Meatloaf Sandwich with Chipotle Mayo

My Grandmother Ann (my mom’s mom) made the best meatloaf I've ever had. We lived in Chicago and she lived in Springfield. During the three hour ride to her house, all I could think about was that meatloaf I would have when we got there!! I couldn't wait!!

My Grandma Ann was my favorite person ever and boy could she cook.

Unfortunately I never got her recipe and my mother’s meatloaf…….well let’s just say it was never like my Grandma’s!!

I have tried to make it from memory, but to no avail.

One day I was eating salsa and a light bulb went on. Most of what was in salsa, my Grandmother put in her meatloaf. Onions, peppers, spices…everything but the ketchup on top. So I decided to make a meatloaf with salsa and I added cheddar cheese to the mix and called it my “Mexican Meatloaf”.

My kids loved it and it was almost as good as Grandma’s!! My son Danny picked my meatloaf to be his birthday meal, that’s how much he loved it!! And his birthday was on Thanksgiving several times. So we had Meatloaf instead of turkey!!

My friend Maria knew my meatloaf was really good and she had found a recipe one time for a meatloaf sandwich with chipotle mayonnaise. So I thought I would give it a try. I tested it on my guinea pigs (my co-workers at OCC) and it got two thumbs up; so on the menu it went.

It was a pretty popular sandwich and now I’ll share it with you!!

Teri

Notes:

I discovered a salsa that Dominics makes. (Dominics is a grocery store in the Chicago area) It’s peach pineapple salsa and that’s usually what I use for my meatloaf. I like the little bit of sweet with the savory; it makes for a great combination. You can use your favorite salsa. A black bean and corn salsa might also be good!!

I make the sandwich with a whole grain bread. I think it’s good on a nice hearty bread!! But you can use your favorite.

If you just want to make the meatloaf and not make sandwiches, about 10 minutes before you take it out of the oven you can pour some more salsa on top and cover that with shredded cheddar cheese and put it back in the oven for the rest of the ten minutes.

You could also just cover it with ketchup.

Meatloaf Sandwiches with Chipotle Mayo

1 ½ pounds ground beef (I usually use 80/20)
3 eggs
1 cup bread crumbs (I chopped up the crouton’s from a previous blog)
1 cup salsa
1 cup of shredded cheddar
salt & pepper to taste

Mix the above until all is combined. 

Put in pan and shape into a loaf. 

Bake in a 350° oven until meatloaf reaches 160 degrees. 

This will keep the meatloaf nice and moist. YOU DO NOT WANT TO OVER COOK MEATLOAF!! It will be dried out!!

Take meatloaf out of oven. If you are going to have meatloaf for dinner, now would be when you would put the salsa and cheddar cheese on top and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Take out of oven and serve hot.

If you’re going to make sandwiches, take the meatloaf out of the pan after it reaches 160 and let cool. Wrap meatloaf in plastic and put in refrigerator until cold; at least 4 hours.

In the meantime you can make the chipotle mayonnaise.

Chipotle Mayonnaise

1 cup of Mayonnaise
1 heaping tsp – 1 tablespoon of pureed chipotle peppers in adobe sauce (depending on how spicy you want it)

Chop up the chipotle peppers with the adobe sauce. 

Add the sauce to the mayonnaise and mix.

Assemble the sandwich.

I spread the mayo on both pieces of bread. Then slice the meatloaf about 1/3 of an inch thick and put on bread. Then I put lettuce, the other slice of bread on top and cut in ½.

And then I …….

Enjoy!!