Jiffy Cornbread Tamale Pie
Seasoned beef, beans and corn baked under a sweet Jiffy cornbread crust in one skillet. Chili and cornbread without the second dish.
- Easy
- Cast iron / Dutch oven
- Oven
- Beef
- Dinner
- 50 min total
- Serves 6
Ingredients
Ingredients for servings
Enter a number of at least ½, in steps of ½.
Original recipe serves 6. Ingredient amounts adjust automatically. Cooking times and pan size may need adjusting separately.
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 packet taco seasoning, about 1 oz
- 1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles, 10 oz, like Rotel, undrained
- 1 can black beans, 15 oz, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
Cornbread topping
- 1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix, 8.5 oz
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup milk
Steps
Step 1: Heat the oven to 400°F.
Step 2: In a 10- or 12-inch cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, brown the beef with the onion, about 8 minutes. Drain most of the grease.
Step 3: Stir in the taco seasoning, the tomatoes with their juice, the beans and the corn. Simmer 5 minutes until it thickens a little. It should be saucy but not soupy.
Step 4: Take the skillet off the heat and sprinkle half the cheese over the meat.
Step 5: In a bowl, stir the Jiffy mix, egg and milk until just combined. A few lumps are fine.
Step 6: Spoon the batter in blobs over the filling and gently spread it toward the edges. It doesn't need to cover every inch. It spreads as it bakes.
Step 7: Bake 20 to 22 minutes, until the cornbread is golden and a toothpick in the topping comes out clean. Scatter the rest of the cheese on top for the last 3 minutes.
Step 8: Let it rest 5 minutes before scooping.
Swaps
- Meat: Ground turkey or chorizo.
- Beans: Pinto or kidney beans.
- No cast iron: Make the filling in any pan, then pour it into a 9x13 dish and top it there.
- Heat: Add a diced jalapeño with the onion.
Tips
- If the filling is still watery after 5 minutes, keep simmering. Wet filling is the enemy of a good crust.
- Don’t overmix the Jiffy. Lumpy batter makes tender cornbread.
The story
HAM Cooking. Let’s fire it up.
Somebody, somewhere, decided chili needed a lid made of cornbread. Whoever that was deserves a statue. I’d build it myself, but I’m busy eating.
That little blue box of Jiffy has been holding up American kitchens for generations, and here it does double duty. The batter bakes right on top of the hot filling, so the bottom of the cornbread soaks up some of that seasoned juice while the top gets crisp and golden. That’s why you start with a hot skillet: it gets the batter cooking from underneath immediately.
One skillet, one oven, one happy table. And only one pan to wash, which is the real reason I make it.
HAM out.
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