Tamale pie is a retro southern twist on traditional tamales with layers of cornbread, shredded chicken, black beans, cheese and a rich red enchilada sauce.
Everything you love about tamales, but ready in minutes with no special folding skills required.
Tamale pie can be made with leftover chicken (or beef!) and can be baked in anything from a pie dish or casserole dish to a cast iron skillet or even individual dishes. It will serve 6 for a quick, delicious weeknight family dinner or can easily be doubled to feed a crowd.
Let’s get started…
Unlike the classic tamale pies of the 1950’s, this version will have the cornbread as a base instead of a topping. I prefer it this way for a few reasons…
Baking the saucy chicken mixture over the cornbread allows the cornbread to soak up all of those delicious flavors which both prevents it from drying out and makes this dish easy to slice and remove from the baking dish uniformly.
I also love garnishing this dish with diced tomatoes or pico de gallo, cilantro and crumbled queso fresco and this works much better over the chicken layer than the cornbread in my opinion, so a cornbread base it is!
Make the cornbread mixture by whisking 4 tablespoons of melted butter with 1/2 cup of yellow cornmeal, 1/2 cup of all purpose flour, 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 cup of buttermilk or whole milk, 3 tablespoons of honey, 1 large egg and 4 ounces of green chilies.
Transfer this mixture into a greased 9″ baking dish. You can use a pie dish, a small casserole dish or a 9-10″ cast iron skillet. You could also divide the ingredients between smaller individual dishes if you prefer.
Bake the cornbread layer in a 400 degree oven for 16-18 minutes. It should be golden brown, but just set. Don’t leave it in the oven until it is firm or feels stiffly set. Although it will still have great flavor, an over baked cornbread layer will not absorbed the sauce we are adding to it later quite as well as one that is just set and still a little soft.
As soon as you pull the cornbread layer out of the oven, pierce it with a fork all over to create little holes for the sauce to sink into.
Add 1/3 cup of red enchilada sauce over the cornbread layer and spread it evenly over the entire surface. Set it aside for now while we prepare the top layer…
For the top layer, combine shredded cooked chicken (leftovers or a rotisserie chicken work great here!) with 1 1/3 cups of enchilada sauce, 15 ounces of drained and rinsed black beans and 1 cup of shredded mozzarella or sharp cheddar.
When it comes to exactly how much shredded chicken you use here, it can be flexible. Use what you have! I like a lot of chicken, so I used a heaping 3 cups of shredded chicken, which was 2 medium boneless breasts. If you are cooking some chicken specifically for this tamale pie, a large boneless breast should be perfect.
Spread the chicken mixture over the cornbread mixture and if you love cheese, sprinkle a little more over top.
Bake uncovered in a 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until everything is nice and bubbly.
Garnish with some diced tomatoes, more fresh cilantro and some crumble queso fresco or cojita.
This tamale pie just wonderful. Of course, it is not authentic to actual tamales, but it does give you that soft corn goodness with saucy chicken that I crave in around 30 minutes. Its a comforting shortcut that everyone seems to love.
Whether you make tamale pie for a quick weeknight dinner or a fun game night dinner party, one thing is for sure and that is that everyone is going to enjoy the delicious flavors and textures of this retro classic dish.
The cornbread is soft and absorbed all the smokey goodness of the enchilada sauce and the chicken layer is saucy, hearty and something that I can’t seem to get enough of. It is just fabulous.
I recommend serving a big slice of tamale pie with a dollop of sour cream or crema and some lime wedges. A little squeeze of fresh lime juice just brings everything together perfectly….
Enjoy!
Tamale Pie
Ingredients
Cornbread Layer
- 4 tablspoons of butter, melted
- 1/2 cup of yellow cornmeal
- 1/2 cup of all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 cup of buttermilk or whole milk
- 3 tablespoons of honey
- 1 large egg
- 4 ounces of diced green chilies
Chicken Tamale Layer
- 1 large boneless skinless chicken breast, cooked and shredded
- 1 2/3 cups of red enchilada sauce, divided
- 15 ounces of black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup of cheddar or mozzarella, shredded
Garnishes
- 1/2 cup of tomatoes, diced
- 1/2 cup of queso fresco or cojita, crumbled
- 1/4 cup of fresh cilantro, finely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees
- Whisk 4 tablespoons of melted butter with 1/2 cup of yellow cornmeal, 1/2 cup of all purpose flour, 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 cup of buttermilk or whole milk, 3 tablespoons of honey, 1 large egg and 4 ounces of green chilies in a large bowl until completely combined
- Transfer the mixture into a greased 9”-10” baking dish and bake for 16-18 minutes or until golden brown and lightly set
- As soon as you remove the baking dish from the oven, use a fork to pierce the cornbread mixture all over (leave the oven set to 400 degrees)
- Pour 1/3 cup of red enchilada sauce over the baked cornbread layer, spread it evenly and set aside for now
- Combine a cooked and shredded chicken breast with 1 1/3 cups of enchilada sauce, 15 ounces of drained and rinsed black beans and 1 cup of shredded mozzarella or sharp cheddar and spread over the cornbread layer
- Bake uncovered in a 400 degrees oven for about 15 minutes or until bubbly
- Top with diced tomatoes, crumbled queso fresco or cojita and some finely chopped fresh cilantro
- Serve with a dollop of sour cream and lime wedges
