Mix up your next meatloaf night with this delicious Enchilada Meatloaf and its surprise ingredient.
This recipe makes 2 meatloaves…one for dinner, one for the freezer. I created it this way so that you can win at least 1 weeknight dinner coming up! It’s just comforting to know that you have dinner ready to pop in the oven. Nothing to mix together, just drop it right from the fridge (where it has been thawing!) into the oven to cook.
I have been talking for years about using beans to stretch your meat and here’s another recipe for you that will do just that!
How to Freeze Meatloaf
- Line a loaf pan with foil, leaving some hanging over the edge so that you can cover the meatloaf.
- Add the meat into the foil, cover.
- Put in the freezer for about an hour, or until the meat will hold its shape when you remove it from the loaf pan.
- Add the covered meatloaf into a baggie and store until you want to cook it.
- Pull it from the freezer, put the frozen meatloaf with foil back into the pan and let thaw in the fridge.
- Bake in the foil, or carefully remove it from the foil and bake it in the same loaf pan.
Enchilada Meatloaf
Mix up your next meatloaf night with this delicious Enchilada Meatloaf and its surprise ingredient.
Servings - 8 servings
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lb. ground beef
- 15 oz. can refried beans
- 10 oz. can diced tomatoes and green chilies well drained
- 2 eggs
- 2 Tbsp minced onion
- 2 Tbsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 cup bread crumbs use gluten-free if needed
- 1 tsp salt and pepper each
- Fresh veggies side dish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Mix together all the ingredients in a bowl. Divide into each of the 2 - 9x5" loaf pans.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 55-60 minutes, or until meatloaf is cooked through in the center.
- To Freeze Uncooked Meatloaf: see directions above.
- To Freeze Cooked Meatloaf: After you've cooked the meatloaf, let it cool completely. Slice into meal size portions and freeze in smaller baggies or in a plastic container.
- Thaw completely before baking as directed.
- Optional toppings: salsa & shredded cheese.
Fabiana says
This looks delicious. I am definitely going to try it on Sunday.
Darrah says
I’ll bet enchilada sauce over the top of it, or even mixed in would be good, too!
Jenn K says
Absolutely! 🙂
Barbara says
This sounded really good, so I decided to make it for dinner last night, because I thought I had a can of refried beans. I got all the ingredients together opened the tomatoes/chilies and then found out I did not have any refried beans. So I thought, fine I will puree a can of pinto beans, didn’t have those either. However, I did have a can of garbanzo beans and pureed those. I used two pounds of meat, since Costco’s Frozen Beef Chubs come in one pound amounts. I added one tablespoon of chili powder as well. It was delish! Next time I will make it per your instructions, but this combination was very good, considering all the changes I made. Tucked the extra meat loaf in the freezer, for another day.
Barbara says
Oh, I forgot to mention that I poured about 1/3 cup Pace picante sauce over the top of each loaf, about 20 minutes before the hour was up, because I thought they looked a little dry.