Jalapeno Cheddar Meatloaf Recipe is a twist on the classic meatloaf enhancing the flavor with fresh jalapeno and cheese and topped with a sweet and tangy glaze. This recipe is so easy and delicious it's sure to become one of your go to meatloaf recipes!
❤️ Why you'll love it
Bold Flavor: if you love jalapeno poppers with their cheddar filling, you are in for a treat with this spicy meatloaf.
Easy Meal Prep: this easy meatloaf recipe can be made ahead of time and refrigerated until it is time to cook, or cook ahead and reheat right before dinner time.
Leftovers rule: this is the best meatloaf for making sandwiches with leftovers.
🥘 Ingredients for Jalapeno Cheddar Meatloaf
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Full recipe and ingredient amounts are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Lean ground beef
White onion: choose a medium onion and dice it fine. I like to use my hand chopper to do this quickly.
Hearty bread: you will make your own fresh bread crumbs by tearing the bread into small pieces.
Cheddar cheese: I always recommend buying the brick of cheese and shredding it yourself, however for convenience you can use pre-shredded cheese.
Jalapeno : choose a firm medium sized pepper.
Ketchup: I always use sugar free ketchup and recommend it as you are adding sugar to the sauce. You can also use plain tomato sauce instead of ketchup.
Worcestershire sauce: adds an umani flavor
Fresh Cilantro (optional for garnish)
Olive oil cooking spray
🔪 Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside
- Add the ground beef, eggs, onion, cheddar, jalapeno, oregano, basil, garlic, breadcrumbs, Worcestershire sauce and salt to a large bowl. Mix lightly with hands until combined. Don't over mix.
- Place meat mixture in prepared loaf pan, patting the meat down into the pan to pack it and spreading it out evenly. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine ketchup, brown sugar, and mustard. Using a spoon, spread sauce mixture over top of meatloaf.
- Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour 10 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F.
- Let baked meatloaf sit for 15 minutes. Drain fat from loaf and slice.
- Serve with chopped fresh cilantro if desired.
🥄 Equipment
Large bowl
1-½ quart sized loaf pan
Instant-read thermometer
🥫Storage
Refrigerate: store leftover meatloaf in an airtight container in the fridge up to 4 days.,
Freeze: store in a freezer safe container up to 3 months.
Reheat: warm thawed meatloaf in the microwave until warm or wrapped in aluminum foil in the oven at 350 degrees until heated.
📖 Variations
Opt for the sauce: Use tomato sauce instead of ketchup for the topping if preferred.
Barbecue style: Barbecue fans can spread the top of the meatloaf mixture with barbecue sauce instead of the ketchup topping.
Spicy meatloaf or not: If you like a lot of heat, definitely add more than 1 jalapeno. If you just like a little flavor of the jalapeno, then don't go more than the one. You can also just substitute a green pepper for the jalapeno or leave the pepper out entirely.
💭 Tips
- Use a lean ground beef to reduce fat, a 90/10 is good.
- If you don't like using raw onions in the meatloaf, saute onions in a little olive oil along with the jalapeno peppers before adding to the meatloaf mixture.
- If you like a lot of heat, definitely add more than 1 jalapeno. If you just like a little flavor of the jalapeno, then don't go more than the one. You can also just substitute a green pepper for the jalapeno or leave the pepper out entirely.
- Cracker crumbs or dried bread crumbs can be used in place of the fresh bread crumbs.
📚 More Meatloaf Recipes
Dill Pickle Meatloaf - the classic take on a burger but in meatloaf form with incredible flavor from dill pickles.
Easy Barbecue Cheddar Meatloaves - super cheesy and tangy individually sized loaves!
Vegetarian Meatloaf - vegetarians and meat eaters alike love this veggie loaf.
Sweet and Sour Meatloaf with Ground Veal - a delicious low carb take on a sweet and sour nmeatloaf.
Heart Shaped Veal Meatloaf - perfect for those special occasions like Valentines da, anniversaries, or anytime you want to say I love you!
Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf Muffins - a tasty take on the bacon cheeseburger in a muffin tin.
🍽 Serve with..
Serve jalapeno cheddar meatloaf with a side of creamy mashed potatoes or garlic mashed cauliiflower with a side of air fryer green beans.
📖 Recipe
Jalapeno Cheddar Meatloaf
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Ingredients
For the Meatloaf Mixture
- 1½ pounds lean ground beef
- 2 large eggs ,beaten
- ¼ cup finely chopped onion
- 2 slices hearty bread , torn into small pieces
- 2 ounces sharp cheddar cheese , grated
- 1 medium jalapeno diced (about 2 tbsp)
- ½ tablespoon worcestershire sauce (optional)
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
For the topping
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoon light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon yellow mustard
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside
- Add the ground beef, eggs, onion, cheddar, jalapeno, oregano, basil, garlic, Worcestershire sauce (if using), breadcrumbs, and salt to a large bowl. Mix lightly with hands until combined. Don't over mix.
- Place meat mixture in prepared loaf pan, patting the meat down into the pan to pack it and spreading it out evenly. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine ketchup, brown sugar, and mustard. Using a spoon, spread sauce mixture over top of meatloaf.
- Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour 10 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F.
- Let baked meatloaf sit for 15 minutes. Drain fat from loaf and slice.
- Serve with chopped fresh cilantro if desired.
Leslie says
This was the BEST meatloaf I have ever had! Thank you!!!!
Dave says
Found recipe easy to follow and my wife usually not a fan of meatloaf liked the flavours. Next time more jalapeños
Shelby Law Ruttan says
Hi Dave, so glad you and your wife enjoyed this meatloaf recipe. Thank you so much for stopping by to share your experience! Shelby
Regina says
There’s no breadcrumbs in the recipe. I’ve already made it without them, I hope it turns out ok
Shelby says
Hi Regina, it will probably be fine. I don't always use breadcrumbs when making meatloaf, just to keep carbs down. However, thank you for alerting me that I had forgotten to add it to my recipe card. I have updated it.
Sylvia says
You never mention how much worchesester sauce to use???
Shelby Law Ruttan says
You can use 1/2 tablespoon. Thanks for letting me know so I can update my recipe card!
Mireille says
2 slices of bread... what kind of bread? Total how much crumbs? 1/2 cup? 2/3 cup? 🙁
Shelby Law Ruttan says
Its indicated to use a hearty bread, so something like Arnolds whole grains or potato bread (I used potato bread in the meatloaf pictured). 2 slices of hearty bread will be approximately two cups loosely packed.