Texas Tamale Pie

Texas Tamale Pie is an easy weeknight dinner that can be in a Jiffy and tastes delicious! Made with a cornbread crust and ground beef, this beef tamale casserole will be a hit at the dinner table. Bonus: This best tamale pie recipe ever freezes well and makes great leftovers.

Texas Tamale Pie is a super easy, filling weeknight meal that freezes well and makes terrific leftovers. This tastes like your grandma's tamale pie recipe and is delicious to eat all year round! It works exceptionally well for easy back-to-school weeknight meals and no-fuss dinners. This Southwest Tamale Pie was inspired by my Dorito Casserole With Ground Beef recipe and my Taco Pasta Casserole and Salsa Con Queso is another crowd-pleaser around here. Beef Burrito Bowls is also an easy dinner recipe.

Jump to:

• 🌮 Ingredients For Tamale Pie Casserole
• 🌮 Instructions For Easy Tamale Pie Casserole
• The Best Tamale Pie Recipe
• 🌮 Pro Tips for the Best Tamale Pie Recipe
• 🌮 FAQ For Texas Tamale Pie
• Pin This Easy Dinner Recipe For Later
• 📖 Recipe
• 🌮 Pro Tips for the Best Tamale Pie Recipe
• 💬 Comments

🌮 Ingredients For Tamale Pie Casserole

What you'll need for Delish Tamale Pie

• Lean Ground Beef
• Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix for cornmeal crust
• Eggs
• Black Olives
• Salsa
• Red Bell Pepper or Green Bell Pepper
• Milk
• Fresh Corn or Frozen Corn
• Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• Fresh Cilantro
• Sliced Avocado and sour cream for toppings
• Spices: black pepper, sea salt, and chili powder
• Baking Dish
• Dutch Oven or Cast Iron Skillet

See recipe card below for quantities

🌮 Instructions For Easy Tamale Pie Casserole

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray cooking oil spray in a 9x13 casserole dish or prepared baking dish.

Step 2: Cook the ground beef in a Dutch oven or cast iron skillet over medium heat. and season the ground beef with chili powder, sea salt, and black pepper. 

The Best Tamale Pie Recipe

Step 3: Add the chopped bell pepper and salad to the ground beef mixture and combine and simmer on low heat for ten minutes. Using a spatula, make sure to break up the ground beef really well, as it won't have to break down before we put the Texas Tamale pie into the oven.

Step 4: In a small mixing bowl, add the two boxes of Jiffy cornbread mix, milk, and eggs, and stir until combined. (make sure to double the milk and eggs for this portion since we are using two boxes of Jiffy cornbread mix)

Step 5: Pour half of the Jiffy cornbread mix into the bottom of the prepared casserole dish Texas Tamale Pie.

Step 6: Add a layer of corn on top of the cornbread mixture into the baking dish.

Step 7: Next, add a layer of sharp cheddar cheese to the corn layer.

Step 8: Pour the prepared ground beef mixture onto the cheese layer.

Step 9: Next, add a layer of black olives, more fresh corn, and fresh cilantro

Step 10: Pour the remaining Jiffty cornbread mixture on top and add more shredded sharp cheddar cheese.

Step 11: Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes until the top is bubbly and golden brown. Slice and top with sliced avocado and sour cream and enjoy!

🌮 Pro Tips for the Best Tamale Pie Recipe

• If the cornbread topping of the Tamale Pie browns too fast, top the casserole dish with a layer of tinfoil and continue cooking. 
• Slice the pie into squares and top with sour cream, sliced avocado, fresh salsa, and fresh cilantro. 
• Texas Tamale Pie freezes well. Simply store leftover in a sealed, glass airtight container and reheat at 350 degrees to enjoy.
• You could mix in black beans, poblano peppers, ground chicken or ground turkey, and green chiles for even more of a treat! You could also add red enchilada sauce for a spicy kick.
• Swap out Sharp Cheddar Cheese for Monterey Jack Cheese or Mexican Cheese

You're going to love this easy Tamale pie recipe!

🌮 FAQ For Texas Tamale Pie

Which country invented tamale pie?

• According to Wikipiedia: Tamale pie is a pie and casserole dish in the cuisine of the Southwestern United States. It is prepared with a cornmeal crust and ingredients typically used in tamales. It has been described as a comfort food. The dish, invented sometime in the early 1900s in the United States, may have originated in Texas, and its first known published recipe dates to 1911.

Are tamales and tamale pie the same?

• No, there are no tamales in tamale pie, just ingredients that you may find in tamales. (if that makes sense lol)

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