Skillet Tamale Pie
Chili-spiced ground sirloin, black beans, tomatoes and cheddar under a quick cornbread batter, baked right in the skillet in about 15 minutes.
By the 1950s, Wikipedia says, tamale pie recipes had added cheese, corn and green pepper, often dropped the bottom layer and switched the top from cornmeal mush to a cornmeal batter. This is that version made fast. America's Test Kitchen set out to fix bland, heavy fillings and boxed-mix toppings: it blooms chili powder in the onions, adds black beans and cheddar, and bakes a homemade cornbread batter on top in the same skillet (August 22, 2007:).
🇺🇸 This one is American
Chili-spiced ground sirloin, black beans, tomatoes and cheddar under a quick cornbread batter, baked right in the skillet in about 15 minutes.
🇲🇽 The original
The Mexican original is fresh masa beaten with lard, spread on soaked corn husks around pork in red chile sauce, folded and steamed until the masa pulls away from the husk. See the Red Chile Pork Tamales (Tamales Rojos de Puerco) recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
Bloomed chili powder
Cooking the chili powder in oil with the onion wakes up its flavor so the filling does not taste flat (ATK).
Cheese as thickener
Stirring cheddar into the hot filling enriches it and binds the beans and tomatoes so the cornbread sits on top instead of sinking (ATK).
Step by step
- Step 1
Set a rack in the middle of the oven and heat it to 450°F.
- Step 2
Heat the oil in a 12-inch ovenproof skillet over medium until shimmering. Add the onion, chili powder and 1/2 tsp salt and cook about 5 minutes, until soft. Stir in the garlic for 30 seconds.
- Step 3
Add the beef, beans and tomatoes and bring to a simmer, breaking up the meat, about 5 minutes, until the beef is cooked (160°F). Stir in the cheddar and cilantro and season with salt and pepper.
- Step 4
Whisk the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Whisk the buttermilk and egg in another, stir them into the dry ingredients until smooth, then stir in the melted butter until just combined.
- Step 5
Dollop the batter over the filling and spread it evenly.
- Step 6
Bake 10 to 15 minutes, until the cornbread is cooked through in the center. Serve from the skillet.
Skillet Tamale Pie
Serves 4 · one 12-inch skillet · 40 min total
Filling
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 medium onion, minced
- 2 tbsp chili powder
- Salt
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 lb 90% lean ground sirloin
- 1 (15.5 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, drained
- 3 oz cheddar, shredded (1 cup)
- 2 tbsp minced fresh cilantro
- Black pepper
Cornbread topping
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Method
- Set a rack in the middle of the oven and heat it to 450°F.
- Heat the oil in a 12-inch ovenproof skillet over medium until shimmering. Add the onion, chili powder and 1/2 tsp salt and cook about 5 minutes, until soft. Stir in the garlic for 30 seconds.
- Add the beef, beans and tomatoes and bring to a simmer, breaking up the meat, about 5 minutes, until the beef is cooked (160°F). Stir in the cheddar and cilantro and season with salt and pepper.
- Whisk the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Whisk the buttermilk and egg in another, stir them into the dry ingredients until smooth, then stir in the melted butter until just combined.
- Dollop the batter over the filling and spread it evenly.
- Bake 10 to 15 minutes, until the cornbread is cooked through in the center. Serve from the skillet.
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen, "Skillet Tamale Pie" (August 22, 2007), as written for 4. Amounts, the 450°F oven and the 10 to 15 minute bake are ATK's. The 160°F check on the beef is from FoodSafety.gov. America's Test Kitchen. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (2)
Tips
- Use an ovenproof skillet; the handle goes into a 450°F oven.
- ATK also publishes a Pork Tamale Pie.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Tamale pie needs a bottom crust. Folklore: the early recipes had cornmeal above and below, but many 1950s versions dropped the bottom layer (Wikipedia), as this one does.
- Cornbread on top is not a "real" tamale pie. Folklore: Wikipedia shows the topping moving from mush to batter by the 1950s; both are tamale pie.
Every other tamale
Red Chile Pork Tamales (Tamales Rojos de Puerco)
Pork shoulder simmered down in a smooth guajillo chile sauce, wrapped in light, fluffy lard-beaten masa and steamed upright in corn husks, the central Mexican way.
Green Chicken Tamales (Tamales Verdes de Pollo)
Shredded chicken in a tangy tomatillo and serrano salsa verde, tucked into masa beaten fluffy with lard and chicken broth and steamed in corn husks.
Oaxacan Black Mole Tamales in Banana Leaves
Smooth lard-beaten masa, shredded pork and chicken and a spoonful of glossy mole negro, folded into square banana-leaf packets and steamed for an hour and a half.
Pink Sweet Tamales (Tamales de Dulce)
Sweet masa beaten with whipped lard and sugar, tinted pale pink and studded with raisins, steamed in corn husks and eaten with hot atole or champurrado.
Rajas con Queso Tamales (Poblano and Cheese)
Strips of roasted poblano chile and melting cheese tucked into lard-beaten masa and steamed in corn husks, the vegetarian tamal at every tamalada.
Uchepos (Michoacán Fresh Corn Tamales)
Sweet fresh corn blended with milk, butter and piloncillo, wrapped in fresh green husks from the same ears and steamed until just set, served with crema, cheese and salsa.
Venezuelan Hallacas
Venezuela's Christmas tamal: achiote-gold corn dough around a beef and pork stew with olives, raisins, capers, peppers and chicken, wrapped in banana leaves like a gift and boiled.
San Antonio Christmas Tamales
Long, thin San Antonio tamales with more filling than masa: lean pork simmered with raisins, then cooked in a tomato, green chile and oregano sauce, rolled in husks like cigars for the Christmas tamalada.
Mississippi Delta Hot Tamales
Small, spicy beef tamales with a gritty cornmeal dough, tied in bundles and simmered upright in a pot of seasoned water, then served with the juice thickened into a sauce.
New Mexico Red Chile Pork Tamales
Slow-roasted pork shoulder in a New Mexico red chile sauce, with a little of the same sauce beaten into the masa, rolled in corn husks, steamed and served under more red chile.
1918 Tamale Pie
The World War I version of America's tamale casserole: seasoned ground beef, onion and tomatoes baked between two layers of plain cornmeal mush, with no wrapper, no steamer and, in 1918, no chile.
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