I attended the Latina Bloggers Conference on Friday. Within a few minutes of arriving a nice man sat down next to me and we started to chat. Not 10 minutes into being at the conference he asked, “Are you actually Latina?”
Ha! Apparently I forgot my sombrero so I can understand it being unclear 
I obviously get this a lot so it’s ‘no big’ but I thought it was funny.
So, even though I am no longer vegetarian, I’m still Mexican. And even though my Meatless Mexican Monday series is taking a siesta, I have an easy Mexican inspired recipe for you today…
Now let’s talk about this easy and delicious tamale pie recipe…
I LOVE tamales. But making legit ‘spread the masa, fill them with meat, roll it up, steam…tamales’ is A LOT of work. My family only makes tamales for Christmas. We make a HUGE batch and freeze some for New Year’s. But outside of that we get them from a panaderia or the lady that sells them outside the store.
But here is the tamale experience in pie form – no corn husks needed!
Tamale Pie Recipe
Ingredients:
Bottom:
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1 1/4 c corn flour
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2/3 c water, add more as needed
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3-4 Tb melted butter or oil
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3/4 tsp salt
Topping:
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1 pound ground meat of your choice
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1/2 c onions
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chili powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper
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1/2 c salsa (red or green)
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Cotija cheese
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optional: cilantro, green onion, monterey jack cheese
Directions: Heat oven to 400 degrees. Cook onion until translucent. Add meat cook through, season to taste. Add salsa.
I used ground beef because that’s what I have. Shredded chicken works too.
Make crust: combine corn flour, water, salt and oil. Mix. Add more water or oil until it combines easily.
Press into a well greased pie pan. I used a cake pan because I couldn’t find my pie pan and spent 10 minutes looking for it when I remembered I broke it a few months ago.
Bake crust for 10 minutes. Add meat mixture and cheese. Bake until heated through and crust is set another 5 to 12 minutes.
Serve with salsa and cilantro.
Enjoy!
CANNOT wait to make that. I wonder if they’ll have corn flour in australia? We’ll soon find out!
That recipe sounds good. I had to look up the cotija cheese, as I hadn’t heard of that. I have never seen it over here, so I will try substituting parmesan and see how that works out.
Sadly, I am not a Mexican, but I am a vegetarian. I’m guessing from the comments above that it wouldn’t be too sinful to use black beans instead of ground beef???
Also, I will be dousing this with Sriracha, because I even put Sriracha on my salsa. 🙂
This looks great! I’m a HUGE fan of tamales (getting them literally every time I’m at a Mexican restaurant) but I’ve never been brave enough to try to make them legit at home. But this seems like a great compromise! I can’t wait to try it out!
We do the tamales for Christmas too and freeze the batch. It is a LOT of work. And somehow I have become in charge of kneading and spreading the masa on the hojas.
I get the question a lot too. And the stare, “but you’re white”. -sigh-
This sounds yummy and it would hit the tamale craving spot 🙂 pinning and making.
Looks good–and much easier than traditional tamales! By the way, as a fellow Mexicana, I have to correct you: singular is “tamal” and “tamale” is for gringos. 😉
Tried your recipe for lunch today-loved it, but I’ll probably just use a bit less salt because some bites seemed to be overpowered with salt (guess I should have mixed it more instead of trying to hurry!). It was super easy and fast to make though! I used the Boca meatless crumbles, and it tasted delicious!
I like a lot of salt, so you’re probably right that it’s too much (and I think Boca crumbles are saltier than meat since they come seasoned). I’m scaling back the salt to 3/4 to allow for that. Thanks!
oh yes, my husband loves these type of “stick to your bones” meals. Such a lovely dish. I’m off to get some tasty cotija cheese 🙂 Thanks so much for this recipe.
Yum! I am always up for a Mexican recipe (since it is like 80% of my diet anyway) and this is simple enough for me to hopefully not screw up… score! I have never heard of Cotija cheese before, though. Think I can find that in a regular grocery store?
BTW, I bought a bottle of Sriracha for the first time EVER last night and it made me think of you. Which is kind of weird, I know, but just go with it.
Yes, it should be in the regular grocery store – kinda depends on where you live?
Love that you bought Sriracha!
That looks YUM and super easy. I’d likely have to make two with my hungry fam! Thanks Monica. 🙂
That looks amazing!
This is maybe a stupid question, but as somebody who normally just goes out for Mexican food, what would be the best grocery store to get cotija cheese at in the Washington DC area?
I LOVE Mexican food. I wish I could eat it every meal, every day! Thanks for sharing!!
I’ve never made tamales before, but this seems easy enough! I dislike ground beef, so maybe I can make it vegetarian with lentils or something? Any suggestions?
This looks so yummy! I have been trying hard to “skinny” my recipes, but its been hard when it comes to Mexican food. The dishes are all so full of cheesy deliciousness! I posted a recipe I made up this past Sunday for “skinny” carnitas and sides, if anyone is interested: http://oldmommynewtricks.blogspot.com/2013/04/mexican-food-can-be-healthy.html
This sounds great! I was currently looking for a new recipe for Sunday! Perfect timing!
That sounds delicious, and it’s gluten-free!
Definitely pinning this one. I think I could eat Mexican food every day for the rest of my life and be totally happy. I know you used ground beef because you’re digging it lately, but as you implied, I’m thinking this could work well with ground turkey or even vegetarian ground “beef.” Thanks for the recipe! 🙂
Yeah, I usually prefer turkey so the next time I’ll try it with that. Hope you like it 🙂
That looks really really good. I seem to cook Mexican food 90% of the time. This would be a great addition!
Oh this looks GOOD! We only get tamales on Christmas Eve, so my husband (Latino) and my sons will love this! It’s on the menu for next week!
This recipe looks so yummy!! I know my husband would love this! I can’t wait to try it!
Any particular changes you noticed since switching back to a meat diet “more or less full time”?
Yes, I think eating more meat (not necessarily red meat because at first I ate a lot of chicken and fish) helped keep me full longer and I randomly snacked less.
This is something that my fiance would absolutely love! I used to be a vegetarian- cooking seem a lot easier now that I am not
Sounds really good. I will try it out on Sunday.