Flaming Hot Cheetos Meat Loaf

Ok im not going to deniegh it I forgot about tasty Tuesday this week until the last minute but as a result i got to try something ive wanted to do for a long time. Come to think about it this idea hit me over ten tears ago when i first got introduced to one of the greatest snacks ever.I remember looking into the old vending machine where i worked and saying what the hell is a Flaming Hot Cheeto? They sat in the machine for a week or two until they where the only thing left and i had to have something to go with my cold meatloaf sandwich so i tried them. As my hands turned almost to a glow in the dark red color i thought do they really need to make it this damn color? Really do they think we as consumers are so dumb that we need hot snacks to be this damn coated with red dye number 40? It also did kinda puzzle me when i noticed there wasnt any sign of anything that closely resembled hot in the ingredient list but hey they tasted great smashed inside my meatloaf sandwich. They added a little spice or zing to the dull old meatloaf sandwich and that got me thinking other then the funky color why not use crushed cheetos instead of crackers in a meatloaf?

A few months went by and the vending machine went dry of flaming hot cheetos so i checked the stores for them. Every where i went no one had ever heard of them, had i found the one fountain for these wonderful snacks and run it dry i thought. Would i never again get the acid hot flavor and the msg headaches again i wondered. It was years later that the snack reared its head again and finally became mainstream. And last night i finally got to make my dream of flaming hot cheeto loaf a reality.

Heres your grocery list:

1. 2 lbs of ground beef


2. 2 eggs


3. 12 pack of beer ( one to add to the meatloaf for flavor the other 11 to drink while cooking )



4. 2/3 cup of crushed Flaming Hot Cheetos


5. 1/3 cup crushed crackers


6. 1 1/4 teaspoons chili powder


7. 1 1/4 teaspoons seasoning salt


8. 1/4 cup ketchup


9. 1/3 cup chopped jalapenos (optional but recommended )


10. 1/3 cup finely chopped Onions ( again optional )


11. 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce


12. 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper


13. 1/2 cup of shredded cheese ( again optional)

1 muffin pan

I know the first question is going to be why the muffin pan, and thats an idea that my wife came up with. Your pretty much making mini meat loafs in the muffin pan instead of one big one. It works out great for me since i like the burnt outsides on the meatloaf and if you have picky eaters in your house make different loafs for each person. Since i was experimenting for the first time with flaming cheeto loaf i got one pan and some meat while the wife made the normal loaf as a backup thats why i have only the little bit of meat showing in the bowl in the picture. Also i used alot more more then the little pile of cheetos in the picture. The pile in the pic is 21 cheetos which is what they say is one serving, who the hell are they kidding?

Now comes the easiest part , put all the ingredients in a bowl except for the cheese,the beer,and the ketchup of course and mix them up a like your playing with playdoh. A good tip is to wear some plastic gloves. That red dye in the cheetos is pretty harsh and hard as hell to come off , so not only did i wear gloves i smashed the cheetos in a zip lock bag. Even doing that and washing my hands numerous times i can look down at my fingers right now and see a pinkish stained hue. After your done mixing the ingredients up start making balls of the now neon red meat and putting it in the muffin pan. Dont worry about spraying any nonstick stuff on the pan the meat will make its own grease and pull apart from the pan so make the balls pretty big ( ok i didnt know this and mine turned out tiny ). When you got the pan full top off the meat muffins with some ketchup as a glaze, or a little bit of your favorite hot sauce for some more heat. Im not sure what transformation happens as ketchup bakes but is it just me or does it taste better?

Now that your tray is ready fire up the grill, sure you could do it in the oven but why? its nice out and this is man meat loaf not meant for the oven. Just turn the burner on a low setting and let it preheat for a couple of minutes with the lid closed. After youve given it a few minutes to warm up put the muffin tray on the grill and shut the lid.

It took my crappy old grill about 20 minutes to cook them but i would check them about every 5 minutes or so. When they have been on the grill for about 10 minutes poor some beer over each of the muffins so it mixes with the grease around the meat for a little added flavor. If you want you can also add some shredded cheese on top of the loafs when you add the beer its optional of course. Check out the difference in the colors of the meat in the two different trays on the grill , can you tell which side is cheeto loaf?

They didnt turn out bad for the first run as a matter of fact they where pretty good. Just one thing i might do different next time is make larger meat muffins, they really shrank.

Heres a pic of the cross section of what they came out looking like next to a normal meat loaf muffin. Sure they look kinda gross and i need to work on making them a little more appetizing to the eyes but they where good. The picture came out pretty crappy but that could be due to the beers consumed during this experiment.I think the next time i make these ill use a heart shaped muffin pan so they look like little bleeding heart loafs...

Watch, how much you all want to bet that google picks up on the whole "Flamming" thing as a keyword and puts up a bunch of "are you gay" ads.