AIP mini meatloaves - ground beef with shredded vegetables, pumpkin, and coconut flour baked in a muffin tin

Pressing ground beef into 12 muffin cups is not glamorous work, and it is exactly the kind of unglamorous work that gets skipped on the days you need it most. Do it once, on a day you have a little more energy than usual, and you buy yourself a freezer full of dinners that only need reheating, ready for the days cooking from scratch is simply not going to happen. The elimination phase punishes the assumption that you will always have the energy to cook from scratch, so make the batch while you have it and let future you off the hook.

There is beta-carotene in the pumpkin folded into the mix, and the body has its own machinery for turning that into usable vitamin A. That conversion matters because a healthy mucosal lining is one of the barriers an overactive immune system leans on. The shredded vegetables mixed through the beef are a source of magnesium, tied to nervous system regulation, which matters on the days your body is running on stress as much as fatigue.

Choose beef from a source you feel good about, if that choice is available to you. When you eat one, warm it fully, set something green and bright next to it, and give yourself the 15 seconds it takes to notice you made something good.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs ground beef
• 5 cups shredded vegetables of choice (such as carrot, zucchini, or sweet potato)
• 1/4 cup diced onion
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 2 tbsp coconut flour
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp granulated garlic powder

This recipe is AIP elimination-compliant as written. Coconut flour is a Core-permitted flour and binds the loaves in place of breadcrumbs and egg, and the pumpkin keeps them moist.

Method

Heat the oven to 375 F and lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin with an AIP cooking fat.

In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, shredded vegetables, diced onion, pumpkin, coconut flour, salt, oregano, and garlic powder. Mix with your hands until everything is evenly distributed, but stop as soon as it comes together so the loaves stay tender.

Press the mixture firmly into the muffin cups, filling each one and mounding it slightly. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the loaves are cooked through and an instant-read thermometer reads 160 F at the center.

Let them rest in the tin for a few minutes, then lift them out. Serve right away, or cool fully and refrigerate for up to 4 days or freeze for longer, reheating as you need them.

Air fryer variation

These do well in the air fryer when you only want a few at a time. Form the mixture into individual loaves or use silicone muffin cups that fit the basket, set the air fryer to 360 F, and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, until they reach 160 F at the center. Work in batches so the basket is not crowded and the heat can circulate.

*Adapted from gutsybynature*