There’s nothing my family loves more than a Mexican Fiesta. Mexican food is my boys’ favourite type of cuisine and one I love as well. I’ve been experimenting a lot with different Mexican dishes lately and so when Chicken Farmers of Canada challenged me to throw my own Mexican Fiesta and create one of its tasty Mexican recipes for our feast, I couldn’t resist.
As far as my boys are concerned, tacos and fajitas are the best Mexican food ever created, but I wanted to shake things up a bit and try something new. I decided to create the Chicken Tamale Pie and it was just the kind of unique and delicious meal I had hoped it would be.
Chicken Tamale Pie
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb 0.3 kg lean ground chicken
- 8 tsp 40 mL vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup 125 mL onion, diced
- 1 cup 250 mL salsa
- 7 tbsp 105 mL water
- 2 tsp 10 mL chili powder
- 1 tsp 5 mL cumin, ground
- 1 tsp 5 mL oregano, dried
- 10 drops hot pepper sauce
- 1 cup 250 mL corn niblets, frozen
- 1 red pepper s, diced
- 1 jalapeño pepper seeded, chopped
- 1 cup 250 mL black olives, sliced
- 3/4 cups 175 mL cornmeal
- 1/4 cup 60 mL whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp 5 mL baking powder
- 2 tbsp 30 mL cilantro, fresh, minced
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup 125 mL 2% milk
- 1/2 cup 125 mL low-fat mozzarella cheese, grated
Instructions
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Sauté ground chicken and diced onion in a large skillet until chicken is browned; drain.
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Stir in salsa, water, 1 tsp (5 mL) of chili powder, ground cumin, oregano and bottled hot sauce (optional); bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes. Add corn, red pepper, jalapeño pepper, sliced olives and salt, if necessary, to taste.
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Preheat oven to 350ºF(180ºC).
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In a separate bowl combine cornmeal, whole wheat flour, baking powder and 1 tsp (5 mL) of chili powder for topping.
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Beat vegetable oil, egg, milk and minced coriander (cilantro). Add to dry ingredients. Stir until just combined. Do not overmix.
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Spray an 8” square casserole with vegetable oil cooking spray and spread chicken mixture evenly over bottom. Top with cornmeal topping. Sprinkle dish with shredded cheese.
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Bake for 30-40 minutes or until knife inserted into cornmeal comes out clean and the dish is slightly browned.
I made a few substitutions to make this meal suit our family’s tastes a little more. I cut back on the heat by eliminating the hot pepper sauce and jalapenos. Then I decided to trade the black olives for a popular Mexican favourite, black beans. The beans increased the protein and fibre in the dish while still giving it the authentic Mexican flavour I wanted. Finally, I topped the cornmeal crust with cheddar cheese instead of mozzarella because my boys and I love the richer flavour.
The dish baked up to perfection in just thirty minutes and I loved how easy it had been to assemble. Essentially I just simmered the filling in a pan until it was cooked and then topped it with a simple cornmeal biscuit batter. Meals that come together quickly are always a big win in my busy life!
And when the time came to dig in, we all loved this spicy and flavourful dish. Of course, eating it wearing sombreros and moustaches may have helped to increase the appeal, but if dressing up helps my boys clean their plates, I’m happy with that!
Chicken Farmers of Canada has so many more great Mexican recipes I can’t wait to try for my next fiesta. The Avocado, Beet and Chicken Tostadas sound so unusual and delicious, and I’m sure the Stacked Tortilla Bake with Chicken Chili will be a favourite with my boys! Check out the selection of fun and easy Mexican meals on the Chicken.ca website for yourself and add some spice to your dinner tonight!
Jennifer says
bwhahaha love the pics!
Kathryn says
LOL! Thanks Jen! Nothing makes Mexican food more fun than a fake moustache! 😉
Soozle says
Hahahaha!!! LOVE THE PICS! 🙂 You guys are so cute! 😀 You certainly know how to make a meal a special occasion!
Kathryn says
Lol Chicken.ca gets all the credit, Soozle; they sent us so much fun stuff for our fiesta! I’m totally keeping those sombreros to pull out on random occasions!
Dawn says
great dinner idea! can’t wait to try it … although I will be adding in hot sauce and jalapenos because I love it hot & spicy!
loriag says
Oh that looks and sounds fabulous we love mexican, but have never had tamali pie.
Chandra Christine O'Connor says
is the topping like johnny cake? (corn bread)
Kathryn says
Yes exactly, Chandra, except it’s not sweet at all as Johnny Cake sometimes is. It’s a neat twist on traditional chicken pot pie. 🙂
Wanda Tracey says
I have not tried chicken tamale pie but this recipe is intruiging me to try it because I love Mexican food.The ingredients sound delicious to me. I love halepeno peppers and cilantro and spices.
Anne Taylor says
This really sounds and looks delicious! Next time we have Mexican food we are going to have this! I can imagine that the house smells fantastic when this is cooking!
n.cassandra smith says
Looks like you guys had alot of fun with Mexican night. Cute photos 🙂
Treen Goodwin says
Sounds delish a must try , love the pics thanks for sharing 🙂
Judy C (Judy Cowan) says
Love the pictures, sounds like a great recipe. Thanks for sharing it!
Stephanie LaPlante says
I’ve never heard of Chicken Tamale Pie before. Sounds delicious!!!
Chandra Christine O'Connor says
looks yummy and easy to prepare I like recipes like that
Rick F says
this looks so good.
angela m says
Great pics 🙂 Looks delicious.
Nicky says
i like how you created this fun theme night!
Marti Tabora says
That looks so darn good, now I just have to try it. Love the pics, too.
Gord says
I would try to make this, but would take out a few ingredients.
Valerie Crawford says
Looks amazing! Saving this for later!.
Sherry K says
looks like something we would like
Jennifer L. says
I love tamale pie but haven’t made it in years…thanks for the reminder. This recipe looks great!
Heidi C. says
The pics are great and the recipe sounds delicious!
GARRY S says
GREAT PICTURESW
Emily Chui says
thanks for sharing, this looks super yummy. I’ll have to try it out!
awesome pictures btw! 😀
caryn s says
this recipe looks delicious and i love the moustache pics!
Rachel C says
Looks like a fun time 🙂
I’ll have to try that recipe.
Victoria Ess says
That looks so amazing!! I’ve never heard of tamales before.
Tanis says
Interesting recipe! And I like the hats!
sarah sar says
I’ve never tried mexican food before but this looks so good!
June S. says
This recipe sounds so good to me, I know my husband would like it too. And I was looking for some different things to make for dinner also.
Dayna says
OMG those moustaches are awesome! I am not big on anything spicy but my family is so I will be printing this 1 out & trying it on them! Thanks Mama Kat!
Ronald G says
It seems so terrific I wish I wasn’t a live alone bachelor.
Darlene Schuller says
haha I love the pictures!!! The recipe makes my taste buds go nuts, can’t wait to give it a try thanks for sharing.
Debbie W says
This is different. I might try it. Love the cat pix
Jennifer P. says
Not a fan of cilantro, jalapenos or olives, but I think I could make some substitutions and still try this out.
mrdisco says
looks like a pretty filling meal