Southwestern Style Spicy Meatloaf Recipe

Meatloaf takes a mouthwatering spin South of the border. This spicy meatloaf recipe combines all of your favorite Southwestern flavors along with chopped Hatch Green Chiles. Fun to make and a fun twist on classic comfort food.

Meatloaf and Its Bad Rap

Unfortunate cafeteria appearances with instant mashed potatoes. Greasy soirees with an 80/20 burger blend. Mingling with too many bread crumbs and meatloaf has a tainted reputation to mend.  

It seems we’ve all had a bad experience with meatloaf, but if flavored just right, blended correctly with binders and treated with care, it can live up to being a classic comfort food.

Let’s talk about that blend. Meatloaf seems to be finicky. I blame that on the generic description “bread crumbs.” What exactly does 1 ½ cups of bread crumbs mean?

• Fresh bread?
• Stale dry bread?
• Do you smash bread into the measuring cup to get 1 ½ cups or is a  loose measurement?
• How big do you tear the pieces of bread?
• Does that mean you can use those fine canned crumbs from the supermarket?

Even following directions from some of our beloved experts, I find myself tweaking the recipe to get the perfect “feel” before I form that loaf.

And with that said, my mom always used crushed Saltines and it turned out beautifully every time.

If the recipe is vague in its description of “bread crumbs”, I’m of the opinion that panko bread crumbs are the best. Here’s how to get that consistency just righrt.

How Do You Tell If Meat To Bread crumb Ratio is Just Right?

Getting the consistency of meat to bread crumbs to binder (eggs) is really quite simple. Just treat it like a meatball recipe.

Once you’ve got everything mixed together, just scoop up a little ball of the raw meatloaf mixture and roll it around in your palms – like you’re forming a meatball. If it forms a good round meatball, without falling apart, it’s perfect. It should sound a little sticky when you’re forming that meatball.

If the consistency is too loose, add more breadcrumbs, a little at a time. If you feel it’s too dry, just add a drizzle of milk.

How To Make The Best Spicy Meatloaf

I’ve made this recipe many times. This is a meatloaf recipe that will feed a crowd. It makes two 9′ x 5′ loafs. Or you can make eight individual loafs.

Being empty nesters, I like to make this recipe in individual loafs so I can freeze them for future meals. You can either freeze them raw wrapped in plastic wrap, then wrapped in foil. Or you can freeze them after they’re baked.

Sofrito For Meatloaf

This meatloaf starts with a beautifully flavored Sofrito. Sofrito simply means “sauce”. The Spanish use sofrito as an important base for Paella, consisting of tomato, onion, garlic and bell pepper – for starters.

And I’m using sofrito as a base to flavor this spicy meatloaf:

• Tomatoes
• Onions
• Red bell pepper
• Garlic
• Chili powder
• Mexican oregano
• Cumin
• and chopped Hatch Green Chile Peppers

It’s all sauteed and blended together stovetop before adding to the ground beef and ground pork for this recipe. It’s beautifully earthy and complex and adds wonderful flavor.

How To Make Individual Meatloaf

If you have a kitchen scale, it’s easy to make this spicy meatloaf recipe into individual servings.

Just place a small sheet of parchment paper on a kitchen scale and measure out portions of of the meat mixture to weigh somewhere around 10 ½ ounces. It doesn’t have to be exact.

Then using the palms of your hands, roll the meat into a big meatball and then slightly flatten to make a small loaf. Easy!

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and place the individual meatloafs and they’re ready to bake.

Once the meatloaf is out of the oven, top with ⅛ cup grated cheddar cheese. Return to oven until cheese is melted.

How Do You Know When Meatloaf is Done?

Use a meat thermometer. Insert the thermometer into the center of the loaf, without touching the bottom of the pan. When the thermometer reaches 160 degrees, your meatloaf is ready.

As with any meat, tent the meatloaf with foil and let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing. It will slice much cleaner this way.

Recipe For Spicy Meatloaf, Southwestern Style

Here’s a different and spicy version of our American classic. Rich with chili powder, sassy with cumin, sweet with creamed corn, this is a dinner suitable for our Southwestern lovin’ palates.

This spicy meatloaf recipe feeds a crowd. Makes two loaves, cook one and freeze the other. Or make individual meatloafs.

And, of course, left overs make wonderful cold sandwiches.

Ideas For What To Serve With Spicy Meatloaf

Mashed potatoes always come to mind, and Spicy Baked Beans are a great choice, and here are some more ideas:

• Old Fashioned Green Beans with Bacon
• Instant Pot Scalloped Potatoes with Green Chile
• Crispy Roasted Smashed Potatoes with Chimichurri
• Roasted Poblano Peppers Stuffed with Spicy Mashed Potatoes

Looking for more beefy recipes, don’t miss my beef category, you’ll find lots of ideas, including the most popular beef recipe on my site for flank steak Beef Tagliata.

More Meatloaf Recipes

And if you’re looking for a more conventional recipe, don’t miss my recipe for Old Fashioned Meatloaf. It’s a classic and a great family recipe. And my most recent recipe for BBQ Meatloaf with Mustard BBQ Glaze.

Spicy Meatloaf Recipe … It’s Whats for dinner.