Hot Tamale Casserole

Hot Tamale Casserole

  • Prep Time: 30 mins
  • Total Time: 1 hrs 30 mins
  • Servings: 8

    • About This Recipe

    “If you like Mexican food you’ll love this recipe! It’s a little extra work but well worth it. Make it as hot or as mild as you like.”

    Ingredients

  • 10ouncesthawed frozen whole kernel corn
  • 3tablespoonstomato paste
  • 1 (14ounce) cans chopped tomatoes
  • 3jalapeno peppers, chopped(optional)
  • 1cupgreen pepper, chopped
  • 1cuponion, chopped
  • 1 1/4 lbslean ground beef
  • 2tablespoonslite olive oil
  • 1cupsliced green olives
  • 1tablespoonground cumin
  • 1 1/2 teaspoonssalt
  • 1/2 teaspoonallspice
  • 2teaspoonschili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoonhot pepper sauce
  • 1tablespoonyellow cornmeal

    • TAMALE TOPPING

  • 1cupall-purpose flour
  • 1cupyellow cornmeal
  • 3tablespoonssugar
  • 2teaspoonsbaking powder
  • 3tablespoons butter or 3tablespoonsmargarine, melted
  • 3/4 cup2% low-fat milk
  • 1largeegg, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cupsharp cheddar cheese, grated
  • 1jalapeno pepper, finely chopped

    • Directions

  • Heat oil in a large skillet.
  • Add onion and green pepper; saute until tender.
  • Add beef and cook until crumbly.
  • Add tomatoes (if the tomatoes are very juicy take off some juice, keep it you can add it if needed), tomato paste, corn, olives, cumin, salt, all spice, chili powder, pepper sauce and cornmeal.
  • Simmer stirring frequently for 30 minutes.
  • Preheat oven to 450°F.
  • Spoon mixture into a 2 1/2 qt casserole.
  • MAKE TAMALE TOPPING—————-.
  • In a large bowl mix, flour cornmeal, sugar and baking powder.
  • Add melted butter, milk, and egg.
  • Stir only until dry ingredients are just moistened.
  • Quickly stir in the jalapeno pepper and cheese.
  • BACK TO THE CASSEROLE———–.
  • Spoon the topping in large spoonfuls around the edge of the casserole.
  • Bake in 450°F uncovered for 25-30 minutes or until cornmeal topping is cooked through and lightly browned.

    • Reviews

  • “This was very very good. Yes it is a little work, but is very much worth it.”

  • “Made this last night for dinner.Excellent flavor.I was hesitant to use a whole tablespoon of cumin, but went ahead and wasn’t at all sorry…it was just perfect.The last part of the recipe says to cook in a 350 degree oven, even though previously we are instructed to preheat to 450 degrees.Since most cornbreads are baked at 450 degrees I stuck with that and in 25 minutes the casserole was perfect.Thank you so much for sharing, I will be making this again soon.”

  • “DELICIOUS! I’ve liked this dish from the first time I’ve tried it and as I’ve play with to tickle my particular taste, it keeps getting better. After 4-5 attempts at this recipe this is what I’ve come up with, so far. I use peeled, chopped, well drained, fresh Tomatoes, I have to help my friends get rid of the pesky things, you know. I shred some of Miss Annie’s Amazing Beef #46982 instead of using ground beef. The first time, I didn’t have any Green Olives but the Black ones seemed to work just fine. I use whole Cummin Seeds, whole Allspice, And whole Chipotle Chili Powder, which I grind just before use. Fresh ground spices are lightyears better than the stuff that’s been sitting around on a supermarket shelf for months.(www.worldspice.com has a variety of whole chili powders.) All of this was a bit thin so I simmered and stirred, stirred and simmered ’til it thickened nicely. For the topping I cut the Baking Powder to 1 teaspoon to make it a little less light and airy. I sub. Masa Harina for the corn meal to give it more of a true tamale flavor. For our Thursday night poker game this is often asked for ahead of time by my guests. Is it a bit of a hassle to make? Yes, a bit. Is it worth the hassle? You’re damned straight! Thanx for posting this great recipe. Pierre”

  • “This was good.We especially liked the cornbread topping.I baked the casserole for 25 minutes and the topping was done.I used one jalepeno in the filling and 1/2 of a jalepeno in the topping and it turned out fairly mild.My DS kept telling me how good this was and had thirds!”

  • “It tasted like a very good pizza burger!Thanks for posting this recipe.”

  • “Very good, but very salty.Next time I will cut down on the salt.I followed your recipe, except I added just a little cinnamon in lieu of the allspice (I didn’t have any) and no hot sauce and just 2 jalapenos.The cornbread topping was nice!”

  • “So good! I halved the recipe and it fit perfectly into a 8×8 pyrex (though it could have probably used the full amount of topping for half the meat). Super tasty – might even make just the meat or just the cornbread in the future too!”

  • “This was a great dish and the recipe is very forgiving of any needed or desired changes, it becomes very much your own original creation. I just moved across country, so I needed to make a few substitutions. I added a can of partially drained black beans in place of some of the meat and used a half a cup of salsa in place of tomato paste and some of the cumin. I did not have any chiles on hand, nor hot pepper sauce, so in the meat mixture I used what I had on hand, about one teaspoon of red chile flakes and several packets of Taco Bell Fire Sauce. Yes, those little packets with take out food come in handy, lol. I used a scant 1/4 tsp. of cinnamon and one clove stem, crushed, in place of the allspice. Last substitution I made was black olives for the green. I think maybe next time I will put a layer of cheese over the meat mixture, before topping it with cornmeal batter. It was great served with sour cream, green onions and some extra olives. This would be great to double and put in the freezer, too, for an easy meal during the week. Great for potlucks, too. Thanx, Bergy, for the recipe, this is no a family favorite.”

  • “Excellent recipe! I used all 3 jalapenos and didn’t find it overly spicy. This does have a good tamale taste except the texture of the topping doesn’t have that steamy dense texture that some tamales have, but more light. I thought the olives added an interesting flavor, perhaps a little bit Cuban? Also, the casserole wasn’t difficult to make at all, but went together nicely. Thanks for posting!”

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