Make Chili Meatloaf for a Cozy Meal

While I love a fancy restaurant meal every now and then, you're more likely to find me in a neighborhood gastropub with a plate of juicy meatloaf or a bowl of hearty chili in front of me than at a budget-busting steakhouse. That's because food is as much about comfort to me as it is about flavor and presentation, and when's the last time you felt comfortable at a white linen restaurant?

This Chili Meatloaf takes two of my favorite comfort foods and combines them into one cozy dish. With all the flavors of a slow cooked chili con carne in a moist, tender meatloaf, it's a sublimely satisfying meal that will leave you with a warm glow in your belly and a smile on your face.

The meatloaf itself uses a mix of pork and beef along with a ton of caramelized aromatics to achieve the depth of flavor of a chili that's been simmering away for hours. Plenty of breadcrumbs and an egg help bind any wayward juices into the meatloaf so it stays moist and tender and the chili flavor comes from some concentrated tomato paste, chili powder and cumin.

For the glaze I used my homemade ketchup along with some cocoa powder, which gives it a marvelous earthy complexity that pairs well with the sweet ketchup and spicy chili powder.

Serve this on a bed of creamy grits and it's like a blue-plate special of meatloaf and mashed potatoes hooked up with a bowl of chili and cornbread behind the local diner and made a love child. As with any meatloaf, one of the best parts is that the leftovers make awesome sandwiches!