COOK: Creamy Chicken Green Chile Tamale Pie with Black Beans and Hominy
Everyone loves tamales, but they’re time-consuming to make (and it’s hard to buy good ones unless you know someone else who makes them from scratch). Tamale pie is a classic casserole, usually with a cornbread crust on top of a meaty filling with red sauce, but this chicken tamale pie flips the script- it’s like a giant overstuffed tamale verde de pollo (chicken tamale with green salsa), but layered and baked in a dish instead of being individually wrapped in corn husk or banana leaf, rolled, and steamed.
It’s a huge time-saver when you are craving homemade tamales but don’t have the time or patience to fill, wrap, and steam them all!
Tamale Pie Filling Variations
This creamy chicken tamale pie is layered with actual tamale masa, and a mixture of all sorts of good stuff. I’d never put all these things in any one tamale, but this form-factor is a little more forgiving so don’t be afraid to overstuff the casserole or get creative with your fillings…
For this one, I used diced or shredded chicken (or pork), cheese, roasted tomatilla salsa, diced fresh, roasted, or canned green peppers, black beans, and cheese. I added a small can of hominy, the whole cooked corn that is dried and ground to make tamale masa, and that adds a nice mouthfeel and moisture to the filling.
You can make this tamale pie mild or screamingly spicy… vary the heat of the salsa verde and what kind of green chiles you use in the filling. Keep it tame with mild salsa and canned mild green chiles, or a mix of sweet and hot peppers, of kick it up a notch with medium to hot green salsa, and fresh or roasted poblano, hatch, jalapeno, or serrano chiles (in ascending order of heat). Remove the seeds and white membrane that are higher in capsaicin (the hot compound in peppers) or leave them in if you like the heat!
You can poach or roast and shred or dice fresh chicken for this tamale pie, or save time and use rotisserie chicken or other cooked diced chicken (canned chicken works fine here, either homemade or store-bought). You could also make this vegetarian by increasing the beans or substituting roasted summer squash, mushrooms, or other vegetables, or adding your favorite meat alternative.
The masa dough for these comes together really quickly with a stand or other mixer, though you can also mix it by hand. I use lard in mine, but you could use any solid fat you prefer- lard, butter, shortening, or even shmaltz or other fresh rendered animal fat (tallow is probably too hard and I’m not sure it would be the best choice). Some folks use corn oil in their tamale masa- you could probably do that too… Remember that the fat isn’t just there for texture and moisture- it also flavors the dough, so use something that tastes good!
Tamale Pie Serving and Make-Ahead Ideas
This casserole is best served warm and fresh from the oven, but it also reheats well and can be frozen fully-baked and ready to reheat. It can also be assembled in advance and refrigerated a day or two ahead. Garnish your chicken tamale pie with more fresh cilantro, and serve with sour cream, crumbled queso fresco, or more salsa verde and your favorite hot sauces.
Creamy Chicken Green Chile Tamale Pie with Black Beans and Hominy
Equipment
- 1 11"x13" baking pan (pyrex or metal)
Ingredients
Masa Tamale Dough
- 2 cups masa for tamales (you can use tortilla masa, which is finer, but may need a bit more liquid)
- ½ cup butter, lard, schmaltz, or fat of your choice, softened 4 oz
- ¾ tsp salt
- ½ tsp baking powder, sifted
- 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock, warmed (can use warm water and bouillon)
Filling for Tamale Pie
- 2-3 cups diced cooked chicken (roasted, rotisserie, poached, or canned)
- 1 cup cooked black beans (canned is fine, drain excess liquid)
- 1 cup white or yellow hominy (drained, but reserve liquid)
- 1 cup chopped green chiles (I used diced fresh jalapenos, but you can use poblano, canned green chiles, or a mix of sweet and hot peppers)
- ¾ cup chopped fresh cilantro (washed and dried before chopping)
- 8 oz cream cheese or neufchatel cheese (one standard package) (very cold is easier to slice)
- 1 cup tomatillo salsa (salsa verde) 8 oz
Instructions
Tamale Masa Dough
- Combine dry masa dough ingredients in a stand mixer or large mixing bowl bowl. Mix on medium-low speed with the paddle attachment to cut in the fat until crumbly and evenly distributed, or use a pastry cutter to do the same by hand.
- With the mixer running on low, carefully pour in warmed stock or hot water & mix until fluffy, increasing speed to medium as the mixture comes together, or stir with a wide wooden spoon or sturdy spatula and beat the mixture well by hand until it is creamy, fluffy, and uniform. It will be a thick, spreadable mixture.
Assemble the Casserole
- Have all ingredients chopped and prepped. Butter or spray an 11x13 baking pan, and preheat the oven to 400℉. Keep the cream cheese cold in the fridge until you are ready to use it, or put it in the freezer for a few minutes to make it easier to slice when you are layering the ingredients.
- Spread a little less than half of your masa dough mixture on the bottom of the pan in a relatively thin even layer. Reserve the rest of the dough for the very top of your tamale pie.
- Add and layer the remaining ingredients in the filling. I started with the black beans, then half the chicken, half the green peppers, half the hominy, some of the cilantro, and then the cream cheese.
- Using a thin knife or metal spatula, slice the cream cheese into ½" slabs and evenly distribute these over your casserole, filling in any large gaps with smaller pieces. It will melt as it bakes but try to cover the pie evenly.
- Add the remaining filling ingredients- the rest of the chicken, green peppers, hominy, and most of the cilantro (reserve some of the cilantro to garnish the top of the baked casserole).
- Evenly pour the salsa verde over the filling ingredients, adding a half cup or so of stock or broth if the mixture looks dry- it will combine as it all bakes together.
- Add the reserved liquid from the hominy (about ¾ cup) to the remaining masa dough to thin it out and make it easier to spread over your other ingredients. Mix well, and spoon it over the top of your layered fillings to create the top crust of your tamale pie.
- Use a flexible spatula or a wide spoon to spread the rest of this masa out to cover the ingredients (it's ok if a few stick out, just aim for even coverage.
- Bake the casserole uncovered for 30 minutes. I like to bake it on a half sheet pan or cookie sheet, in case anything bubbles over.
- After 30 minutes, tent the casserole lightly with foil and return to the oven until it is hot and bubbly throughout and lightly brown. You can top with a melting cheese of your choice or leave it plain, and just garnish with cilantro after you take it out of the oven.
- Let cool for a few minutes before serving, with sour cream or crema, or more salsa verde! Best served warm, though you can refrigerate and reheat later.
