Mexican Style Meatloaf - Easy Low Carb

This evening I made my Mexican Style Meatloaf for dinner since my younger son, who doesn't care for beef, wasn't eating with us. My older son who likes beef was eating with us and we haven't had it for a while. We had torrential rain and wind last night and I was up most of the night, so I felt like I needed a little comfort food. Meatloaf is definitely comfort food. 

One of the dilemmas I had early on in my low carb journey was what to use in place of bread crumbs in my meatloaf. I tried a variety of things like ground flax, almond flour, etc. Then one day I decided to see if I might be able to get the same or similar results using shredded cheese instead of breading. Well...it didn't only give me similar results...it gave me AMAZING results! I have made Mexican style meatloaf for many, many years and used to use taco seasoning. Even though I have a delicious taco seasoning mix, I decided to simplify this meatloaf even further. It uses just a few spices, fresh salsa and shredded pepper-jack cheese. How easy is that? The fresh salsa serves two purposes; it adds moisture to keep it moist as well as contains onions and peppers so I don't have to chop those up separately to add. The cheese not only adds flavor and a spicy little kick, but it serves as the binder to help keep the loaf together. I can literally mix it together in the time that it takes my oven to preheat. I made roasted asparagus to go along with my meatloaf (tossed in olive oil and seasoned with sea salt and black pepper). For the "guys" who aren't low carb, I made mashed red potatoes and steamed peas to add to their plates. The meatloaf turned out delicious and flavorful as usual and I had plenty of food leftover so I could send my son home with a couple more meals, too! For dessert, I had a few fresh strawberries that I picked up at the store this afternoon. They were unusually beautiful (from Florida). My easy peasy meatloaf recipe is below as well as a few photos. Enjoy!

Before baking

The few ingredients that go into the meatloaf (along with cheese)

Drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper...ready to be roasted

Dessert

Mexican Style Meatloaf - Low Carb

Ingredients:

2-1/2 pounds ground beef (I used ground sirloin)

1 cup fresh salsa (found in the refrigerated section)

1/2 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste

Black pepper, to taste

3/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

3/4 teaspoon roasted ground cumin

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper, or to taste

1 cup shredded pepper-jack cheese (I used Cabot)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Transfer to a 2-1/2 to 3 quart baking dish. Bake for approximately 1 hour 10 minutes or until done. Let meatloaf sit for about 10 minutes for cheese to set. Slice and serve.