Muffin Tin Dinner Recipes

Last Updated on January 14, 2024

If you have picky eaters, these muffin tin dinner recipes will save you from dinnertime woes!

According to a study by Rutgers University, we moms value nutrition because we believe it has a large impact on our family’s health.  I’m sure you will be shocked to learn the study also revealed that we are really busy!

The third finding explains how those first two facts affect our dinner table:  When we are rushed, convenience trumps other considerations (like nutrition) and we don’t have a lot of faith that “convenient” and “healthy” are terms that can be simultaneously applied to a meal.

If you throw in family members with their own unique palates and food aversions, menu planning begins to feel like walking a tightrope with no net beneath you.  I feel your pain.

I have one vegetarian, another who won’t eat cheese, one who doesn’t like combined food unless he’s participated in the preparation (thanks to my experimentation with “The Sneaky Chef”), and a husband who requires a lot of spice and seasoning in order to detect any flavor.  For this reason, I love, love, love muffin tin dinner recipes.

Benefits of Muffin Tin Meals

Dinners prepared in muffin tins:

• Provide portion control
• Are easy to freeze and reheat for lunches or snacks
• Allow each person to customize his/her serving to taste
• Are limitless in terms of variety
• Kids love anything shaped like a muffin/cupcake

Muffin Tin Dinner Recipes

I had to search the internet high and low for recipes so that we wouldn’t end up eating the same couple of muffin meals each night and so that you won’t have to go searching all over in order to enjoy this dinner-saving strategy.

And, if you REALLY love this concept and need even more recipes, there are cookbooks you can purchase full of muffin meal recipes:  Muffin Tin Chef by Matt Kadey and The Muffin Tin Cookbook by Brette Sember.

Here are my favorite muffin tin dinner recipes that are healthy AND convenient:

• Skinny Meatloaf Cupcakes with Mashed Potato “Frosting” – You can sneak the zucchini into the meat mixture and still let your kids personalize by adding cheese, potatoes, or other mix-ins or toppings.
• Chicken Pot Pies –  There are dozens of recipes for mini pot pies out there, but this is the healthiest and easiest one I found.  Also, most of the other recipes call for Bisquick which isn’t popular in my house.
• Taco Cups – These are cute and easy.  No cutting tortillas to get the right size and shape to use in the muffin tin.
• Fiesta Chicken Bites – Handheld chicken fajitas, what’s not to love?
• Chicken Enchilada Cups – Another easy and tasty tex-mex dinner option.
• Mini Thai Chicken Pies – Add some variety to your standard flavors with this easy recipe that incorporates traditional, delicious Thai flavors.
• Lasagna Cups – This version is way healthier than the traditional pan lasagna.  As an added bonus, at the end of the recipe are links to her other muffin tin recipes.
• Baked Crab Cakes – Baked, not fried, without giving up the great flavor you love.
• Bacon Cups – BLT without the bread carbs!
• Ham & Cheese Quinoa Cups – Shh….don’t tell the men, these are actually quiches.
• Philly Cheesesteak Bites – If you have an ordinary family (i.e. not mine) this should be a big hit with everyone.  If you have a vegetarian and an anti-cheese eater, you will need more than one skillet for prep.

If you have your own favorite muffin meal recipes, please share them in the comments!