How to Make Tamale Pie

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READY IN 1½ hrs

Hot Tamale Pie

Read Reviews (133)

"While this tamale pie has very little to do with its south-of-the-border namesake, it's a really delicious recipe all the same." — Chef John

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Spray a 9x13-inch casserole dish with cooking spray.
Cook and stir ground beef in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until meat starts to brown and release juices, about 5 minutes.
Reduce heat to medium and stir in poblano peppers, salt, salsa, oregano, and chipotle powder; cook and stir until seasoned beef is crumbly and no longer pink, about 10 minutes.
Mix one package of corn muffin mix in a large bowl with 1 egg and 1/3 cup of milk. Whisk to combine. In a separate large bowl, mix the second package of corn muffin mix with 1 egg, 1/3 cup of milk and half the Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses.
Spread the prepared corn muffin mixture without cheese into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle corn over the muffin mix, followed by remaining half of the cheeses, then the beef mixture.
Spoon the corn muffin mix with cheese on top of the beef and carefully spread over the top with a fork, leaving about half an inch from the edges of the pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes, until golden brown.

Kitchen-Friendly View

PREP 20 mins
COOK 1 hr 10 mins
READY IN 1 hr 30 mins

Footnotes

Cook's Note:
You can substitute red or green bell peppers for the poblano peppers if needed.

Reviews More Reviews

Most Helpful Positive Review

Apr 09, 2012

Awesome recipe idea! I like another person used canned RoTel and I added minced garlic and onions while the meat cooked. I then topped it with sour cream when I served it!

—April

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Most Helpful Critical Review

Jul 18, 2012

We didn't really enjoy this one. Was fun to try it and was very quick and easy to make.The poblano's didn't have much flavor. Reading over this, I bought cornbread mix...is that different than corn muffin mix? It wasn't a hit with the meat mixture. Only two out of 6 enjoyed it and had seconds. I threw some ghost pepper salsa on it to spice it up which was good. We should have used more cheese too.

—russ668

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174 Ratings

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Mar 20, 2012

All things considered, this is a simple but tasty recipe that I keep changing to find new combinations of ingredients. I think the cornbread on the top and bottom is a bit much for me but my son likes it this way. I have moved to putting the cornbread mixture on the top only making for less cornbread and more ingredients. The poblano peppers help make this dish different. This has become a regular in our meal rotation due to its simplicity.

—BK

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Apr 11, 2012

This was really good! Based on all the reviews, I took a little from everyone. (thanks to all the good cooks who took the time to write a review) I used ground turkey, added chopped onion,garlic and serrano pepper to meat while it was cooking. I used Taco seasoning, oregano, Rotel diced tomato's and green chilies and a can of black beans rinsed and drained. It was great!

—kat

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Apr 08, 2012

this is a great place to start! i used less ground beef, added a drained can of black beans, and used rotel instead of salsa and in place of the peppers i just used 1 green pepper. i pretty much doubled the cheese in both places. it was FANTASTIC. i'm going to divide it up and freeze it in single sized portions so i can enjoy this for a while! next time i'm going to use lentils instead of ground beef for a meat free meal. to penny pinch you could leave the bottom layer of cornbread out and just make the top portion and it'd be just as good, but i like the extra layer in there.

—noahbythesea

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Mar 09, 2012

Ok, took me awhile to find this recipe because I only saw the video once prior to making it lol. Thusly I did change a few things, relatively minor. First, we have no Jiffy cornmeal mix up here so I made a double cornbread recipe and split it. No Poblano's either so I chopped up a red and a green bell pepper. I didn't thaw my corn. The spice amounts I guessed at and while I was a little light on the salt, it was fine. I subbed in just a very little bit of red pepper flakes instead of the chipotle powder because we like just a wee bit of heat. I upped it a bit more by using a pre-mixed bag of shredded cheddar, jack and colby cheese with hanbanero and jalapeno peppers. I used maybe a 1/2 cup of cheese. The end result was and is wonderfully edible. A dish that will go in the rotation!

—Raedwulf

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May 02, 2012

Yep! It's a keeper! There are only two of us, so I cut the recipe in half, and baked in an 8 x 8 brownie pan. I was careful to keep the layers separate, so it looked as gorgeous as shown in Chef John's video (see photos: it was submitted by "Denise"-thanks)! I came close, but the Jiffy mix fools you: wet it looks like a thin layer, but cooked it puffs a LOT, so it blends heartily with the meat layer. I still had a good layering going on when served, and it tasted delicious. Easy, worth-it recipe. Even great the next day.

—TartanSongbird007

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May 05, 2012

Great recipe. My family really liked it. I used 4 large poblano peppers, which was just under a pound total. I only cooked it 50 minutes, and I could have probably taken it out of the oven after about 40 minutes, because it seemed slightly dry. Other than that, great recipe. Thanks, Chef John...another winner!

—SUZZANNA

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Nutrition

Calories
640 kcal
32%

Carbohydrates
54.3 g
18%

Cholesterol
152 mg
51%

Fat
31.8 g
49%

Fiber
6.6 g
26%

Protein
34.7 g
69%

Sodium
1556 mg
62%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Nutritional Information

Hot Tamale Pie

Serving Size: 1/8 of a recipe
Servings Per Recipe: 8
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 640
Calories from Fat: 286

% Daily Value *
Total Fat 31.8g 49 %
** Saturated Fat 13.5g 67 %
Cholesterol 152mg 51 %
Sodium 1556mg 62 %
** Potassium 680mg 19 %
Total Carbohydrates 54.3g 18 %
Dietary Fiber 6.6g 26 %
Protein 34.7g 69 %
** Sugars 4.5g
** Vitamin A 15 %
** Vitamin C 48 %
** Calcium 38 %
** Iron 44 %
** Thiamin 38 %
** Niacin 101 %
** Vitamin B6 36 %
** Magnesium 22 %
** Folate 58 %

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
** Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.
(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.