Easy Taco Meatloaf
This Taco Meatloaf is an easy recipe you’ll soon be making over and over. It’s packed with the unmistakable flavors of ground beef, tortilla chips, salsa, and sour cream. Close your eyes, and you’ll think you’re eating a taco.
But let me also tell you that this Tex-Mex meatloaf is a lifesaver. That’s because this meatloaf takes only about 15 minutes to make, pop it in the oven and you have time to make salad or attend to the little ones. It turns hectic weeknights more relaxing, and it’s been proven to make meatloaf lovers out of people who don’t like meatloaf.
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Ingredients
This taco meatloaf, has been on regular repeat any time there are tortilla chips, salsa, and sour cream in the house.
- Use all ground beef or a combination of ground beef and ground pork. I’d recommend the leanest ground beef you can find.
- Juanita’s are our favorite tortilla chips for this meatloaf or dipping into homemade guacamole!
- Heat in this recipe can come from your salsa or additions of hot sauce, chopped chili peppers, or chili powder or ground chili peppers. Feel free to turn it up!
- Not actually an ingredient, but the best meatloaf pans allow the fat to drip away from the loaf. Don’t pour the fat down the drain!
Tip from the wise quacker: save your money and stop buying “taco seasoning” and other pre-made spice mixes and just use the spices in your spice drawer! Taco seasoning is just a combination of chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper, paprika, garlic or onion powder, and crushed red pepper flakes.
Please see the recipe card below for complete information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations and substitutions
- Use half ground beef and half ground pork.
- Use ground turkey for a slightly healthier taco turkey meatloaf.
- Add a half cup of fresh or frozen corn kernels or cooked or canned black beans.
- Make the meatloaf in a muffin tin for taco meatloaf muffins.
- Go wild and wrap your taco meatloaf with a cheddar cheese pie crust or fry taco meatballs battered with crushed tortilla chips!
- Or perhaps go healthier with this rainbow taco salad.
Making meatloaf
My taco meatloaf recipe follows the standard formula for meatloaves and is a great recipe for someone learning to cook. For every pound of meat, use one egg and one half cup of breadcrumbs as binder. Tortilla chips take the place of breadcrumbs in this recipe.
You can use this formula to make an infinite number of meatloaves inspired by whatever flavors you love. Use other ground meats. Use different spices. Use crackers or rice or quinoa as binders. Go traditional and glaze the top with ketchup or BBQ sauce. Or get inspired and use salsa for a Mexican meatloaf or Hoisin sauce for an Asian one.
Recipe tips and tricks
Step by step
Meatloaves are one of the easiest meals you can make because it’s nearly one step! All you do is form the mixture, pack it into a meatloaf pan, and bake.
Step 1: Crush your tortilla chips in a large bowl. Then add all of your meatloaf ingredients except for the egg and ground meat. Mix together with a spoon or spatula.
Step 2: Add the eggs and ground meat and mix it all together with your hands gently. There’s no need to knead the meatloaf mixture, or it will become tough!
Step 3: Add the taco meatloaf mixture to your meatloaf pan. A meatloaf pan allows the fat to drain on all sides. You can also shape the mixture into a loaf in the center of a cast iron skillet.
Step 4: Bake until the internal temperature of the meatloaf is 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Glaze the meatloaf with some salsa or top with slices of cheese for an even more cheesy taco meatloaf. Just know that the cheese on top doesn’t freeze well if you are hoping to freeze leftover meatloaf.
Step 5: Let rest for 10 minutes before cutting. This allows the juices to redistribute across the taco meatloaf and prevents your meatloaf from crumbling apart.
What to serve with taco meatloaf
If you need ideas for what to serve with taco meatloaf, I’d suggest:
- a corn salad and side of guacamole, mango pico de gallo, these spicy pickled onions and extra sour cream and salsa.
- a taco meatloaf bowl with cavatappi mac and cheese, steamed broccoli, and some greens.
- for beverages, there’s no question. Taco meatloaf calls for a cold beer or spicy cocktails like a spicy margarita or jalapeño raspberry Bramble. Or a spicy skinny margarita, if you’re like me as the kind of person who might drink a diet coke with your chocolate cake.
Recipe FAQs
If you close your eyes while eating this meatloaf, your brain will tell you that you’re eating a taco.
Meatloaves fall apart for two common reasons. The first is not enough binder, like egg or breadcrumbs. The second is when the meatloaf is cut right as it comes out of the oven. You should let a meatloaf rest for at least 10 minutes before serving to make slicing easier.
No, you don’t need to cover the meatloaf. In fact, you want the top of the meatloaf to caramelize and brown. So don’t cover the meatloaf unless it is getting very dark before reaching 160 degrees.
Yes, this meatloaf freezes very well. Just slice and wrap and put it in to a freezer bag. Defrost in a pan in the oven.
Related meatloaf and meatball recipes
Check out other Ugly Duckling Bakery meatloaf and meatball recipes like:
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-heart 💜💜💜💜💜 rating in the recipe card below. Let me know how much you loved it, or any problems you had, in the comments section further down.
Recipe
Taco Meatloaf
Ingredients
- ½ cup (2.5 ounces) crushed tortilla chips
- ½ cup (2 ounces) cheddar cheese, grated
- ½ cup salsa mild to hot based on your preference
- ¼ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon oregano Mexican oregano, if available
- ¼ teaspoon sweet paprika
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 375°F.
- Mix all of the ingredients together with a spoon except for the egg and ground beef. Then gently mix in the egg and beef by hand.½ cup (2.5 ounces) crushed tortilla chips, ½ cup (2 ounces) cheddar cheese, grated, ½ cup salsa, ¼ cup sour cream, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon chili powder, ¼ teaspoon oregano, ¼ teaspoon sweet paprika, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, 1 egg, lightly beaten, 1 pound lean ground beef, ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- Pack the meatloaf mixture into a meatloaf pan or shape it into a loaf in a cast iron skillet.
- Bake for about 45 minutes, until the internal temperature is 160°F.
- Remove the meatloaf from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes before serving
Notes
- You can increase the heat in this recipe by using a hot salsa, adding more chili powder, or adding some minced hot pepper to the mixture.
- Once the internal temperature of the taco meatloaf has reached 160 degrees, top the meatloaf with thin slices of cheddar cheese or glaze with additional salsa and cook for another few minutes.
- Bake the mixture in a muffin pan for taco meatloaf muffins.
Nutrition
This taco meatloaf recipe was originally adapted from A Meatloaf in Every Oven and published on January 8, 2021. It was last updated on June 19, 2023.
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I would love to make this tonight but was interested in directions to wrap in your cheddar cheese pie dough. Do I just make the meat loaf, wrap in the pie crust then continue as the recipe directions State for taco meatloaf?
You can do it in a variety of ways. The short answer – I think the best way is to cook the meatloaf partially and letting it cool completely before removing it from the pan and wrapping it. But this means making and cooking the meatloaf a few hours beforehand (though this also means your pie crust will have time to relax in the fridge too) and then wrapping and cooking (same temp, say another 30 minutes until the pastry has browned). Doing this does two things – 1) the fat and drippings from the meatloaf won’t make your bottom as soggy and 2) when the meat proteins contract as they cook, you won’t get a big gap between the meatloaf and the pastry. Doing this is on my list of posts to write, so thanks for asking!
Delicious taco taste with less trouble than tacos. Thanks.
So glad you liked this taco meatloaf recipe as much as we do!
Great! Exactly as advertised: taco flavored meatloaf. Family loved it.
Hi Nicole – thanks so much for letting me know. My family loves this taco meatloaf too. We even had it tonight!
Your Taco meatloaf sounds like that nacho cheese Doritos meatloaf,except the Doritos meatloaf uses spices from garlic,onion powder salt black pepper and Worcestershire sauce and either ketchup or barbecue sauce, it makes your kitchen smells like you were in a Taco Bell restaurant, it also have the taste of what flavor of Doritos chips you put in.
Hi George. Agreed that my taco meatloaf sounds like it’s a cousin to your nacho Doritos meatloaf. Is smelling like a Taco Bell a good or bad thing? 🙂
Well, to be fair, no one could make this meatloaf pretty! But it is beyond delicious. Thank you forever for sharing this recipe with me.
Thanks, Hillary! You are welcome. Always happy to share the goodness.
I *am* still trying to figure out how to take prettier pictures of my ugly food and do it quickly. I get about a minute before the “I’m hunnnnnnggggry!” starts.