This green chile chicken tamale pie is a quick and easy dinner idea! Flavorful chicken with cheese and green chiles with a cornbread ‘crust’. Prepare the chicken ahead of time to make it even quicker! Perfect for a weeknight meal.
Green Chile Chicken Tamale Pie. Tamales are the best right? Although it’s not really practical to make them for a quick weeknight meal. Instead, we can make this tamale pie! The hubs’ favorite tamale is the cheese and green chiles. This is a little play on that. With some chicken added in to give a little heartiness.
The chicken is my new favorite way to cook chicken. And it’s how I made the chicken in the Zucchini Boat Chicken Enchiladas. Super easy. To make this meal even easier on a busy weekday, just make the chicken ahead of time.
Can I be honest? I never really thought that cornbread created a realistic substitution for a tamale. But then I made a tamale pie.
Leaving leftovers for a day in the fridge really made the cornbread take on the texture of a tamale.
The best part about tamale pie? You can load it up with all your favorite toppings. I think we all know my love for tossing tomatoes, cilantro, and sour cream on things. And by things I mean my tex mex food.
Green Chile Chicken Tamale Pie
Ingredients
Green Chile Chicken Filling
- 1½ lbs chicken breast
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp ground cumin
- ½ cup yellow onion, diced
- 1 (4 ounce can) diced green chiles
- 2 cups Monterey jack cheese, shredded
Cornbread Crust
- ¾ cup cornmeal
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup hot water
- 2 tbsp butter, melted
- ½ cup corn kernels
Optional Toppings
- tomatoes
- green onion
- cilantro
- sour cream
Instructions
Green Chile Chicken Filling
- In a large skillet heat the olive oil. Add the chicken. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Cook about 7 minutes on each side until chicken is fully cooked. Remove from the skillet and place on cutting board.
- Add the chopped onion to the skillet and allow to cook for a few minutes until the onion is softened and translucent. Remove from heat.
- Shred the chicken and place in a bowl. Add the garlic powder, cumin, cooked onion, green chiles, and 1 cup of the jack cheese. Stir to combine. Set aside.
Cornbread Crust
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease 9 inch cast iron skillet with butter or baking spray.
- In a medium size mixing bowl add the cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt. Stir with a fork to combine.
- Pour in the hot water and melted butter. Stir until mixed. Fold in the corn kernels.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cast iron skillet. Spoon the chicken filling into the center of the skillet on top of the cornbread batter. Leave about a 1/4 of an inch around the edge as a crust. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
- Bake for about 25-28 minutes. Until cheese is melted and the cornbread is cooked through and golden on the edges.
- Serve warm and enjoy!
I made this for dinner today. The batter came out very thin and watery. I went ahead and made more of the flour recipe and added it to the batter till it look more like a batter. It’s in the oven now. We shall see how it goes.
I’m getting ready to make this recipe. Just wondering why only one comment? Any updates? I’m concerned with batter being soggy. I think I’ll make bread first and add to top later. Thank you.
Gina