This Tamale Pie with Winter Greens is the comfort dish you never knew you needed! It's warm, flavorful, healthy, and delicious.
Serve your savory pie with black beans, possibly cornbread, and a green salad for a hearty winter meal. And of course, you can always have a sweet pie for dessert!
How to Make Tamale Pie with Winter Greens
- Prep oven and bain-marie dish.
- Cook vegetables, hominy, and spices on the stove.
- In another bowl, mix together corn meal batter.
- Pour batter into dish and spoon veggie mix on top.
- Cover dish with foil & bake in bain-marie.
- Remove foil, add greens & cheese, then bake a bit.
- Remove from oven, add toppings, and serve!
Full directions for how to make Tamale Pie with Winter Greens are in the printable recipe card below.
Tamale Pie with Winter Greens FAQs
What is tamale pie?
Tamale pie is basically the Southwestern equivalent of a shepherd's pie. The top layer is made of cornbread, and the filling is full of tasty vegetables cooked into a chili-like sauce. This version is made with winter greens, which means that this pie is the perfect comfort food for winter months!
How long does this pie last?
This pie can last in the fridge for up to 5 days. Alternatively, you can freeze your leftover pie—or an entire extra pie—for later. In both cases, make sure to store the pie in an air-tight container. For the frozen pie, you will want to let it thaw in the fridge for a bit before reheating.
For lots more Southwestern-style recipes, go to A Southwestern Supper.
Recipe
Tamale Pie with Winter Greens
Ingredients
- 6 tbsp olive oil divided
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 jalapeño chopped
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh oregano preferably Mexican, chopped
- 15 oz hominy rinsed and drained, or the kernels from from 2 ears of fresh corn in season
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 2 cups water or vegetable broth
- 2 cups corn meal
- 2 tsp baking powder
- sea salt and pepper to taste
- ½ cup vegan cheddar optional; grated
- 2 cups broccoli rabe Swiss chard or other seasonal green; chopped
- optional toppings salsa, vegan sour cream, guacamole
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly oil an 8- or 9-inch deep dish pie pan.
- Set out a generous-sized roasting pan big enough to fit the prepared baking dish. Fill about halfway with water. Place inside oven on oven rack.
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add chopped onion, jalapeno, and garlic, stirring briefly until the vegetables soften, about 7 minutes.
- Add hominy or corn, chopped oregano, and paprika, stirring until mixture is well combined.
- Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine corn meal and baking powder.
- Pour in water or vegetable broth and the remaining 5 tablespoons olive oil.
- Using a hand-held mixer, an immersion blender, or a big spoon and a little muscle, blend mixture together for 5 minutes or until mixture becomes like pancake batter.
- Pour batter into prepared baking dish.
- Spoon chili and hominy mixture on top. The topping may sink into the corn meal batter—don’t worry. It will rise, phoenix-like, as it bakes!
- Cover the pan tightly with foil and place in the larger roasting pan. Bake for 45 minutes.
- Remove from oven, careful not to slop hot water onto casserole or yourself.
- Remove foil. Top tamale pie with chopped greens and optional grated cheddar.
- Return pie to roasting pan and heat, uncovered, for about 10 minutes, until cheese melts and greens just wilt.
- Remove from oven and top with salsa, sour cream, guacamole, and anything you like!
Nutrition
This luscious one-dish meal and its accompanying photo were contributed by Ellen Kanner.
Ellen Kanner is the Huffington Post’s Meatless Monday blogger, the syndicated columnist of the Edgy Veggie, and contributor to publications including Culinate, Bon Appetit, and Every Day With Rachael Ray.
Anna says
I think one tablespoon paprika was way too much - it was overpowering. My 'batter' was pretty thin - not like pancake batter, even after mixing for five minutes - so I added a little more cornmeal but then after I baked it it was a bit thick. Maybe having the batter be very thin and watery is ok...it also needed something besides just broccoli rabe on top - it wasn't very exciting. I know you can add avocado, cheese and sour cream but maybe a bigger mix of green veggies would have worked better. Overall, not a big hit but maybe if I make some adjustments it would be better.
Nava says
Hi Anna — thanks for your feedback. I guess this is the downside of contributed recipes; I don't always have time to test them. Mea culpa, I know; but it sound like I should give this one a go and do some tweaking. Your comments are very helpful.