Chicken Tamale Casserole in a Skillet made from scratch! Delicious cornbread crust topped with shredded chicken, enchilada sauce and loads of cheese, and clocking in at under 300 calories per serving!
I love love this chicken tamale casserole or pie or whatever you want to call it. I really do think that cornmeal is underrated. We need to cook more with cornmeal because look at the wonderful dishes you can create with it. Trust me when I tell you that this is a true comfort food. I’m talking lots of chicken, cheese and sauce, and lots of yumminess.
To top it all off, it’s really easy to make. I don’t think I need to tell you too much more because this casserole speaks for itself.
What Is A Tamale?
Tamale is a Mexican dish of seasoned meat wrapped in cornmeal dough and then steamed or baked in corn husks. You can then discard of the corn husks or use them as an all natural plate to eat the delicious tamales off of. Yep, pretty cool!
Now my dish here is not authentic by any means, it’s a casserole version with some of the same flavors, a cornbread crust topped with enchilada sauce, chicken and lots of cheese.
Ingredients
CORNBREAD
- Dry ingredients – Cornmeal, salt, baking powder, sugar.
- Wet ingredients – Buttermilk, melted unsalted butter, 1 egg, 1 can of creamed corn, and 1 can of diced green chilis.
CASSEROLE
- Cooked Chicken – I usually just buy a rotisserie chicken, shred it and use both white and dark meat.
- Enchilada sauce – 1 can, if you’d prefer to make it fresh please refer to my recipe listed down below.
- Cheese – I used freshly shredded Monterey Jack cheese today. You can substitute this for cheddar or any kind of cheese that melts down well.
- Cilantro – Chopped up fine and sprinkled liberally over top, totally optional if you’re not a cilantro fan.
- Avocado – This will add a nice buttery texture to your finished dish.
- Jalapeno –for a little bit of heat.
- Pomegranate seeds – for garnish.
How To Make Chicken Tamale Casserole
CORNBREAD
- Preheat your oven: To 400 F degrees.
- Combine the cornbread ingredients: Add the cornmeal, sugar, salt, baking powder to a medium size bowl and whisk together. Add the egg, butter, and buttermilk and whisk well. Stir in the creamed corn and the green chiles.
- Bake the cornbread: Pour the cornbread mixture into a large skillet or a 9×9 inch baking pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the edges are golden and the cornbread is done. When a clean toothpick inserted in the center of the cornbread comes out clean, it’s done.
ASSEMBLY
- Score the cornbread: When the cornbread is done, poke holes into it with a fork, or I used the end of a wooden spoon. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the top of the cornbread and spread. Top with shredded chicken and all the cheese.
- Finish the Beef Tamale Casserole: Bake the casserole for another 15 minutes or until the cheese has melted and has started to lightly brown on top. Let cool for about 5 minutes, then top the casserole with cilantro and your favorite toppings and you’re done!
Want To Make Your Own Enchilada Sauce?
Making your own homemade enchilada sauce will really take this dish to the next level, believe me. I chose to use store bought today because I wanted to showcase how to achieve great flavor with relative ease. I have a recipe here on the blog for making this sauce yourself, it’s easy and super tasty!
What Else Can I Use In Beef Tamale Casserole?
There’s lots you can add or tweak in this dish, while I think the recipe described above is an absolute knock out any way you slice it, don’t be afraid to play around with your new favorite casserole.
| Ground beef | Cheddar cheese | Bell peppers |
|---|---|---|
| Ground pork | Mozzarella | Sweet potato |
| Ground veal | Queso Fresco | Black Beans |
| Sausage | Provolone | Peas |
| A combination of above meats | Tex Mex Cheese | Potatoes |
Want To Make This Dish Ahead?
You can store this dish in the fridge for 3 – 4 days as long as it’s stored in an airtight container or otherwise tightly sealed.
FREEZER
This entire chicken tamale casserole can be popped in the freezer, as long as it’s tightly sealed. It can be stored this way for up to 6 months and just needs to thaw out overnight in the fridge when ready to eat. Just pop it in the oven set at 350 F degrees for 30 minutes when ready to enjoy!
More Must Try Delicious Recipes:
- Beef Tamale Recipe
- One Pot Cheesy Taco Orzo
- Skillet Shepherd’s Pie
- Fiesta Chicken Skillet Cobbler
- Skillet Lasagna
- Skillet Chicken Pot Pie
- Chicken Piccata Pasta
- Skillet Chicken Satay
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Chicken Tamale Casserole
Ingredients
For Cornbread
- 1/2 cup cornmeal
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 egg
- 4 tablespoon butter unsalted, melted
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup creamed corn
- 4.5 ounce diced green chiles 1 can
Tamale Casserole
- 2 cups chicken cooked, shredded white or dark meat
- 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese shredded
- 1 cup Tex Mex cheddar cheese shredded
- 10 ounce enchilada sauce
Optional Toppings
- cilantro
- avocado
- green onions
- pomegranate seeds
- sour cream
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 F degrees.
- Add the cornmeal, sugar, salt, baking powder to a medium size bowl and whisk together. Add the egg, butter, and buttermilk and whisk well. Stir in the creamed corn and the green chiles. Pour the cornbread mixture into a 12 inch skillet or a 9×9 inch baking pan.
- Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes. To make sure the cornbread is done, insert a toothpick in the center of the cornbread and if it comes out clean, it’s done.
- When the cornbread is done, poke holes into it with a fork, or I used the end of a wooden spoon.
- Mix half of the enchilada sauce with the shredded chicken. Pour the other half of the enchilada sauce over the top the cornbread. Top with shredded chicken and all the cheese.
- Bake the casserole for about 15 minutes or until the cheese has melted and has started to brown on top.
- Let cool for about 5 minutes then top the casserole with any of the optional toppings listed before serving.
Recipe Notes
- This dish can be stored in the fridge for 3 – 4 days as long as it’s stored in an airtight container or otherwise tightly sealed.
- This entire casserole can be popped in the freezer, as long as it’s tightly sealed. It can be stored this way for up to 6 months and just needs to thaw out overnight in the fridge when ready to eat. Just pop it in the oven set at 350 F degrees for 30 minutes when ready to enjoy!
- Nutritional information does not include any of the optional toppings. Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
I wanted it saucier, so I used a 20 ounce can of enchilada sauce. It was delicious and this is a keeper!
This is one of our favorite recipes. Delicious just this way. Sometimes I use pork for a change!
I have not made the recipe, but was curious about the cornbread. I didn’t see any flour in the ingredient list. I am used to flour added to the cornmeal. You do not add flour to yours?
In this recipe there’s not cornbread, but my usual cornbread recipe definitely has flour in it.
Nice recipe, great “pseudo tamale” flavor. Will have to double next time, my crew gobbled it up.
Trying for the first time. Very excited. What do omit if using a cornbread mix? Just the dry ingredients? Thanks!
Yes!
And yet another amazing recipe from Jo! Made with Jo’s delicious enchilada sauce which is so much better than canned and worth the extra few minutes. Couldn’t find creamed corn so I made my own from defrosted frozen corn (1/2 cup pureed kernels + 1/2 cup whole kernels). Thank you again Jo!
You are so welcome! Happy you loved the recipes 🙂
I made this tonight and everyone loved it. I like that it can be easy weekday meal with three short cuts; Store bought rotisserie chicken, store-bought enchiladas sauce, and boxed cornbread mix (don’t forget the cream corn and green Chilies). Or if you have time you can roast your own chicken, make your own enchiladas sauce (Jo has a link to on the page) and make the corn bread. The pomegranate seeds were and unexpected surprise and everyone loved those too. I will definitely be making this again soon I stashed some enchilada sauce for next time. Thank you Jo!