Tamale Pie

Directions

Comforting, filling, and oh so flavorful, this tamale pie recipe is every part you need in a weeknight dinner and extra! A barely candy cornbread topping bakes over a tacky, spicy floor beef filling cooked with bell peppers, onions, and tomatoes. This easy-to-make tamale pie packs in all of the tamale taste with a lot much less work.

A number of years in the past, when my husband and I have been flipping by one among his mother’s outdated cookbooks, I noticed a recipe for tamale pie, and I used to be greater than excited to make it. Astonishingly sufficient, I’ve by no means had, a lot much less heard of, tamale pie earlier than we occurred upon that web page. I’m dwelling in a critical shell. What may I probably not love a few chili-like filling baked with a layer of cornbread on high?! It’s fairly probably essentially the most genius dish ever invented. Cornbread is the right accompaniment to chili, which makes this recipe all of the extra good.

I first tried the recipe that we discovered within the cookbook, however the high cornbread layer ended up a whole catastrophe. After trying by many variations, I by no means got here throughout a recipe that gave the impression of the one, so I began constructing my very own primarily based on my favourite flavors and elements. The result’s one completely phenomenal dinner. You simply can’t beat all the vivid and daring flavors within the beef filling, topped off with a thick layer of cornbread. Genius and scrumptious.

Table of Contents Recipes by Viki

The Background

Tamale Pie is a comfort-food casserole with all the taste of a tamale minus the issue. Tamales are made out of a masa dough and crammed with scrumptious, savory fillings which might be typically wrapped and steamed in corn husks or banana leaves. This course of is usually time-consuming and labor-intensive.

This tamale pie recipe is sort of a deconstructed tamale. The flavorful beef filling bakes below a scrumptious cornbread topping for a casserole that has been round because the early 1900s.

The way to Make It

Let’s break this recipe down into two important elements; the meat filling and the cornbread topping.

Filling Components

Onion+ Peppers: Finely chopped onion, inexperienced bell peppers, and seeded and minced jalapeño peppers make the vegetable base.
Floor Beef: Browned, crumbled, and cooked by.
Corn kernels: You may simply use recent, frozen, and even canned corn on this recipe.
Tomatoes: Diced canned tomatoes make for a straightforward pantry-staple ingredient. Should you don’t like large chunks of tomato, search for “petite diced” tomatoes.
Tomato paste: Provides a deep, wealthy tomato base to the filling.
Spices: I exploit a mix of chili powder, floor cumin, and salt so as to add a kick of taste.
Sliced black olive: Optionally available, should you love ’em, add them! Should you’re a fellow olive hater, you possibly can completely go away them out.
Shredded cheese: I like to make use of Monterrey jack cheese within the filling however you can too simply swap it for cheddar.

The way to Make the Beef Filling

Preheat the oven to 400°F
Cook dinner onion combination: In a big skillet over medium-high warmth, heat the oil till sizzling. Add onion, inexperienced bell pepper, and jalapeños, and cook dinner till softened, about 10 minutes. Switch to a bowl and put aside.
Cook dinner floor beef: Scale back warmth to medium and add floor beef to the pan. Cook dinner till browned, stirring often to interrupt up the meat, about 5-10 minutes.
Add remaining elements: As soon as the meat is browned, add the onion combination again to the pan. Stir in corn, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, chili powder, cumin, and salt.
Simmer the filling: Convey to a simmer and cut back warmth to low. Simmer 20 minutes. Take away from warmth and let stand whereas making ready cornbread topping.

Side by side photos of cooking the meat filling in a skillet.

Cornbread Topping

What you’ll want for the cornbread topping:

Cornmeal + flour: Offers the cornbread construction in addition to a corn taste.
Sugar: Sweetens the cornbread only a contact.
Baking soda + baking powder: Permits the cornbread to rise through the baking time.
Salt: Taste!
Buttermilk: Provides somewhat tang and coloration to the cornbread throughout baking.
Unsalted Butter: Provides taste and helps bind the cornbread collectively.
Eggs: Binds the batter collectively.

To make the cornbread batter topping for tamale pie:

Combine dry elements: In a big bowl, whisk collectively the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Combine moist elements: In a medium bowl, whisk collectively buttermilk, eggs, and melted butter.
Gently combine collectively: Add the buttermilk combination to the dry elements and use a rubber spatula to softly combine collectively, taking care to not over-mix the cornbread.

Assembling It

Now that you’ve your beef filling and the cornbread batter, let’s put this tamale pie casserole collectively.

Add last mix-ins to the meat combination: Stir olives (if utilizing) and shredded cheese into the meat combination and pour right into a 9×13-inch baking dish, smoothing the highest.
Prime with cornbread: Pour the cornbread batter over the meat filling, utilizing a spatula to unfold an excellent layer.
Bake for 15 to twenty minutes, or till the highest is golden brown and a knife inserted into the middle comes out clear.
Cool: Permit the pie to relaxation for quarter-hour earlier than serving.

Topping Choices

The fantastic thing about this tamale pie recipe is that you would be able to actually make it your personal and go all-out with the toppings. Listed here are a number of methods you possibly can serve up this dish.

Make it a Meal

Whereas this casserole can simply stand alone as a stick with your ribs, comfort-food dish, listed below are a number of sides to serve with it to make it a full meal:

Storing and Freezing

This comforting tamale pie is a good make-ahead meal. Listed here are a number of methods you can also make the casserole upfront to avoid wasting time on busy weeknights.

Storing: Preserve your baked tamale pie in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 4 days.
Freezing baked tamale pie: Should you baked the dish all through, enable it to chill fully earlier than storing and freezing in a freezer-safe container for as much as 3 months. Thaw in a single day within the fridge and reheat within the oven.
Freezing unbaked pie: Comply with the recipe by the meeting and as a substitute of baking freeze uncovered for about an hour to permit the cornbread topping to freeze. Then wrap in plastic wrap and high with foil. Retailer within the freezer for as much as 3 months. If you end up able to bake, thaw in a single day within the fridge and comply with baking directions.

Different Tex-Mex Impressed Recipes

A brown plate topped with a serving of tamale pie in front of a casserole dish.

Seize your fork and are available hungry, this filling and flavorful tamale pie recipe is a comforting casserole everybody will get pleasure from. Prime with bitter cream, guacamole, or somewhat salsa for a scrumptious dinner you’ll preserve coming again to!

Should you make this recipe and adore it, bear in mind to cease again and provides it a 5-star ranking – it helps others discover the recipe! ❤️️

Tamale Pie

Yield: 8 servings

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook dinner Time: 1 hour

Whole Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Candy cornbread tops a tacky, spiced floor beef combination on this comforting and filling tamale pie recipe.

For the Filling:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 inexperienced bell pepper, finely chopped
2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and minced
1½ kilos (680.39 g) floor beef
1½ cups (246 g) corn kernels, recent or frozen
14.5 ounces (411.07 g) canned diced tomatoes
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons chili powder
4 teaspoons floor cumin
2 teaspoons kosher salt
½ cup (67.5 g) sliced black olives, non-compulsory*
4 ounces (113.4 g) Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (about 1 cup shredded)

For the Cornbread Topping:

1 cup (156 g) cornmeal
¾ cup (90 g) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons (1.5 teaspoons) baking powder
½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) baking soda
¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) salt
1½ cups (360 ml) buttermilk
6 tablespoons (85 g) unsalted butter, melted
2 eggs, flippantly overwhelmed

Preheat oven to 400 levels F.
Making the Filling: In a big skillet over medium-high warmth, heat the oil till sizzling. Add the onion, inexperienced pepper and jalapeños, and cook dinner, stirring often, till softened, about 10 minutes. Switch to a bowl and put aside.
Scale back the warmth to medium and add the bottom beef to the pan. Cook dinner, stirring often to interrupt up the meat, till browned, 5 to 10 minutes. As soon as the meat is browned, add the onion combination again to the pan. Stir within the corn, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, chili powder, cumin and salt. Stir nicely to make sure that the spices and the tomato paste are evenly distributed. Convey to a simmer, then cut back the warmth to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Take away from the warmth and let stand whereas making ready the cornbread topping.
Make the Cornbread Topping: In a big bowl, whisk collectively the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk collectively the buttermilk, eggs, and melted butter. Add the buttermilk combination to the dry elements and use a rubber spatula to softly combine it collectively, taking care to not overmix the cornbread batter.
Assemble & Bake the Pie: Stir the olives (if utilizing) and shredded cheese into the meat combination and pour it right into a 9×13-inch baking dish, smoothing the highest. Pour the cornbread batter over the filling, utilizing a spatula to unfold it into an excellent layer. Bake for 15 to twenty minutes, or till the highest is golden brown and a knife inserted into the middle comes out clear. Permit the pie to relaxation for quarter-hour earlier than serving.

Storing: Preserve your baked tamale pie in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 5 days.
Freezing baked tamale pie: Should you baked the dish all through, enable to chill fully earlier than storing and freezing in a freezer-safe container for as much as 3 months. Thaw in a single day within the fridge and reheat within the oven.
Freezing unbaked pie: Comply with the recipe by the meeting and as a substitute of baking freeze uncovered for about an hour to permit the cornbread topping to freeze. Then wrap in plastic wrap and high with foil. Retailer within the freezer for as much as 3 months. If you end up able to bake, thaw in a single day within the fridge and comply with baking directions.

Dietary values are primarily based on one serving

Energy: 547kcal, Carbohydrates: 51g, Protein: 30g, Fats: 25g, Saturated Fats: 13g, Ldl cholesterol: 131mg, Sodium: 1381mg, Potassium: 936mg, Fiber: 6g, Sugar: 9g, Vitamin A: 1375IU, Vitamin C: 23.7mg, Calcium: 269mg, Iron: 6mg