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This one pot Tamale Pie is easy and delicious, made with ground beef, corn, enchilada sauce, and spices, topped with a tamale inspired masa topping. It's a cozy skillet dinner my family loves.
Why is Tamale Pie SO GOOD?! This is the cozy casserole I crave.
I'm obsessed with the flavors in tamale pie, and the complete comfort-of-a-dinner that it is. Plus you know I love a recipe that cooks in one pan!
This isn't your average tamale pie (no box of jiffy mix, here!). We use the good stuff to make a legit and EASY corn topping that bakes up like a soft cornbread over the saucy beef filling. My kids love this so much they take it as leftovers in their thermos for school lunch. It's flavorful and delicious and always on my mind when the cooler weather starts rolling in.
Try more of my one pan meals, like Pad Thai, Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas, Greek Chicken and Potatoes, Slow Cooker Lasagna, and Creamy Chicken and Gnocchi!
How to make Tamale Pie:
Cook the Beef: Brown the ground beef in a deep skillet with a meat chopper, then add the diced onion and sauté a few minutes.
Make the Filling: Stir in the enchilada sauce, corn, chiles, chili powder, coriander, and cumin, and cook 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in the cheese.
Add Topping and Bake: Mix the masa topping and pour over the meat mixture, then bake at 400 degrees F for 40 minutes. Cool slightly and serve with avocado and sour cream, if desired.
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
- Filling: 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.1 ½ lbs lean ground beef, 1 yellow onion, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 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.10 oz can red enchilada sauce, 1 can creamed corn, 8 oz can diced green chiles, 1 teaspoon chili powder, ½ teaspoon ground coriander, ½ teaspoon ground cumin, 1 ½ cups shredded 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.1 ½ cups Masa Harina, 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ¾ cup low-sodium chicken broth, 1 cup milk, ½ cup melted butter, ½ cup shredded cheese
- Bake 400 degrees F for 40 min. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.
- Serve topped with avocado and sour cream, if desired.avocado, sour cream, cilantro, hot sauce
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I originally shared this recipe March 2023. Updated September 2026.
Was a big hit! This is going on the rotating menu!
Wow! This is good. Fairly easy to make, delicious and nutritious! Will be adding to my regular recipes.
Note: I used about 3/4 of the masa topping and it turned out perfect. So crispy.
Made this tonight in my cast iron skillet. I did use a can of pinto beans and 1 pound of beef. Also added some diced red peppers to the onion sauté. I used a boxed cornbread mix for the top and it turned out great! I would definitely make this again!
My daughter and I enjoyed making this together. I used regular corn flour though (without realizing masa harina is not the same) so it was very runny and did not create a nice topping. The flavours were still good and we ate it anyway, but I am sharing my experience so others don’t make the same mistake we did. I’m sure it would be much better with the intended topping.
Delicious and a great alternative to taco night. The filling is full of flavor. I did make homemade enchilada sauce which took a bit of extra time but not too much. I couldn’t find corn flour so I had to use corn meal so the texture was a little more dense but still very delicious. My family loved it.
This recipe was a tasty, fairly easy dinner. I only had corn meal so I added a little flour to get a better texture for the topping. I’m sure it would be better if I had followed the recipe. My husband thought there was too much topping, so I would just cut that in half next time.
Made this tonight and we absolutely loved it. In fact, my husband had seconds. Great dish and we are already planning on making it when we have guest over. Thank you.
Tamale Pie was delicious. It took me twice as long as the estimated recipe time, but it was the first run through of the recipe. Next time I will have the enchillada sauce prepared ahead of time. I don’t have facebook or instagram, could send a picture of the tamale pie if you give me an email address.
I’m thrilled to hear that you enjoyed the Tamale Pie recipe! It’s completely normal for the first time making a recipe to take a bit longer than expected, and it’s great that you’re already planning ahead for next time. I would love to see a picture of your Tamale Pie creation, please feel free to send it to this email address stacy@tastesbetterfromscratch.com. Thanks for sharing your experience with us and happy cooking! 😊👨🍳👍
Happy you posted this recipe. It was easy and delicious definitely putting this on one of my go to.
This was delicious! Being a NC transplant from TX, we struggle to find good Mexican food and this hit the spot. This will be on repeat in our house.
So fun to make! Absolutely delicious and the one pot situation is amazing.