Tamale Pie
with oven roasted green beans
Tamale pie is an American invention inspired by a Mexican original. While Mexican tamales can take hours to prepare, this casserole style dish is rustic and fast, using Monday's meat sauce as a base and a basic cornbread for topping. Serve it like chili, with sour cream on top and tortilla chips for crunch.
Ingredients
- Green onions - 3, chopped, white and green parts separate
- Cheese, parmesan - 2 oz, grated
- Corn, frozen - 1 cup
- Beans, black (14 oz / 397 g) - 1 can, drained and rinsed
- Butter - 2 Tbsp, melted
- Oil, cooking - 1 Tbsp
- Cumin, ground - 1/2 tsp
- Paprika, smoked (sub Paprika) - 1/2 tsp
- Beef ragu (leftover from Monday) - ~3 cups
- Cornmeal, yellow - 3/4 cup
- Flour, all-purpose - 1/4 cup
- Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
- Salt - 1/2 tsp
- Eggs - 1
- Milk - 1/3 cup
- Sour cream (sub plain yogurt), for serving - 1/4 cup
- Tortilla chips (opt), for serving -
- Green beans - 1 lb, trimmed
- Oil, olive - 1 Tbsp
- Coriander, dried - 1/2 tsp
- Paprika, smoked (sub Paprika) - 1/4 tsp
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Green onions / Cheese / Green beans - Prep as directed. (Can be done up to 3 days ahead)
- Corn - Defrost in the microwave just until thawed.
- Beans - Rinse and drain.
- Butter (for the cornbread topping) - Melt in microwave.
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Make
- Heat oven to 425F / 218C degrees. Line a sheet pan with foil. Toss green beans with olive oil, ground coriander, paprika and some salt and pepper. Place on baking sheet and set aside (don’t bake) while assembling tamale pie.
- Heat an oven-safe skillet over medium heat. Add cooking oil and then white parts of green onions (reserve green parts) to heated oil. Cook until tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Add cumin and paprika to pan and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute more. Add corn, black beans and leftover ragu and cook until warmed through.
- Combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl. In another bowl, whisk egg and combine with milk and butter. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until evenly combined. Stir in cheese.
- Pour cornmeal mixture over beef and spread it gently over the top (don't worry if it doesn't quite cover the entire dish). Transfer to oven. Put green beans in oven. Bake, stirring green beans halfway through cooking, until the cornbread is firm and green beans are tender, ~15 minutes for both dishes.
- Divide tamale pie into even portions and top with sour cream and green parts of scallions. Enjoy with tortilla chips for dipping and green beans on the side!
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
63 reviews
Yummy! Great use of leftovers. Would be a good, simple one-pot meal for company. Enjoyed the green beans.
I love the base of this dish, but the corn bread part needs some tweaking. Every time I make it the cornbread is always like a rock or like a hard dumpling
after reading the comments, I put too much of the cornbread into the pan with too little of the ragu. would have liked more ragu, it was a tad bit dry, but that's what I get for winging it :-) will make this again, and will follow the exact measurements next time.
My husbands favorite meal so far. Next time I think I'll add olives. I wish I would have doubled the ragu to have more tamale pie.