Mexican Meatloaf

Meatloaf is one of those classic comfort foods. It’s warm, hearty, full of flavor, and often served with a gravy and mashed potatoes or with some form of tomato sauce.  Well, several years ago a friend and I decided to change meatloaf up a bit.  We started with a ground sirloin base, but from there, we went Mexican!  Breadcrumbs were replaced with crushed tortilla chips, Parmesan cheese was replaced with cheddar, tomato sauce was replaced with salsa, and then a variety of spices were added to bump up the Mexican flavor. After some tweaking to the original, I came up with this recipe…which is just incredible (if I do say so myself). This would be great served with rice, black beans, mashed potatoes, cornbread, salad, on a sandwich with some melted cheddar…the possibilities are endless! Give this one a try!

Ingredients:

1 ½ lb. ground beef
2/3 cup ground tortilla chips (You can grind them in the food processor or just
crush them by hand)
2/3 cup salsa (plus an additional 1/3 cup salsa for the top of the meatloaf)
2 eggs
½ cup chopped onion
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ jalapeno, minced
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. chili powder
2 tbsp. cilantro, chopped (plus extra for an optional garnish)
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. black pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients (but do not over mix…be gentle).  Place mixture onto a lightly greased baking sheet or casserole dish and shape into a loaf.  Spread the reserved 1/3 cup of salsa over the top.  Bake for approximately 50-60 minutes.  Let it rest at least 10 minutes before slicing. Garnish with some fresh cilantro and serve it up!