Do you want evidence that this recipe is good? How about the fact that I’ve been eating it for lunch AND dinner for the past three days straight, and I still wanted a piece for breakfast this morning. Seriously.
There are a million and two ways to make tamale pie, some being more like actual tamales than others. This one is not so much like a real tamale, but it’s amazing all the same. I decided to go with a cornbread crust instead of polenta because A) I’m in love with corn bread and B) I wanted something that could soak up yumminess from the bottom of the pan. It definitely worked.
I originally intended to make this a beef tamale pie, but I bullied myself into doing a vegetarian mix because I felt like I needed more beans and vegetables in my life. If you did want to do beef (or chicken or pork), simply switch it out for the sweet potatoes, beans, and peppers… or add them all in there together! It’s very flexible.
P.S. I know the ingredients list looks long, but it’s really quite simple to make. Promise!
Vegetable Tamale Pie
Servings 8Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.48)
- 2 cloves garlic ( $0.16)
- 1 sweet potato ($0.69)
- 1 15oz. black beans ($0.56)
- 1/2 bunch green onions ($0.25)
- 1 poblano pepper ($0.84)
- 1 jalapeño ($0.12)
- 1 10z. can red enchilada sauce ($1.53)
- 1/2 Tbsp chili powder ($0.07)
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin ($0.03)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
CORNBREAD TOPPING
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal ($0.24)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour ($0.15)
- 1/4 cup sugar ($0.04)
- 4 tsp baking powder ($0.12)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1 cup milk ($0.62)
- 1 large egg ($0.25)
- 1/4 cup cooking oil ($0.21)
- 1 cup shredded cheddar, optional ($1.00)
- 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro (optional) ($0.43)
Instructions
- Chop the onion and mince the garlic. Cook in a large skillet with olive oil over medium heat. While onion and garlic are cooking, peel and dice the sweet potato. Add the diced sweet potato to the skillet and continue cooking.
- Remove the seeds from the poblano and jalapeno peppers, dice both, and add to the skillet. Also add the black beans (drained and rinsed), enchilada sauce, and sliced green onions. Stir and heat through. Taste the mixture and add the chili powder, cumin, and salt. Adjust to your liking.
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF. To make the cornbread topping, combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl (flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, and baking powder). Stir until evenly combined. Next, add the wet ingredients (milk, egg, oil, shredded cheese, and roughly chopped cilantro leaves). Stir these ingredients into the dry ingredients just until everything has become wet and the mixture looks even. Slightly beating the egg before adding it helps make this easier.
- To build the tamale pie, pour the vegetable mixture into a deep pie dish, cast iron skillet, or 8×8 inch casserole dish. Next, pour the cornbread mixture over top and smooth it out evenly. Bake the pie in the preheated 425 degree oven for about 25 minutes or until the top of the cornbread is golden brown.
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Nutrition
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Step By Step Photos
Start by cooking those onions and garlic in olive oil.
While those are cooking, peel and dice your sweet potato. Add it to the skillet.
For those who are unfamiliar with poblano peppers, this is what they look like. Large, dark green, and a kind of like a deflated balloon. They have a very unique flavor. If they’re not available in your area, you can substitute with other vegetables or beans to make up for the volume.
Remove the seeds from the poblano and chop it up. Do the same with the jalapeno. Add both to the skillet, along with sliced green onions and black beans (drained and rinsed). I used black beans that I had cooked from dry, which is why they’re so inexpensive on the ingredient list. Freezing them after cooking makes them just as convenient as canned beans!
Next add the enchilada sauce and then heat everything through.
The enchilada sauce didn’t quite provide enough flavor for me, so I also added a little chili powder, cumin, and salt.
Next it’s time to make the cornbread topping. In a large bowl combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Stir until they’re well combined. Oh, also begin preheating your oven at this point – 425 degrees.
Then add the wet ingredients (milk, oil, egg, cheddar, roughly chopped cilantro). I like to slightly beat the egg before adding it because it helps it incorporate easier. The cheese and cilantro are completely optional.
When stirring the wet ingredients into the dry, only stir just until all of the mixture has moistened and everything looks even (about ten stirs). You want to try to avoid over stirring.
Next, pour the vegetable mixture into the bottom of your baking dish. I used my cast iron skillet because I knew it would make for some nice pictures, but you can also use a deep pie dish or an 8×8 inch casserole dish. My skillet is about 10 inches across.
Pour the cornbread topping over the vegetables and smooth it out. Make sure the oven has finished preheating, and then bake for about 25 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Begin checking it at 18-20 minutes because every oven is a little different.
And then it looks, smells, and tastes absolutely delicious! I cut mine into 8 pieces and had 8 very satisfying meals.
Just made it but I added a handful of frozen corn and a small diced red pepper. Also use your recipe for enchilada sauce… Smell so good!!! Can’t wait until tomorrow night to eat it!
I will make the corn bread topping tomorrow right before supper.
thank you again for all your great ideas!
So awesome, in fact, that I’m making it again. I’d never eaten cornbread before, totally a convert after this :-)
This. Was. Awesome.
I made it with the jiffy mix as another poster suggested, and it is amazing! Very tasty and easy to make . Love the blog, please keep the awesome recipes coming.
Mary Jo – Yes, I think that would work great! Wonderful Idea :)
Made this tonight with the homemade enchilada sauce, and it was delicious! Thank you SO MUCH for your blog! I have a question… We’re expecting a new baby in November, and I’m trying to thing of things to freeze for easy quick meals. I was thinking of making a double batch of the filling and freezing it next time. Do you think that would work? I use cooked from dry beans that I freeze, too. Do you think those would hold up and be OK if cooked in the filling and refrozen? Thanks!
11 by 9 actually…..
this is awesome. thanks! it’s now an official member of my dinner rotation. i just tried it for the second time and it came out great. one suggestion. first time i tried it i used an 8 by 8 pyrex dish. no good – the corn bread didn’t cook thru. this time i used 11 by 8 and had much better results.
i like how i can clean out my fridge with this recipe. can throw anything almost in it.
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Beth, I love your recipes because I can customize it to what I have on hand. Instead of an enchilada bottom, I made a veggie chili. Replace enchilada sauce with a can of diced tomatoes, add more chili powder and cumin, and there you go: vegetable chili pie! I also just cooked everything in the cast iron and spread the cornbread mixture on top. One pan meal to boot!
Made this last night… it’s SOOOO good!!! I couldn’t find my deep pie dish (I woke up remembering where I put it… ugh) and I only had an 8 inch which didn’t look like it would fit everything, so I went with my big 8×14 baking dish. I definitely wouldn’t recommend such a big dish! With the filling layer being so shallow a lot of it was soaked up into the cornbread, so there wasn’t much left. It was still amazing and I’m already drooling thinking about leftovers for lunch!!
Eating this right now…YUUUMMM!!! Reminded me of chili, so I added some “Beefless Strips” from Trader Joe’s (1/2 the package, cut into smaller pieces – vegetarian) and went a little heavier with the sauce (99¢ for a whopping 28 oz can from Grocery Outlet; used half, half for next time). Safeway had “Pasilla Peppers,” which I was assured by the veggie guy there was the same thing as Poblanos. Went a little further with the decadence and buttered the top too! :p Used my Calphalon 12″ Everyday pan.
Boy, am I full. But I don’t care, I’m eating this whole slice! Thanks, Beth! :)
I did use almond milk and it turned out amazing!!! This can be a dairy free dinner!!! I used Rick Bayless’ Red Chile Enchilada Sauce and also added the spices you suggested and it was SOO YUMMY! Next time I will add more onion, sweet pot, pablano, and jalepeno to beef it up a little. My cornbread to filling ratio was a little off. Thanks for the great recipe!
I made this tonight. Because the poblanos looked terrible at the store, I used Anaheim peppers that I had roasted. It was very good, but I would like a bit more heat and probably use more jalapenos next time.
Anon – I have not tried baking with almond milk, so I can’t say for sure if it will work, but I suspect it will. If you try it out, please let us know how it turns out!
Angela – Yep, you can freeze peppers :) I would deseed and chop them first, though. Then it will be just like the peppers that come in stir fry mixes or onion and pepper seasoning mixes that you can buy in the freezer section! Convenient :)