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Beef Tamale Pie

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Mexican Tamale Pie is a one-pot meal made with either ground beef or chicken, pantry staple ingredients, and a tamale-inspired topping. This easy dinner recipe is completely customizable to fit what you have and is ready in under an hour!

Ingredients

Scale

For the Ground Beef Mixture:

  • 2 lbs ground beef (see notes below)
  • 1 large onion, peeled and diced
  • 1 green bell pepper, diced
  • 1 Tbsp minced garlic
  • 1 cup frozen corn (see notes)
  • 1 15oz can crushed tomatoes
  • 1 4 oz can diced green chilies
  • 1 Tbsp cornstarch
  • 2 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 ½ cups shredded cheese (Mexican or taco blend, see notes)

For the Masa Topping:

  • 2 ¼ cups corn masa
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 cups chicken broth (see notes)
  • 4 Tbsp butter, melted
  • ½ cup shredded cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400F. In a 12” cast iron skillet or oven-safe large skillet, cook the ground beef over medium heat until it’s no longer pink, breaking the beef into small pieces as it cooks. I really like to use this potato masher to break up the beef because it gets the pieces really, really small.
Tip: See notes below for making this recipe using chicken instead of beef.
2. Without draining the grease, add the onions, bell pepper, and garlic to the beef until the onions start to turn translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Add the corn, canned tomatoes, diced green chilies and stir well.
3. Sprinkle the cornstarch over the ground beef mixture and stir well. Add the spices and stir until everything is combined. Finally, add the shredded cheese and stir well. Remove from the heat and set aside.
4. Prepare tamale topping in a large bowl and pour over the filling mixture. Bake the tamale pie for 45 minutes, or until the cornbread crust is baked through and golden brown on the edges. Let cool for about 5-10 minutes before serving.

Notes

  • Ground Beef: You can reduce the ground beef to 1lb and add 1 can of drained black beans to keep this a budget-friendly recipe.
  • Corn: Substitute one 15oz can of corn, drained, for frozen corn.
  • Cheese: If you don’t have Mexican blend or taco blend shredded cheese, you can substitute cheddar, Monterey jack, or even pepper jack cheese.
  • Broth: Substitute beef broth or vegetable broth.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/beef-tamale-pie/