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Turn Taco Tuesday into an easy slow cooker tamale pie made with ground beef, Rotel tomatoes, Mexican seasonings, and Jiffy cornbread.
Featured Comment
This was soo good! I’ve made a traditional tamale pie before and wasn’t a huge fan. I wanted to try this since it cooks in the slow cooker. This recipe was so flavorful and it was perfect for the casserole type crockpot I have. The cornbread top cooked through just like the recipe states.
– Kayla
Tamale pie is a recipe my mom made growing up, and it smells so good while it cooks. It’s a layered dish with a beef mixture on the bottom that resembles a thick chili. The topping isn’t a regular masa dough like in a traditional tamale, but cornbread instead. It still has all those great tamale flavors without much work.
Key Ingredients
Beef: All you need is a pound of ground beef, cooked before adding to the slow cooker. Or you can use up extra slow cooker ground beef.
Veggies: A small white onion and green bell pepper are diced and added for texture and aromatics.
Sauce Ingredients: Rotel tomatoes, tomato paste, pinto beans, and seasonings (chili powder, salt, black pepper, and cumin) come together to create a rich, Tex-Mex style base.
Cheese: This helps add flavor and thickens the sauce.
Topping: Jiffy cornbread mix (with egg and milk) plus a can of drained corn creates the tamale topping.
How to Make Tamale Pie in the Slow Cooker
- Brown the beef, then add it to the crockpot with the sauce ingredients.
- Stir in the cheese and let everything heat through.
- Spread the cornbread batter over the top and cook until set.
Tips & Variations
Meat Swap: Ground chicken or turkey can be used, but won’t have quite the flavor pop that ground beef has.
Bean Change: You can use black beans or white beans instead of pinto.
Additions: Black olives aren’t traditional, but they really make the dish taste great. Fire-roasted green chiles are a great addition too.
Add heat: For added heat, consider adding one chipotle pepper in adobo (chopped) to the meat mixture.
How to Serve Tamale Pie
Toppings: Since this tamale casserole is a complete meal, you can simply add toppings such as avocado, green onions, shredded lettuce, sour cream and salsa. This cornbread tamale pie is great with or without toppings!
Sides: Add Mexican rice or a green salad to round out the meal.
How do I know if the cornbread topping is cooked through?
A toothpick inserted and comes out clean is the best test or you can lightly jiggle the slow cooker and see if the center is no longer jiggly.
Can I use homemade cornbread for the tamale topping?
You can, but you may need to use half a batch; I use the Jiffy cornbread, which is small enough to cook evenly in the slow cooker.
Slow Cooker Tamale Pie Recipe
How to Video
Ingredients
For the filling:
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 small white onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper , diced
- 2 Tbsp. chili powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. black pepper
- ½ tsp. ground cumin
- 20 oz. Rotel Tomatoes, (two 10 oz. cans)
- 15 oz. can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- 3 Tbsp. tomato paste
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, WAIT TO ADD!
Tamale topping (wait to add)
- 8.5 oz. Jiffy corn muffin mix
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup milk
- 8.5 oz. can corn, drained (this is the smaller can)
Instructions
- In a large non-stick skillet set over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef and drain.
- Add ground beef and the remaining filling ingredients to the slow cooker, stir.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 5 hours.
- DON'T FORGET THIS STEP! When the cooking time is done, add the 1 cup of cheese and stir.
- In a small bowl blend the Jiffy mix, egg, milk and drained corn until combined, some lumps are ok. Spread this mixture over the meat mixture in the slow cooker evenly. Cover the slow cooker and turn it on to HIGH and cook for 30 more minutes. Serve and enjoy!
Sarah’s Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
More Mexican Slow Cooker Recipes
Slow Cooker Refried Beans and Charro Beans are easy, flavorful sides that pair perfectly with any Mexican-style meal.
Chile Verde, Slow Cooker Chile Colorado, and Slow Cooker Barbacoa are rich, slow-cooked meats that work great for tacos, burritos, or bowls.
Slow Cooker Birria Tacos and Fiesta Chicken are simple, crowd-pleasing options that make busy nights a little easier. Try adding my slow cooker salsa, or queso blanco, to any Mexican recipe above!
Love this have made it several times for dinner
This was soo good! I’ve made a traditional tamale pie before and wasn’t a huge fan. I wanted to try this since it cooks in the slow cooker. This recipe was so flavorful and it was perfect for the casserole type crockpot I have. The cornbread top cooked through just like the recipe states.
Very good.
I’m sorry you had a rude comment already. This recipe looks lovely and I can’t wait to try.
The recipe was very tasty.
However…..
Please stop lying about cornbread baking up on top of a crock pot. It. Does. Not. Work. At least, not for normal folks. You might be different with internet magic or a special oven crock pot or something…but I don’t have that and I don’t appreciate recipes that have outcomes I can’t recreate.
The batter was barely baking around the edges after 2 hours on High. I scraped it off and into a baking dish to throw into the oven so we could actually eat. Please..tell folks just to bake the cornbread in the oven and save us the headaches.
Hi! I tested this recipe many times, the photos are real. Your filling must be hot still (not switched to warm for a long period of time) and you must keep the lid on.
Worked for me! We love it!
Yikes. How rude. I’ve made this several times and it works. Why would you assume that a recipe with 5 starts is incorrect? Obviously it’s worked for everyone else.
Maybe you were hangry when you wrote this review, but my goodness what a Karen remark. Ive made this twice as the recipe is written and its done perfectly each time.
Move on Cynthia, no one wants you here