Baked Chicken Tamale Pie Casserole with A Cornbread Crust

This easy Chicken Tamale Pie makes any weeknight dinner a fan-favorite. With a cornbread base, a rotisserie chicken and enchilada sauce, you’ll only need one pot for this recipe. An oven baked skillet dinner you can prep in less than 30 minutes.

 

This is Great for a Busy Weeknight Dinner

Tamale pie was always one of my favorite dinners growing up.  I have tried over the years to reproduce the flavors and just can’t quite get it right, so I decided to go the chicken route and created a chicken tamale pie that’s even better than what I remembered.

The one I grew up with used hamburger but using rotisserie chicken makes this into a quick weeknight dinner. This chicken tamale pie recipe, while not the same as what I grew up with, has all the best parts.  It has a delicious cornbread base with creamed corn and chilies, like Mexican cornbread, that is then topped with chicken and cheese in an enchilada sauce.

It took several tries before I could get the cornbread to form a firm enough layer to hold the chicken layer. It will still mush all together on your plate, but you can at least get out portions with a clear layer of cornbread on the bottom.

It’s not really like any tamale that I’ve ever eaten, I’m not sure why it’s called tamale pie. A tamale has a cornbread covering, made with masa and a chicken, pork or beef filling that is then wrapped in a corn husk and steamed. This recipe has cornbread and chicken but that’s about where the similarities end.

This is a one pot meal like a casserole in a skillet. You’ll cook a layer of cornbread to form the base add a chicken filling and then just heat it all up until it’s gooey and bubbly. It doesn’t look pretty, but boy is it good.

When you add cornbread to any dish whether this one or sloppy joe casserole topped with cornbread, it makes the casserole even better. The texture along with the flavors are just amazing.

It has Tex-Mex flavors from enchilada sauce and some green chilies in the cornbread and a chopped up jalapeno mixed with the chicken. You can easily adjust the heat in this recip – want it spicy, add the entire jalapeno, less spicy, remove the seeds or leave it out all together. Add some sour cream on top to cool things down a bit.

It’s a great comfort food dinner and one my gang always enjoys.

Make Tamale Pie with Cornbread Tonight

• It’s quick and easy to make
• A cornbread layer on the bottom holds it together like a pie crust
• Lots of gooey cheese
• Tex-Mex flavors everyone will love

Cornbread Ingredients

• Cornmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder – for the cornmeal, I used finely ground, but for this recipe you can use any type of cornmeal, just make sure it’s not cornmeal mix.
• Butter, buttermilk and an egg. If you don’t have buttermilk, learn how to make buttermilk with pantry items.
• Creamed corn – this gives the cornbread moisture.
• Canned green chilies – you can use hot or mild.

Chicken Tamale Pie Filling Ingredients

• Rotisserie chicken – or it’s so simple to bake your own chicken breasts.
• Enchilada sauce – for simple weeknight dinners, I use a prepared sauce.
• Jalapeno – if you want it spicy or a pablano for flavor but not as much spice.
• Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese – use Pepper Jack cheese if you want to add a little more spice.

Simple Step by Step directions

Step 1: Make some cornbread

Whisk together the dry ingredients. Mix the buttermilk, egg, melted butter and creamed corn and green chilies together. Combine the two until just combined, don’t overmix.

Pour it into an iron skillet or any oven proof skillet. You can also add to a casserole dish but you will need to increase the cooking time.

Bake the corn bread and remove from the oven.

Step 2: Combine the filling

Combine shredded chicken, and half of the enchilada sauce. Spread the other half of the enchilada sauce over the cornbread and top with the chicken mixture.

Add jalapeno to cheese and top the chicken mixture.

Bake until the cheese is melted and bubbly on the edges. Let it cool for a few minutes before serving.

In this chicken cornbread casserole, the cornbread is light and fluffy and pairs well with the Tex-Mex flavored chicken. I’m a sucker for good chicken casseroles, everything you need for dinner in one pan.

Don’t expect this to come out in nice pretty slices, it will be messy but delicious. If you want pretty slices, let it cool a little, but good luck getting anyone to wait!

If you loved this recipe, give it a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating! Also, snap a picture of your finished dish and share it with me on Instagram using the hashtag #butterandbaggage and tagging me @butterandbaggage.