This Mexican Tamale Pie recipe is a delicious one-pot meal made with ground beef, corn, enchilada sauce and spices, topped with a tamale inspired masa topping.
Looking for more Mexican-inspired recipes? Try my Birria Ramen, Chilaquiles, or Tres Leches Cake!
Why I love this recipe:
- One-Pot Meal: Easy prep and even easier clean up! I love hearty meals that don't make my kitchen a mess, and this is one that your family is sure to love!
- Basic ingredients: this dinner is a go-to when I need to use ingredients I already have on hand to make something warm and comforting for my family.
How to make Tamale Pie:
Brown Beef: Cook ground beef in a deep skillet or cast iron pan, crumbling it into small pieces as it cooks, until browned. Add diced onion, season with salt and pepper, and sauté for 3 minutes.
Add Flavor: Add enchilada sauce, corn, chiles, chili powder, coriander, and cumin and cook for 5-10 minutes. Taste and add additional spices (chili powder, cumin, salt or pepper), as desired. Stir in cheese.
Make Topping: Mix the corn flour, baking powder and salt together. Stir in the chicken broth, milk, butter and cheese. Pour topping mixture evenly over the top of the meat mixture.
Bake at 400 degrees for 40 min. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.
Serve: Top this old school tamale pie with avocado and sour cream, if desired.
Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions:
To Make Ahead: The beef mixture can be made ahead of time and kept in an airtight container in the fridge for 1-2 days. Warm in a pan before adding the tamale topping.
To Freeze: To freeze baked tamale pie, the easy Tamale Pie recipe and allow to cool. Cover well and and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge before baking. May also freeze after baking. The beef mixture may also be frozen separately in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
Recipe Variations:
- Pan Size: I like to bake the tamale pie right in the skillet I’m cooking in but if you don’t have the right size or oven proof pan, you can bake it in a 9×9 inch or similar size pan.
- Vegetarian: Swap the meat for two cans of pinto or black beans.
- Box Mix Cornbread Topping (Jiffy or Bobs Red Mill): Prepare according to package instructions. Pour over meat mixture and bake.
- Chiles: Try using diced jalapeños or a chipotle chili in adobo sauce.
- More Veggies: Add a chopped bell pepper, grated carrot, olives, peas or whatever you like.
Follow me for more great recipes
Recipe
Tamale Pie
Equipment
Ingredients
Meat Filling:
- 1 ½ lbs lean ground beef
- 1 yellow onion , finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 10 oz can red enchilada sauce , or homemade
- 1 can creamed corn
- 8 oz can diced green chiles
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
Masa Topping:
- 1 1/2 cups Masa Harina (corn flour)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 1/2 cup shredded cheese
Optional Topping Ideas:
- avocado, sour cream, cilantro, hot sauce
Instructions
- Cook ground beef in a deep 12-inch skillet* or cast iron pan, crumbling it into small pieces as it cooks, until browned. Add diced onion, season with salt and pepper, and sauté for 3 minutes.
- Add enchilada sauce, corn, chiles, chili powder, coriander, and cumin and cook for 5-10 minutes. Taste and add additional spices (chili powder, cumin, salt or pepper), as desired. Stir in cheese.
- Make Topping: Mix the corn flour, baking powder and salt together. Stir in the chicken broth, milk, butter and cheese. Pour evenly over the top of meat mixture.
- Bake 400 degrees for 40 min. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.
- Top with avocado and sour cream, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Follow Me
This post contains affiliate links.
I plan to split in half so I can bake half tonight and freeze the other half for a future meal. The baking instructions say “bake as instructed” and also “may also freeze after baking”. If I want to freeze BEFORE baking, do I put the masa topping on before freezing? Or is it better to just freeze the beef mixture and make the masa topping fresh when I want to bake the other half.
Great plan! If you’re freezing before baking, it’s best to freeze just the beef mixture and make the masa topping fresh when you’re ready to bake. The topping can get a little weird in texture if frozen raw kind of grainy or soggy depending on how it thaws. So yes, freeze the beef part now, then whip up the masa when you’re ready to bake the second half.
I love tamale pie but I was not a fan of this one. I don’t know if it was my specific masa harina (I used a blue corn masa), but my topping tasted exactly like playdoh which was very off-putting while eating it. The masa topping was very thick and hard to spread on the top. I ended up dropping teaspoonfuls of the dough on top a little at a time until I had the whole thing covered. After it baked, there were pockets of hard crunchy topping that turned into sand when you bit into it.
The tamale pie filling also needed ‘something’ to help perk it up. I think it needed tomatoes, green peppers, black olives, more corn, or something like that to give it some sparks of flavor.
Blue corn masa is likely the culprit it has a very different texture and stronger flavor than regular yellow masa harina. Stick with standard masa harina next time for better results. If the topping’s too thick, add a splash more milk or broth to thin it. As for the filling, great instinct! The recipe variations actually suggest adding bell peppers, olives, or other veggies. Those additions would definitely give it more depth. Thanks for the feedback!
Well dang it. I messed up bad. When it asked for enchilada sauce, I just clicked the link to do the homemade enchilada sauce and then I ended up pouring that whole batch in. Later I had to pour everything from one pan into a bigger pan because there just wasn’t enough room and I was wondering why. So I looked back through the ingredient list only to find out it only asked for 10 ounces of enchilada sauce NOT four cups!!!. Oh well, I don’t think there’s any way of fixing it now. I just hope the family will enjoy Tamale pie soup.
I had such a hard time spreading the mixture on top evenly, any tips?
Thanks!
You’re not alone—that part can be tricky! A helpful tip is to spoon the topping on in small dollops all over the filling, then gently spread it with the back of a spoon or offset spatula. It spreads more easily that way!