Fun fact: I’m half Puerto Rican. I grew up on a mostly vegetarian diet, enjoying my Mother’s Spanish inspired cuisine whenever I could. Each week, she’d make a big batch of slow cooked Puerto Rican rice and beans, fried plantains, pozole and empanadas. Our food always seemed different than my friends, and I never understood why they didn’t have enchiladas at Thanksgiving until I was much older.
Dad, on the other hand, was very much into comfort food. Each Sunday, we’d sit down and enjoy a big batch of Dad’s fried chicken, sweet corn, the creamiest mashed potatoes and if we were lucky, soft rolls. Sometimes green beans were included too. Oh and cake! There was always cake or pie for dessert; usually yellow cake with rich, thick chocolate buttercream or my Grandma’s favorite creamy lemon meringue pie. Yes we loved, loved, loved our sweets.
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Now that I’m older (and have my own food blog!), I find myself very appreciative to my Mother for showing me how to cook and exposing me to ethnic food at a very young age. I’m also extra thankful to Dad for allowing me to experiment with baking as a little girl.
There are many days when I wonder what it would be like to cook and bake for him now. I bet his big blue eyes would light up with delight if I made him this chicken tamale pie; I know it would remind him of Mom’s cooking that he loved so very much.
Looking back at my childhood and the chaos of it, my memories associated with cooking and baking are always positive. Maybe that’s why I’ve succeeded in this profession. It has always given me the utmost joy and comfort. That’s how I know it’s my passion.
This chicken tamale pie is another one of those recipes that has given me pure joy. I make it often during the weekdays, serving it with fresh guacamole and hot sauce. Trust me, it’s a recipe you’ll save for years to come because it’s simple to throw together, family-friendly, flavorful and comforting.
As you already know, my take on comfort foods always are a little lightened up from traditional versions because that’s just how I roll. So when Cascadian Farm approached me to work on some recipes, I knew I’d use their frozen sweet corn and make this family favorite.
The meaty corn mixture is a combination of lean ground chicken (or turkey), Cascadian Farm organic frozen sweet corn, a homemade enchilada sauce, spices, onion, garlic and a little cheesseeeeee.
The cornbread topping is made effortlessly with whole wheat pastry flour, yellow cornmeal, a little oil, honey, fresh jalapeños, almond milk and more of that sweet corn! When you’re finished mixing it up, just pour the batter over the meat mixture and bake until bubbly and golden brown. Too good you guys. TOO GOOD.
I have faith that you’ll love this recipe as much as I do. There are a few variations that I’ve included in the note section below including how to make it vegetarian, vegan and/or gluten free. Hope you LOVE!
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave a comment below to let me know how to you liked it. If you’re on Instagram, be sure to snap a pic and tag #ambitiouskitchen so I can check out your creations! xo.
More healthy comfort food recipes to try:
The Best Healthy Turkey Lasagna You’ll Ever Eat
Cheddar-Stuffed Sweet Potato BBQ Turkey Meatloaf
Brown Butter Cranberry Pumpkin Cornbread Skillet
Skinny Refried Bean & Chicken Enchiladas with Homemade Enchilada Sauce
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Whole Wheat Honey-Jalapeño Cornbread Chicken Tamale Pie
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 pound lean ground chicken or turkey (at least 93% lean)
- 1 cup Cascadian Farm Frozen Organic Sweet Corn
- 1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 3/4 teaspoon cumin
- Freshly ground salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (melted coconut oil would also be great)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and diced
- 1/2 cup Cascadian Farm Frozen Organic Sweet Corn
- 1/2 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
- For garnish: Jalapeño slices, avocado or guacamole, cilantro, greek yogurt/sour cream, hot sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat olive oil in large cast iron skillet over medium high heat,
- add onions and sauté for 3-5 minutes until translucent and tender. Next, add in the ground chicken and cook for 5-7 minutes or until meat is no longer pink.
- Stir in corn, tomato sauce, garlic, chili powder, oregano and cumin. Add salt and pepper to taste then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes while you make the cornbread topping.
- To make the cornbread topping: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a separate medium bowl, whisk the egg, honey, oil and almond milk together until well combined. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in diced jalapeños and corn.
- Remove skillet from heat. Sprinkle cheese on top of meat mixture. Pour cornmeal topping over the cheese & meat mixture and spread evenly towards the edges of the skillet.
- Top the batter with a few slices of jalapeños. Bake for 25-28 minutes until cornbread is slightly golden brown on the edges and filling is bubbling. Serve with guacamole, cilantro, sour cream/greek yogurt and hot sauce. Serves 6.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
This post is in partnership with Cascadian Farm. All recipes, text and opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting AK and the brands that help make this site possible!
LOVE this recipe!! Have made it several times already and will definitely keep it on heavy rotation. Easy, comforting, and delicious!
So happy to hear that!!
Delicious!!! I love how the cornbread is baked right into the top-less dishes to clean! I made it about 5 days ago, and it stored and reheated so well!. The only thing I may change for the next time is the cheese-I LOVE cheese- but I wasn’t able to taste much of it underneath the cornbread. So maybe I’ll bake it into the cornbread next time or sprinkle it on top? But it’s still SO good! Thank you!
YAY I saw your post in the FB group — it looked fabulous! So glad you enjoyed it. And yes those are great ideas for the cheese; I think both in the cornbread and on top would be delish 🙂
This is one of our favorite recipes i’ve made it a million times. I’m going to prep it ahead of time for the first time. Wondering if you would make the cornbread topping or wait for that until I bake?
Hi, Christie! SO, so happy you love this one!! I think you could easily prep the dry ingredients + wet ingredients for the cornbread topping, keeping them separate and mixing them just before baking. Hope that helps!
LOVE this recipe! I have made it multiple times and it is always a big hit with my family! Heats up great as leftovers as well!
The BEST! My in-laws live across the country and we love to choose a recipe we can make “together.” This was a real winner coast-to-coast!
Love that! This is a great one to share (even virtually 🙂 )
This turned out delicious! I made double the amount of cornbread because the last time I made it, there was not enough to spread over the entire skillet. This time it was perfect!
I’m glad that worked out better! So delicious 🙂
Super easy and fast to make! I use shredded chicken instead of ground and it turned out great, might even try black beans next time instead of chicken.
Absolutely! Love that idea 🙂
This was so delicious! My whole family loved it!
So happy to hear that!
This was absolutely delicious! Highly recommend!
So happy to hear that!
One of our favorite AK recipes! We have already made this 3 times since trying it and make sure to always have the ingredients on hand for an easy delicious dinner. The cornbread topping is just delicious.
So happy to hear that! Such a great dinner 🙂
This was a HUGE hi!. My husband and 3 kids all loved it. It was easy, delicious, and will definitely go in our rotation. Thanks for such a great recipe!
So happy to hear that, Candice! Such a great weeknight dinner 🙂
Very good used 1 can black beans 1 can red pinto plus one jalapeño
Perfect! So delicious.
Simple to make and very tasty! I will be making this again. Thank you!
So glad you enjoyed!
The video includes applesauce but the recipe doesn’t. Should applesauce be included? How much?
In the original recipe I had 1 tablespoon of applesauce in place of 1 of the tablespoons of oil in the crust, but have since tweaked it. The written recipe is correct!
I have made this recipe many times over the last few years. I make it vegan so I substitute kidney beans for chicken. It is a favourite in our house. I haven’t made it for a while now and today I thought it would be perfect. I just read the recipe and I’m sure I used to use apple sauce in the topping. But there is no mention of apple sauce!! Was I dreaming? Have you changed anything? I feel like I must be crazy!! Can you please tell me if there ever was apple sauce in this recipe?
Amazing! So glad you love this recipe. And yes you’re absolutely right — in the original recipe I had 1 tablespoon of applesauce in place of 1 of the tablespoons of oil in the crust, so feel free to add that back in and skip the second tablespoon of oil!
Hi! Made this tonight for my family and was confused by the result…the filling seemed to reduce and it was very heavy on the crust side? Is that normal, did I do something wrong?
Hi Katie! The tamale pie should be similar to the video in consistency! Did you simmer for too long, perhaps? It shouldn’t reduce that much as the recipe calls for a pound of meat, tomato sauce and corn!
Could you make this the night before and just bake it off the next day? Or would the cornbread mix settle?
I haven’t tried it. You could do everything but the cornbread the day before and then make the cornbread the day of. I think you’ll get better results that way.
I just made this and had to stop myself from eating out of the skillet! Really good and SO easy! I love the sweet cornbread with the slightly spicy meat!
Sweet & savory is the best. Glad you enjoyed!
Delicious!
Made this over the weekend and it did not disappoint! Followed another commenters suggestions of using a can of fire-roasted tomatoes and green chili’s (neither drained) instead of the tomato sauce. Also added half a can of black beans and few spoonfuls of tomato paste I needed to use up. Because of my substitutions, it made my filling volume greater than the original recipe. With the extra volume, the cornbread seemed scant and I would have def liked more of it! Next time (and there will be a next time), I may half my substitutions/meat so the filling to cornbread ratio will be more balanced….or double the cornbread! Still delicious regardless of my need for more cornbread!
Those add-ins sound delicious! Can’t go wrong with more cornbread 😉 Glad you loved this one regardless!
Im going to make it vegan…i see you left instructions for that…I can already tell that it will be a very tasty dish ..grew up on plain but delicious cornbread…love jalapenos and corn added to it now……thank you in advance..☺
Hope you love this one!!
Is the whole wheat PASTRY flour absolutely necessary? I know you need the flour but could it be whatever I have on hand?
It’s best for the consistency, but you can use regular white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour as well!