. If you don’t wish to use a microwave, reheat the meatloaves in the oven at 350°F just until heated through. Reheat the sauce in the sauce pot over medium-low heat.
Freezing
These chicken meatloaves are actually great to freeze without the sauce. Cream sauces are tricky to freeze, so it’s better to make it fresh. If planning to freeze meatloaves, you can use an aluminum muffin baking pan to bake them and freeze right in it. It can also be baked in a regular muffin baking pan and then transferred a freezer container after.
Make sure to cool the mini meatloaves completely before freezing. Remember, freeze the meatloaf without the sauce. Wrap the aluminum pan with the meat in foil and the plastic wrap. Label and freeze for up to 2-3 months. Thaw overnight, in the refrigerator. Spread topping all over the top and reheat at 350°F for 15-20 minutes.
More Ground Chicken Dinner Recipes
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Garlic Parmesan Chicken Meatloaves Recipe
Ingredients
Meatloaves:
- 2 lbs ground chicken
- 1/2 yellow onion diced (about 1/2 cup diced)
- 8-10 garlic cloves pressed
- 3/4 cup bread crumbs* or 2 slices of dense bread, crumbled
- 1 egg
- 3 Tbsp fresh minced parsley
- 3 oz fresh grated Parmesan cheese
- Salt to taste
- Fresh cracked black pepper to taste
- Optional: extra fresh grated Parmesan cheese to top
Cream Sauce:
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 Tbsp all purpose flour*
- 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 3 oz fresh grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 Tbsp minced fresh parsley
- Salt
Instructions
- Meatloaves:
- Preheat oven to 375° and grease a muffin baking pan.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine ground chicken, diced yellow onion, pressed garlic, bread crumbs, egg, parsley, fresh grated Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper. Mix very well, until all ingredients are evenly incorporated.
- Use an ice creams scoop to scoop out even amounts of chicken mixture. Shape balls of ground chicken mixture and gently press them into a muffin cup. You can add some more parmesan cheese on top if you wish.
- Bake for 22-25 minutes, until juices run clean and internal temperature of the meatloaves reaches 165°.
- Sauce:
- Preheat a sauce pot over medium heat. Add oil and pressed garlic. Sauté the garlic in oil until fragrant, then whisk in the flour until it’s incorporated.
- Lower the heat to medium-low and start pouring in the heavy whipping cream while slowly and continuously whisking. Keep whisking slowly until smooth and heated through.
- Once the heavy cream mixture in hot (but not boiling), whisk in fresh grated Parmesan cheese and salt. Keep mixing slowly until the cheese is all smooth and incorporated.
- Stir in parsley and take off heat.
- Top each mini meatloaf with creamy sauce as you serve it.
Video
Notes
For the sauce, use gluten-free all-purpose flour instead of regular one. If you don’t want to use gluten-free flour and don’t mind the sauce being thinner, you can just eliminate the flour altogether. Full size chicken meatloaf: To make one whole meatloaf, mix the chicken meatloaf mixture the same way. Spread the mixture evenly in a 9×5 loaf baking pan. Bake at 350°F for 55-65 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 165°F. Remember to always take the measurement at the center of the thickest part. Prepare the sauce separately, according to the recipe and add it to the cooked meatloaf.
Nutrition
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in August, 2017.
Judy says
So Delicious! Followed the recipe for the muffin meat loaves. Made the sauce with milk instead of cream, and thickened with corn starch because I’m dieting. Still delicious!
I’d love to try these in mini muffin tins to serve as appetizers. How long do you think I should bake them?
LyubaB says
Hi, Judy! Thanks, for letting me know how it turned out!
Lindsey says
Excited to try! Any idea what I could use instead of heavy cream?
LyubaB says
Hi, Lindsey! You really need the cream to help thicken the sauce but you could try half & half instead.
Erin says
Yum! Whole family enjoyed this. I used almond flour instead of bread crumbs to make it low carb. Also served over noodles for my carb eaters and used zoodles for myself. Thanks for sharing!
LyubaB says
Erin, I am so glad you liked it! Thanks!
Nadine Vining says
This recipe is to die for. I absolutely loved it!
LyubaB says
Awe Thanks, Nadine!
Jane says
I would like to make several 2 – serving portions to freeze. Can I freeze them before cooking and put the sauce on before freezing and then cook all together. Wondering if the sauce will be ok after freezing.
LyubaB says
Hi, Jane! You can definitely freeze these meatloaf’s cooked or uncooked. You could freeze them in a silicone muffin pan or freeze them as patties. Freeze for 2 hours and then transfer them into a freezer bag. As far as the sauce it will not stand up to freezing, so you will have to make it when you bake the meatloaf’s.
Liz says
Can you cook them in a silicone muffin pan?
LyubaB says
Hi Liz,
Yes, you can make them in a silicone muffin pan. Sometimes they take a little longer to cook so you will need to check the temperature in the middle with a meat thermometer to make sure they are fully cooked it should read 165 degrees.
Marianne says
Do you have any suggestions for a ‘healthier’ sauce? Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE cream, but I am supposed to be trying to cut my calories and dairy, due to inflammation. TIA
Joy says
You could try almond milk and thicken it with something like cornstarch. I don’t know if it will work but I know where you are coming from. I’d love to know if it works or if you find another solution.
Yvonne Eaton says
looking forward making these chicken meatloaves. One quick question. Regarding the 8-10 garlic cloves, how much is used in each part of the recipe…meatloaves….sauce ?
Thanks
LyubaB says
-Hi, Yvonne! The 8-10 cloves of pressed garlic is for the meatloaf’s and then there is 2-3 in sauce 🙂
Pam says
Could crushed pork rinds be used instead of bread to make it keto friendly?
LyubaB says
Hi, Pam! You can try using the pork rinds as a substitute for the bread crumbs but I have never done it before so I am not sure how they will react to the moisture. I did google it and it seems that people do use them for a substitute so it may work! I just cant say for sure if you will get the same results. Let me know if you try it, how it turns out! 🙂
Lisa says
I used pork rinds in mine when I made it and it came out great! Everything was delicious!!
LyubaB says
Thank you, Lisa!
Lynne says
These look good I will give them a try but I don’t know what pressed garlic is
LyubaB says
Hi, Lynne! You use a garlic press and it produces not only a very fine mince (almost a puree) but an evenly fine mince, which ensures even distribution of flavor throughout the dish. But if you do not have one you could chop garlic finely, then sprinkle a little salt over it, using the flat of the blade and a paddling motion to squash the chopped garlic, working your way across the pile and you will get the same effect. 🙂
Brooke says
Mine have no yellowish color to them at all. What did I do wrong? Lol
lyuba says
Hi Brooke!
Inside, the meatloaves are all white really. What you’re seeing on the outside is just a little color from the oven. Live when meat gets seared, it gets some color. If you want to have a little more color on top of your mini meatloaves, you can turn on the oven broiler for a few seconds and watch them. They’ll get some color that way 🙂
Joy says
Would like to make the chicken meatloaf. You do not say if the chicken is ground fresh chicken or ground cooked
Chicken?
lyuba says
Hi Joy!
It’s ground raw chicken. I really hope you like it!!
(If you’re making one meatloaf out of this recipe instead of the mini ones, remember to adjust the baking time and you can use a bread baking dish to bake the meatloaf.)
Sandy says
These are amazing! The sauce. . .oh my word! I doubled the sauce recipe just in case after reading what you said about it and was I glad I did! The meatloaf with the sauce over them was perfection! The sauce over roasted vegetables was wonderful! The sauce just on a spoon is wonderful! Thank you for this recipe and sharing it! On to chicken pot pie pockets next!
Lyuba says
Thank you so much, Sandy! My family and I licked our plates clean, too. I’m glad you enjoyed it!