Tamale Pie with Chicken

  5.0 – 1 reviews  • Mexican

I really enjoy creating casseroles, and this one is quite easy. Instead of being filled and rolled, the Swiss cheese, ham, and chicken breasts are cut into cubes, giving you Cordon Bleu deliciousness in a lot less time.

Prep Time: 45 mins
Cook Time: 2 hrs 5 mins
Additional Time: 8 hrs
Total Time: 10 hrs 50 mins
Servings: 12
Yield: 1 9×13-inch pan

Ingredients

  1. 3 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into thick strips
  2. ½ cup chili powder
  3. (12 ounce) bottle olive oil
  4. 2 tablespoons minced garlic
  5. 1 tablespoon lime juice
  6. 2 teaspoons salt
  7. 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
  8. 1 teaspoon onion powder
  9. 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  10. 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  11. 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  12. 2 cups water
  13. 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
  14. 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
  15. 2 poblano peppers, chopped
  16. 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped (Optional)
  17. 1 large onion, chopped
  18. 1 green bell pepper, chopped
  19. 4 cups masa flour
  20. 2 tablespoons chili powder
  21. 2 tablespoons white sugar
  22. 2 teaspoons baking powder
  23. 1 teaspoon salt
  24. 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  25. 1 cup butter, softened
  26. 1 teaspoon lime juice
  27. 3 cups hot water, or as needed
  28. 1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
  29. 2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
  30. 1 (6 ounce) can sliced black olives
  31. 1 (16 ounce) container sour cream (Optional)

Instructions

  1. Combine chicken, chili powder, 2 tablespoons oil, minced garlic, lime juice, salt, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, and oregano in a bowl. Let marinate 8 hours to overnight.
  2. Pour chicken with marinade into a pot; add water. Cover and cook over medium-high heat until chicken is no longer pink in the center, about 10 minutes, stirring as needed. Reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer for 1 hour.
  3. Transfer chicken to a large bowl and shred using 2 forks; set aside and keep warm.
  4. Add tomatoes, beans, poblano peppers, jalapeno peppers, onion, and bell pepper to the pot. Cook veggie mixture over medium-high heat until slightly softened and onion is translucent, 10 to 15 minutes. Adjust liquid by either adding while cooking covered, or condensing water by cooking uncovered; final product should be the consistency of a thick stew. Combine vegetable mixture with shredded chicken and set filling aside.
  5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan.
  6. Mix masa flour, chili powder, sugar, baking powder, salt, and pepper for crust together in a bowl. Mix in butter and lime juice. Add hot water and mix until dough reaches the consistency of a thick cookie dough; mix or knead thoroughly.
  7. Place about 1/2 of the crust mixture into the prepared pan to form a 1/2- to 3/4-inch layer covering the bottom and 3/4 up the sides. Spread filling into crust.
  8. Flatten handfuls of remaining crust mixture to about 1/2- to 3/4-inch thickness. Lay on top of pie; continue until top is mostly covered. Spread enchilada sauce over crust. Cover with Mexican cheese. Scatter olives on top.
  9. Bake in the preheated oven until golden and bubbly, about 45 minutes. Serve with a little enchilada sauce and a dollop of sour cream on top of each serving.
  10. You can substitute lard or vegetable shortening for the butter, but I prefer the butter flavor in the crust. You can also use low-sodium chicken stock instead of water, if you’d like. You can use 4 packets of Splenda(R) instead of 2 tablespoons sugar for crust, if you’d like.
  11. You can also put the chicken and spices in a slow cooker in the morning and cook all day. There is no need to marinate if you use this method. You will need to use a little extra water or chicken stock than the recipe above to avoid cooking the chicken dry. Don’t put the veggies in the slow cooker, or they will lose all their texture. When you are ready to prep the pie remove the chicken from the pot and shred. Pour the broth into a pot and boil until reduced until about 1 cup of liquid remains. Add veggies to the pot and continue with method above.
  12. Nutrition data for this recipe includes the full package amount of enchilada sauce and sour cream. The actual amount of sauce and sour cream consumed will vary.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 624 kcal
Carbohydrate 51 g
Cholesterol 111 mg
Dietary Fiber 12 g
Protein 26 g
Saturated Fat 21 g
Sodium 1490 mg
Sugars 6 g
Fat 37 g
Unsaturated Fat 0 g

Reviews

Paula Rhodes
The process was definitely worthwhile. Rich and flavourful. Used Skinless chicken thighs. Was concerned about 1/2 c of chili powder and used a heaping 1/4 c instead. Spicy enough for our family (great with sourcream). The ingredients indicate 12 oz bottle of oil however you only need 2 tblsp. It took longer than 10-15 minutes to cook down the vegetables to a stew consistency (30 min). I didn’t have enough masa flour and substituted with some white and whole wheat flours. Added some cornmeal too. It didn’t need 3 cups of water for this combination of flours (maybe 1-1/2 cups of water). Definitely use the butter – yum! I added thawed frozen corn as a layer between the bottom crust and filling. Cooked for 1hr 15 min. waiting for the center to bubble, but it did not and it was cooked. Really nice recipe – thanks we enjoyed it.

 

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