Taco Meatloaf

Meatloaf has always been one of my favorite comfort foods. I remember my mom making it for us when I was a kid. I loved it when she served her meatloaf with mashed potatoes and corn. Yum, it is still one of my favorites.

When Mike came along he was also a meatloaf lover and I was thrilled. But as the kids came along they didn’t share the same enthusiasm like Mike and I did. So meatloaf kind of fell to the wayside and got forgotten about.

Now the kids are all adults… and you know what? They have come to their senses and they enjoy meatloaf. But it doesn’t really matter too much anyway, we only have one of the kids at home and Adam has gotten to the point in his life that he will eat just about anything.

So you guessed it… it is meatloaf time once again in our household. I love the traditional meatloaf that my mom made when I was a kid and this is the one that I usually serve. But from time to time I like to break out of old habits and try something new.

That is where this taco meatloaf comes in. We all enjoy tacos so I decided to combine the flavor into one meatloaf. We loved the taco flavor that this meatloaf had to offer and it was so much easier to serve than tacos. The lettuce is skipped that is traditionally served with tacos, but if you like you can serve it as a side dish.

There is one problem that I found with my meatloaf, it did not want to photograph as nicely as some other dishes. And with the shorter days my lighting is not what it should be. I need to find a solution to that…
but that is another story, for another day.

Taco Meatloaf (Source: slightly adapted from justapinch.com)
Ingredients:
2 pounds of ground beef
1 egg
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup crushed tortilla chips
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 medium onion finely chopped
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F.
2. In a large bowl, whisk egg and add all of the ingredients except for the ground beef and mix well.
3. Add the ground beef to the other ingredients and mix until everything is well blended.
4. Shape into a loaf in a baking dish. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes or until center is no longer pink.
5. Remove from oven and place on a serving platter. Top with cheddar cheese and let melt. If the cheese needs help melting, cover loosely with foil so that the heat of the meatloaf will melt the cheese.
6. Top with your favorite taco topping. I topped ours with salsa.