Love tacos? Love meatloaf? Why not combine them into one fabulous low carb, grain-free dinner recipe?
What do you do when you are presented with 24 lbs of ground beef? Well, not presented, exactly. It’s not like someone awarded me a huge bag of beef or anything. And I didn’t exactly inherit said beef either. So let’s rephrase that. What do you do when you decided to purchase a quarter grassfed cow and you suddenly have 24 lbs of ground beef on your hands (along with about 50 pounds of other cuts of beef)? Well, d’uh! You make meatloaf!
The funny part is, when I stared at all those packages of ground beef, I wondered to myself how we would ever use it all up. Apparently I have very little faith in myself and in my hungry family because we’ve made quite a dent in our supply and it’s only been two weeks. I made a big batch of burgers one evening, which only saw us through 2 meals. And I’ve made this meatloaf twice now, because it was such a hit with the kids. I am starting to wonder how I will get my hands on more grassfed ground beef!
Adding taco seasoning to meatloaf doesn’t take any stroke of brilliance. When I thought of it, I knew that there would probably already be a zillion and one taco meatloaf recipes out there. So I was careful not to look at anyone else’s recipes and just do my own thing. I’ve found that chia seed is a great addition to low carb meatloaf because it helps lock in moisture. And I added some of the cheese right into the meatloaf mix, for maximum flavour. We all loved it so much, we made it again the very next week!
kim J says
Hi, Your recipe sounds great. But do you soak your Chia Seed first? or use them dry?
Carolyn says
Put them in dry. When you add the water and mix things in, they soak in the moisture.
Donna says
I have 1/2 of a grass-fed cow in the freezer and always looking for beef recipes. Thanks!
Julius Minor says
Chia Seeds? Nice!… I always learn something new from your recipes… I’ll try this as soon as I can rid myself from your buffalo chicken recipe…lol… Thanks!
Isis says
I would have never thought of taco meatloaf; definitely want to give this a try! Question, though – I assume that after all the soaking/cooking, the chia seeds are no longer crunchy? Crunchy meatloaf would be weird. Thanks lol.
Carolyn says
They aren’t crunchy, no. They absorb a bunch of the moisture from the rest of the ingredients.
Isis says
Gotcha!
Terri says
Carolyn, I love this recipe. My family won’t eat tacos anymore and I LOVE tacos. They ate the meatloaf plain, while I loaded it with taco toppings and a little taco sauce. I was surprised how firm the meatloaf was. That is something that I have always had problems with. We ate half the meatloaf last week and I froze the rest. I suspect it will be fine for another meal just like all the other meatloaves I have tried. Thank you. This one is now in my monthly meal rotation. It is rare to find a recipe that my entire family is satisfied with.
TheaMaria says
Is there something I could substitute for the chia seeds? Coconut flour perhaps? Or oat fiber? Psyllium husks?
Thanks!
Carolyn says
Sure. Try oat fiber.
TheaMaria says
Thank you for the quick reply!
Meg says
Hi Carolyn,
I made this today, and had a problem with all the shredded cheese melting out of the two meatloaves I formed. All of the cheese oozed out and pooled in the bottom of the pan (except for the cheese I sprinkled on top, but I didn’t do that until the last ten minutes of baking time).
Other than that, the loaves turned out well, and tasty.
The only change I made to the recipe was using a scant 1/3 cup of ground chia seeds (because I had them on hand, probably leftover from one of your meatball recipes).
Do you have in insight into what I could’ve done wrong? Would using whole chia seeds have made that much of a difference?
Carolyn says
I honestly don’t know why it would do that. How big were your shreds?
Meg says
Regular sized? I used sharp cheddar, and shredded it myself.
I’ve done a bit of research since, and here’s what I’ve learned. Fyi, most of the info out there is about cheese sauces ‘breaking’, but I’m assuming it’s applicable. Cheese is cheese.
– Cooking cheesy casseroles (or cheese sauces) at too high a temperature (over 375F) can cause the cheese sauce to ‘break’ (i.e. separate and become oily/greasy/clumpy, which also happened to the cheese that leaked out of my meatloaves). My oven does run hot, I usually compensate for that, but maybe I wasn’t careful enough.
– Older cheeses (like sharp cheddar) have less moisture, and are therefore more susceptible to breaking, especially when heated too high and/or too quickly. To be clear, even high moisture cheeses that melt super well (like mozzarella) can break if heated too high, or for too long.
– Adding liquid can help lower-moisture cheeses melt more easily. A meatloaf is by definition solid, with relatively little liquid in it.
So I think my biggest mistake was using sharp cheddar vs. regular. When I try the recipe again, I”ll use regular cheddar, and maybe even replace some of the cheddar with mozza to ensure better melting. (Also this article was one of the most helpful ones I found: https://www.seriouseats.com/2015/08/the-science-of-melting-cheese.html )
Meg says
ALSO! I can’t leave this exchange without expressing my deep gratitude for the work you do and the fantastic and reliable recipes you post. As someone who loves cooking and learning, I also really enjoy the educational parts of your blog posts–why things worked or didn’t work for you, and how to use ‘strange’ ingredients.
I cook quite a bit, and read a *lot* of food blogs. Yours is one of only three food blogs I’m subscribed to (so that I can see every time you put up a new post).
Thank you.
Carolyn says
Thanks, Meg.