These adorable dinner cupcakes have all the great flavors of Mexican food. The savory topping is a combination of a little guacamole, skinny ranch dressing, and salsa. They are fantastically low in calories and fat. Each delectable cupcake has just 107 calories and 3 grams of fat.
Ingredients
- 1 pound extra-lean ground beef (96%) or ground turkey, see shopping tips
- 1 cup onions, diced into small pieces
- ½ cup red bell pepper, diced into small pieces
- ½ cup corn (cut off the cob) or frozen and thawed
- ½ cup salsa, I love Pace Chunky Salsa (medium) or use your favorite
- ¼ cup cornmeal or 1 ounce (~⅓ cup) reduced-fat tortilla chips, crushed into crumbs, see shopping tips
- 1 egg, I like using Egg-Land’s Best eggs
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
- ½ cup salsa for topping the meatloaf before baking
Ingredients for Topping:
- ¼ cup mashed avocado, about ½ avocado
- 2 teaspoons salsa
- Dash of salt and pepper
- ¼ cup salsa
- 2 tablespoons The BEST Skinny Ranch Dressing (3 ingredients) or fat-free sour cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 12-cup, regular size muffin tin with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, combine beef, onions, red bell pepper, corn, ½ cup salsa, cornmeal or crushed tortilla chips, egg, and a little salt and pepper. Mix well until thoroughly combined.
- Divide meatloaf mixture into 10 muffin cups. Fill to top and level off. I like to use a ⅓ cup measuring cup to fill each. Spread remaining ½ cup salsa evenly over the top of meatloaf muffins. Add more, if desired.
- Bake 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes before removing from pan. Carefully remove with a spoon and place on paper towels to drain.
- For the topping: In a small bowl, mix together the mashed avocado, 2 teaspoons salsa, a little salt, and pepper. Top each cupcake with 1 teaspoon guacamole and spread about ½ teaspoon salsa over the top. Drizzle each with about ½ teaspoon ranch dressing or sour cream.
Notes
Makes 10 meatloaf cupcakes
Healthy Benefits
Trader Joe’s extra lean ground beef is a terrific, healthy choice. It has 130 calories and 4 grams of fat for 4 ounces. Free forming the loaf cuts the calories and fat down even further. Salsa is actually very healthy food. Thanks to tomatoes, onions, and chilies, it’s heart-healthy and can help to prevent certain types of cancer. A ½-cup serving of salsa contains approximately 35 calories, 2 grams of fiber, and 0 fat.
Shopping Tips
I used Trader Joe’s extra lean ground beef. Most supermarkets sell extra lean ground beef or use ground turkey if desired. You can use either cornmeal or crushed reduced-fat tortilla chips. There are several brands of baked tortilla chips in the supermarkets such as Guiltless Gourmet or Baked Tostitos Scoops.
WW Freestyle SmartPoints 2-Blue
WW SmartPoints 3-Green
WW POINTS PLUS 2
Healthy Benefits
Trader Joe’s extra lean ground beef is a terrific, healthy choice. It has 130 calories and 4 grams of fat for 4 ounces. Free forming the loaf cuts the calories and fat down even further. Salsa is actually very healthy food. Thanks to tomatoes, onions, and chilies, it’s heart-healthy and can help to prevent certain types of cancer. A ½-cup serving of salsa contains approximately 35 calories, 2 grams of fiber, and 0 fat.
Shopping Tips
I used Trader Joe’s extra lean ground beef. Most supermarkets sell extra lean ground beef or use ground turkey if desired. You can use either cornmeal or crushed reduced-fat tortilla chips. There are several brands of baked tortilla chips in the supermarkets such as Guiltless Gourmet or Baked Tostitos Scoops.
WW Freestyle SmartPoints 2-Blue
WW SmartPoints 3-Green
WW POINTS PLUS 2
| SKINNY FACTS: for 1 meatloaf cupcake including toppings 107 calories, 3g fat, 1g sat. fat, 42mg chol, 10g prot, 8g carbs, 2g fiber, 323mg sod, 3g sugar |
| FACTS: for Freestyle SmartPoints 76 calories, 1g sat. fat, 0g sugar, 9g protein |
Skinny Facts
Serving: 1cupcakeCalories: 107kcalCarbohydrates: 8gProtein: 10gFat: 3gSaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 42mgSodium: 323mgFiber: 2gSugar: 3gBlue Smart Points: 2Green Smart Points: 3Plus Points: 2
