Tamale Pie with Chipotle Cheddar Cornbread

I can’t believe I’ve kept this recipe to myself.  I discovered Tamale Pie when I was in college and I’ve been tweaking and trying different recipes for  years but I think I am finally satisfied with my final recipe.

Oh and by the way, Tamale Pie is not really a Mexican dish but it does resemble Mexican food in its flavor and it’s somewhat similar in taste to Tamales.

Tamale Pie Recipe

• 3 cps cooked ground beef
• 1 med onion diced
• 2 tsp Chili pepper
• 3 tsp Cumin
• 1 can of corn or cream of corn
• 1/2 cp raisins
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• can of tomato sauce

Cornbread topping:

You can use a box of cornbread mix or make it from scratch (recipe follows).

1½ cups yellow cornmeal

2 cps of shredded cheddar
1 cup all-purpose flour

1-2 tsp Chipotle seasoning or 3 chipotle canned chiles
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1.5 cup whole milk
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Meat Filling:

1. In a large casserole dish add all of the filling ingredients.

Cornbread Topping:

1. Follow your box recipe and pour your cornbread mix over the top of the meat filling and bake for 350 for 30-45 minutes.

If you’re making the cornbread from scratch do as follows: In a large bowl mix all of your ingredients and pour over your meat filling.

Serve with sour cream!

Note: If you do not like spicy, leave out the chipotle. What I do is make one side of it with chipotle for the adults and the other side without chipotle for the kids. The chipotle will make the cornbread somewhat reddish so you will be able to tell.