Featured comment
Love love love it! Have cooked this 3 times already in the last 2 weeks and never have any leftovers! Thanks for sharing. =)
linda godwin
Today’s lesson is on healing foods.
You might be thinking of brightly colored veggies and lean proteins, and I can dig that. Most of the time.
But today I’m thinking of chicken tamale pie: creamy corn bread, spicy enchilada sauce, seasoned chicken, and melted cheese baked into a pie dish. A PIE DISH. That right there is healing.
I’ve had a rough go of it the last few days. After my embarrassing gas station encounter, there was the life-altering iPhone incident, and now there’s this.
The Pistachios.
Let me tell you something about myself. I like free food, and I like it a lot. Especially like it when it’s shelled, salted pistachios in an extra humongo bag.
So in an effort not to eat the whole bag of pistachios in between lunch and dinner, I’ve been spending my evenings making one bazillion types of pistachio baked goods. And I have privately eaten thrown away all one bazillion attempts.
No pistachios were thrown at the kitchen wall. Nope. None at all.
Just when I was about to throw in the towel on baking for the rest of my life, Bjork asked for this tamale pie. And the moment it came out of the oven, hot and saucy with bubbling cheese, I was healed. Hallelujah Amen.
One last thing:
Tamale Pie
loves
the camera.
Like, whoa.
Watch How To Make This Recipe:
Chicken Tamale Pie
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
This chicken tamale pie is a huge crowd pleaser and so easy to make! A corn cake bottom layer topped with shredded chicken, enchilada sauce, and cheese.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup fat free milk
- 1/4 cup egg substitute
- 1 1/2 tablespoon taco seasoning, divided
- 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
- 1 (14 3/4 ounce) can cream-style corn
- 1 (8.5 ounce) box corn muffin mix (such as Jiffy)
- 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
- 1 (10 ounce) can red enchilada sauce – I recommend going with an authentic Mexican brand
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
- 3/4 cup shredded white cheese (I used Raclette – random, I know, but it’s what I had on hand, and it ended up being delicious!)
- cilantro and crumbled Cotija cheese for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°. Combine the first 7 ingredients (milk through green chiles), using just 1/2 tablespoon of the taco seasoning, in a large bowl, stirring just until moist. Pour mixture into a round pie plate (mine was glass) coated with cooking spray. Bake for 20-30 minutes.
- While corn is baking, toss the chicken in the remaining 1 tablespoon taco seasoning. When corn is done – it will be just barely set and golden brown – pierce entire surface liberally with a fork (it might stick a little bit to the fork). Pour enchilada sauce over top. Top with chicken; sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Cut into 8 pieces; top each serving with cilantro and Cotija cheese.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Mexican
Keywords: chicken tamale pie, tamale crust
May the healing powers be with you as you pull this out of the oven tonight.
UPDATE: Thanks for all your feedback on this recipe! Some of you have mentioned the cornbread crust was a bit mushy – this is normal. The consistency should be similar to a masa type corn cake or corn pudding – enough to hold together, but not dry like a cornbread. I did update the baking time to 20-30 minutes after making it for the second time. 🙂
What is the purpose of the egg replacer? I can’t find any notes about it. Can I use egg instead?
Great winter comfort food! Made mine vegetarian by subbing jackfruit for chicken. Delicious!
I’ve been making this for years and it’s always a big hit. I made it for my husband’s aunt (who doesn’t cook) once, and now she asks me to make it for her as a Christmas gift every year. That’s how much she loves it.
Oh, that’s so great to hear! What a fun tradition.
I’ve made this a thousand times, it’s in our monthly dinner rotation. I’ve always wondered about the egg substitute… Its expensive and I only use 1/4 cup for this recipe, and always wind up throwing the rest away. Is there something else I can use? An actual egg? Butter?
Thank!
Making this right now. It has been a go-to recipe for years. My sons don’t want to share it! Your recipes are all great!
I just made the Chicken Tamale Pie, and it was a huge hit with my family! The flavors were incredible, and I loved how easy it was to put together. I’ll definitely be adding this to our regular dinner rotation. Thanks for sharing such a delicious recipe!
Used Jiffy Honey corn muffin mix, put it in an 8×8 pan, did not drain green chilies (usually don’t), baked it 30 min., only had green enchilada sauce (and like it better) and when I served it I gave the option of topping it with salsa & guacamole. GREAT!
Oh my goodness, this is such a hit in our household! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sent someone a link to this recipe! I habe begun to keep everything on hand to make it for a comforting weeknight dinner. Thank you!
This was soooo good! I made this as a savory pie for our church’s Pie Night. I used 2 cans of chicken breast (Members mark) and white cheddar for the cheese. Definitely making this again!
This was a delicious, quick, and easy recipe that will become a new addition to our favorites. Thank you for sharing.
Can you freeze this? How would that change the recipe?
This Chicken Tamale Pie looks absolutely delicious! I love how you’ve combined all those great flavors in one dish. Can’t wait to try it out this weekend—thanks for sharing your recipe!
Hello I’m new at cooking and I am curious what kind of egg substitute should I use for this recipe?
What does egg substitute mean? And we use whole raw milk at our house. Is that ok?
Hi Austin! This is the type of egg substitute to use for this recipe!
How would you go about making this ahead of time for a friend? I wanted to drop off in the afternoon for them to have for dinner this evening. Could I pause somewhere with the instructions or completely finish it and then they are just reheating it?
Hi Anna! I think you could make it through step 1 (bake the cornbread base) and then top it with the rest and let them finish baking for 15 minutes!
Can you flip this recipe upside down so the cornbread mixture ends up on top, and bake it all at once? Has anybody tried this?
I’m cooking your recipe can I use just can corn and not cream corn ?
Has anyone tried to freeze the leftovers?
Thank you!
We followed the recipe as written (using Colby Jack for the shredded white cheese on top) an we all found the cornbread layer to be way too SWEET. If I made it again, I would look for a cornbread mix with no sugar.
Hi Lindsay, can I use corn bread mix instead of corn muffin mix for this recipe?
Worst ever I hope people don’t waste there time on this white washed recipe disgusting i damn near threw up. You been warned. White people stop making Mexican food. We suck at it omg!!
Subbed green chili enchilada sauce and it was a hit!
I made this one for my daughter as well so she and her husband didn’t need to think of cooking while tending to the new baby. I didn’t taste it but if it’s like the others I made today of yours, they’re going to just enjoy it!
Also wanted to know if I double this recipe would it fit well in a 13 x 9 pan and what I need to increase the bake time?
We haven’t tried that before to know, but we’d love to hear how it goes!
I’ve made it once absolutely loved the recipe, but would like to make it a head and reheat. Wasn’t sure how to reheat need to be done ahead because of time issue to take to reunion.