Southwest Meatloaf with Chipotle Glaze – The Ultimate Meatloaf

I am telling you.  This is the best meatloaf I’ve ever made and you’ll soon see why. 

This is not a recipe for the semi-homemade type of cook.  This is a labor of love, a creation of all things good, put together in a pan and baked to a meaty perfection.  This isn’t your grandma’s ketchup topped meatloaf.  And believe me, I like that grandma’s meatloaf.

But this. 

This is the ultimate meatloaf.  It will leave you craving it …again and again.

My favorite restaurant in Oklahoma City makes a meatloaf similar to this.  I just knew I could replicate it, and I think I have. 

Well, almost.

They use beef tenderloin…

I opted for sirloin.   I have to draw the dollar line somewhere.

A good meatloaf to me is super-moist.  In all the recipes I’ve read, that translates to part beef, and part pork.  Let me show you how this transpires…

Start out by throwing  a few slices of bread into your food processor.  I used whole wheat sandwich bread, crusts and all.  I could have used dried bread crumbs, but remember we’re going for moist here!  Pulse them up until you have nice, fine bread crumbs.

Can we all pause and reflect on my new Cuisinart?  How did I ever survive without one? They are amazing!

And they are quiet, which is a wonder itself to behold in this house.

Dump these into a bowl and set them aside.

Now take 3 pounds of sirloin steak and put it into the food processor as well.  You could use a good ground round or ground chuck I suppose.  And if your sirloin has any of that white fatty rind looking stuff, trim it off!

Pulse it carefully and slowly,.  You’re going for a pretty chunky ground sirloin.  I like the small chunks as a texture throughout the meatloaf.  Do not, I repeat, DO NOT pulse your meat to a paste or I’ll whup you!

Now for the secret ingredient.  Chorizo sausage.  Chorizo is a spanish sausage that is spiced with dried smoked peppers and smoked paprika and other spices and it is DE-LI-CIOUS!  I hope you can find this in your area.  Our Wal-Mart carries it here, but this is the southwest, so I’m not sure about all areas of the country? 

I bought my chorizo in a 10 oz. roll, and I added it right to my chopped steak in a large mixing bowl.

Your next ingredient?

Smoked Cheddar. 

I found this at Sam’s in the fancy cheese section.  Again, I just pushed it through my Cuisinart and shredded up one cup.  Add it into your meat.

Also beat up 2 eggs in a small bowl and add them to your mix. 

 Rememember your bread crumbs?

Now is the time to add in one and one-half cups to your  meat/cheese mixture.  Also add in a teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.  Your chorizo will add a lot of seasoning to your meatloaf,  so we’re going light on any other seasoning. 

Now, using your best mixing tools (your hands!), get in there and really smoosh this stuff up and mix it all together really well.

Spray a large loaf pan with cooking spray and press your meat into it.

Bake this for about 40 minutes at 350º or until a meat thermometer stuck diagonally into the center of it reaches 160º.

Just look at that yummy goodness. 

But alas,  it’s not good enough.  While it’s baking, we’ll have made the sauce.  Let me show you how.

Take 3 tablespoons of butter and let them melt up and bubble in a pan over medium heat.  Add in 3 chopped shallots. If you can’t find shallots, use onions.  It’ll work.

Stir these around and let them soften, about 3 minutes in the butter, and then add in 1 cup of red wine.  I used cabernet sauvignon.  Also add in one cup of beef broth or stock.  I used some homemade….don’t ya just hate it when someone on TV says that?  Like who has time to make homemade?  Well, I didn’t use to until I found out how CHEAP and easy it was…and until I got a giant front open freezer in my garage.

Let this sauce simmer for awhile, actually for about 15 minutes.  It’s going to get thick.  You’ll know when this happens because your syrup will become pinky-burgundy and start too get a little syrupy.

While that’s simmering, make your chipotle honey sauce to add in.  Take 5-6 tablespoons (I used 6 cuz I’m dangerous like that!) and mix it into 1/2 cup of honey.

For you northerners, chipotle and adobe pepper can usually be found in a can (like the picture above) in the mexican aisle of the supermarket.  They are smoked jalepenos that are in a yummy, spicey sauce.

Whisk this up and dump it right into your syrupy wine/shallot sauce.

Simmer this sauce again over medium heat until it reduces again to a darker, thicker, syrupy glaze, about 10 more minutes.

When your meatloaf is ready to come out of the oven, take it to your sink and drain off any grease out of the pan.  Pour your glaze over top of your meatloaf and return to the oven for an additionaly 10 minutes.

After you remove your meatloaf, you’re going to have this moist, tender, a little bit spicy, fall-apart meatloaf with this sweet and spicy ooey-gooey glaze.

Use two spatulas to lift it to a serving tray.

Yeah…cuz it’s that moist.

I had a hard time slicing it hot, cuz it was that moist!

Try this meatloaf.  It’s good.  It’s Southwest good. It’s moist and good. 

I truly, truly think this is the ultimate meatloaf.

Katie’s Printable Recipe – Southwest Meatloaf with Chipotle