9 meatcake recipes

Individual meatloaf portions baked in muffin tins with Italian sausage, applesauce for moisture, and whole wheat breadcrumbs for fiber-rich kid-friendly dinners.

Medieval-style meat cakes with pork shoulder, dates, raisins, pistachios, and saffron baked into a buttery pastry shell. Ancient sweet-savory tart that blends pork with dried fruits and warm spices.

Homemade Sicilian sausage with a pork and chicken blend, double fennel (whole and crushed), red pepper flakes, and garlic. Five pounds of links ground through a fine disk.

Flourless Passover chocolate chip cookies made with matzo meal, cake meal, and potato starch. Kosher for Passover, gluten-free leaning, with crisp edges and chewy centers.

Wild rice baked chicken layers chicken breasts over wild rice, celery, and green peppers in one casserole. The rice cooks in chicken bouillon broth as the meat bakes above.

Maine-style seafood casserole loaded with haddock, scallops, and lobster meat baked in butter. Just four ingredients, 30 minutes, and feeds a crowd of 16.

Buttery spinach and crab meat baked with Parmesan into a warm, bubbling dip that disappears fast at any party. Only 5 ingredients and 30 minutes from start to crackers.

Healthy meat loaf packed with sauteed cabbage, shredded carrots, and potatoes mixed into lean ground beef with whole wheat bread crumbs. More vegetable than meat, baked covered then uncovered for a golden crust.

5 alarm chili for serious heat-seekers: layered with jalapeno, serrano, scotch bonnet, chipotle, and pasilla chiles over slow-simmered beans and meat. A deep, smoky, blistering bowl of fire.