Mexican Meatloaf – Healthy Alternative Recipe

I don’t eat meatloaf very often, but approximately once a year, I make a Mexican Meatloaf. It annoys me when I come across a recipe on a blog and I have to scroll a lot before getting to the actual recipe, so here it is:

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef
½ lb chorizo, removed from casing and crumbled
¾ cup crushed tortilla chips
1 cup salsa
1 can (4 oz.) diced green chilies, drained
2 eggs, beaten
1 t salt
½ t pepper
1 package (8 oz.) shredded Mexican-blend cheese, divided

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F. In large bowl, combine ground beef, chorizo, tortilla chips, salsa, chilies, eggs, salt and pepper until well blended. Mix in 1/2 cups cheese. Gently pack into pan. Bake 50-60 mins or until internal temperature reaches 165F. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and place back into oven for 2-3 mins or until cheese is melted. Remove from oven and let rest 10 mins before serving. Serve with additional salsa. Serves 6-8

I wanted to create a healthier version and came up with this alternate recipe:

1 lb ground turkey
Trader Joe’s Soy Chorizo, removed from plastic casing and crumbled
¾ cup crushed Trader Joe’s Spicy Cheese Crunchies (which are baked, not fried and made with real cheddar cheese)
2 handfuls of Costco’s Organic Power Green Mix (chard, kale, spinach) roughly chopped
1 cup freshly diced tomato and yellow onion
1 egg, beaten
1/2t Valentina hot sauce

To reduce even more fat, I use a Wilton 2 piece Meatloaf Pan which has holes in the top pan to drain the fat below into the second lower pan.  I highly recommend this pan if you like cooking meatloaf.  You will be amazed how much fat is drained below with ground beef.  Even with soy chorizo and ground turkey there was still a thin layer of grease after cooking.

Because Trader Joe’s Soy Chorizo is authentic-tasting, this healthy version is NOT lacking in flavor whatsoever. I love that I don’t have to sacrifice eating decadent dishes because there are comparable healthier options out there; I wanted to take the time to discover them both for myself and so you, my readers, don’t have to.  I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!