Try this Chicken Tamale Casserole recipe, or contribute your own.
- 1/2 cup milk
- chopped green onions
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- sour cream
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- salsa
- 1 package (8.5 oz) corn muffin mix (such as jiffy)
- 1 can (14.5 oz) cream-style corn
- 1 tsp chile powder
- 2 cups shredded taco cheese blend divided
- 11/2 cups enchilada sauce
- 3 cups shredded cooked chicken from rotisserie chicken
- diced tomato
- shredded lettuce
- sliced black olives
- finely chopped cilantro
- Carbohydrate 28.5248966674309 g
- Cholesterol 5.9000000016907 mg
- Fat 2.93452625054948 g
- Fiber 6.88092104657491 g
- Protein 6.77988375054441 g
- Saturated Fat 1.26793945864865 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (478g)
- Sodium 2019.25566667343 mg
- Sugar 21.643975620856 g
- Trans Fat 0.291016666730576 g
- Calories 160 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly spray a 9x13 inch casserole dish with non stick cooking spray, set aside.
- In a large bowl combine the corn muffin mix, cream-style corn, eggs, milk, chile powder, cumin and 1 cup of cheese. Stir till combined then pour into the casserole dish. Bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove from oven and use a knife to pierce the cornbread mixture several times all over. Pour the enchilada sauce all over the top of the casserole. Top with the shredded chicken and remaining cheese. Bake for an additional 20 minutes.
- Let cool for 10 minutes before slicing into pieces and serving with optional toppings. Enjoy!
Operating under the hard constraint of a single 9x13-inch baking dish means managing two distinct moisture levels simultaneously. Bottom batters containing corn muffin mix and cream-style corn risk turning gummy if trapped beneath heavy liquids from the start. Staggering the bake resolves this structural challenge entirely. Pre-baking the base alone for 20 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit sets the starches and proteins in the eggs and cornmeal, establishing a porous, stable foundation before any sauce touches the surface.
Piercing that baked cornbread layer with a knife prior to adding the enchilada sauce is a mechanical necessity rather than a casual suggestion. Those channels allow the red sauce to penetrate the crumb rather than pooling strictly on top, ensuring the interior absorbs seasoning without dissolving into mush. Dividing the cheese is another vital tactic. Incorporating one cup directly into the batter builds internal cohesion, while reserving the remaining cup for the final 20-minute bake creates a blistered, golden crust over the shredded chicken.
Resting the finished dish for 10 minutes off the heat allows the internal starches to gelatinize fully, transforming a potentially crumbly mess into clean, sliceable squares. Leftovers keep well in the refrigerator for up to three days, where the cornbread continues to absorb the surrounding enchilada sauce, yielding a denser, pudding-like consistency upon reheating.
