This easy recipe for tamale pie is one of my favorites! I’ve always enjoyed traditional tamales, but they can be time consuming to prepare. This skillet tamale pie is a great recipe that can be prepared, baked, and served in one skillet.

It’s a great meal whenever you have ground beef or ground turkey on hand, and it’s perfect for busy weeknights.

To make life easier for you (and less clean-up too!) make sure the large skillet you use to cook the ground meat is also oven-safe. A cast-iron skillet or any brand oven-safe skillet is fine.

The other thing that makes this tamale pie casserole so easy is that it basically uses pantry ingredients and you can really adjust based on what you have on hand.

In addition to the meat, you’ll need enchilada sauce, black beans, green chiles, and spices like chili powder and cumin. You can also use a packet of taco seasoning instead of the listed spices.

And if you have another type of bean, like red kidney beans, use them! My husband loves black olives, so if I have those around, they go in the mixture too. Don’t you love it when new recipes are both easy AND versatile?

As tasty as the filling for this delicious tamale pie recipe is, it’s the yummy cornbread mixture that bakes on top that’s my favorite. I love cornbread anytime, but mixed with shredded cheese and green chiles, the cornbread topping adds an extra savory touch.

Easy Skillet Tamale Pie Recipe

This is such an easy, comforting meal your family will love!

Ingredients

1 lb. lean ground beef or ground turkey
1 10z can red enchilada sauce
2 4oz cans diced green chiles
1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 15 oz. can corn kernals, drained
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/8 tsp. cayenne
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1 box jiffy corn muffin mix
1 egg
1/3 c. milk

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.
In a 10 inch skillet, cook ground meat over medium heat until browned. Drain any grease,
Add enchilada sauce, beans, spices, corn, 1 can of green chiles to meat mixture. Cook over low heat for 5 minutes.
Turn off heat. Add 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese on top of meat mixture.
In a small bowl, mix together corn muffin mix, egg and milk. Add remaining can of chiles and cheese to cornbread mixture.
Spread corn bread batter evenly over meat mixture in skillet.
Place in oven and bake for 35-40 minutes until golden brown on top and cooked through.
Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.
Serve wtih a dollop of sour cream as garnish.