I grew up in New Mexico, so I have a natural love of Mexican food. In fact, when I first moved to Utah, I was appalled to see that they sold “extra mild” salsa in the grocery stores. So when I see a Mexican inspired recipe, I always want to jump right in and try it.
I made a tamale pie on my blog back in the beginning. Sadly, it’s probably one of my worst pictures on my blog, but one of the posts that gets visited most regularly. I hate it when that happens!! (And it’s funny that now that I go back and read that post, I mentioned the same thing about the extra mild salsa!!) This recipe isn’t really a true tamale pie, mostly a quick way to get those same flavors you would get from a tamale pie or from tamales.
I really liked this – but the only downfall for me was that it was quite sweet. I’m guessing it was the corn muffin mix that I chose. It’s funny, because I like my cornbread sweet, but I guess I don’t like my tamale casserole sweet!! But really, even the sweetness wouldn’t stop me from making this again, especially since it’s a quick, easy way to get that Mexican food fix!
Chicken Tamale Casserole
slightly adapted from Cooking Light November 2008
Serves 8
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1/3 cup milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 (14 3/4 ounce) can cream style corn
1 (8.5 ounce) box corn muffin mix
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies, drained
cooking spray
1 (10 ounce) can red enchilada sauce
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
1/2 cup sour cream (optional)
Preheat oven to 400°.
Combine 1/4 cup cheese and next 7 ingredients (through chiles) in a large bowl, stirring just until moist. Pour mixture into a 13 x 9–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.
Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until set. Pierce entire surface liberally with a fork; pour enchilada sauce over top. Top with chicken; sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup cheese. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Cut into 8 pieces; top each serving with 1 tablespoon sour cream.
Extra mild salsa?! We don’t even have that in Minnesota
What kind of corn bread mix did you use? If I were to make this I would use my stand by corn bread mix, Jiffy. However if that is what you used and it turned out too sweet then I might have to look for alternatives.
This sounds yummy! The creamed corn probably made it on the sweet side too, but I bet it tastes good that way!
redhead – I guess I should have mentioned that! I used Jiffy, but I’m going to agree with Cara, too, and say that the creamed corn probably made it a little sweet as well.
Will have to try this one. We love Mexican food at our house!
This looks delicious and pretty easy. That’s my kind of meal!
lol! extra mild salsa! this looks delectable Deborah!
I left you an award on my blogsite. . come on over and pick it up when you can!
Quick easy Mexican food? That sounds like a must have for my recipe file.
Actually – I really like that picture! The colors are great. (And I’ve never heard of extra-mild salsa!) (I do know Jiffy, however, and it’s cake! Ha. J/K. We don’t eat much sweet cornbread!)
This looks like a dish Brad would love.
It sounds delicious. I didn’t even know there was extra-mild salsa? Isn’t that just tomato sauce?
i’m pretty much a fan of any type of mexican food too. i don’t know if noble pig was being sarcastic in her comment above, but it made me laugh out loud.
um, extra mild salsa is kinda of silly. Even for us totally midwestern kind of people.
And this casserole looks really tasty!
Alright, this looks delicious. But, I think you will need to produce pictures of extra mild salsa–no such thing I’ve seen in Ohio.
As for the corn mix, could I use masa?
I’ve put this on my “must try” list. Have a wonderful holiday.
What a gorgeous photo Deborah!
I’ve seen the extra mild salsa here in NJ… although not in quite awhile!
I love the sound of that casserole… wonder if I could get my boys to eat it if it does have a bit of sweetness to it. I would think the cornbread mix and creamed corn are the culprits when it comes to the sweetness.
Love Mexican food and this sounds delicious.
If I used extra mild salsa I’d probably be throwing in some jalapenos to compensate! Recipe sounds great, and I’d probably just use Jiffy cornbread too.
Sounds like a delicious Mexican dish. Yum!
This really sounds good Debs. I love Mexican food.
Rosie x
What a great combination of wonderful flavors. This is comfort food at its finest – Looking forward to making this one!!
Love tamales, this looks so much easier to prepare. Not just mild but extra mild?!? Too funny!
Sounds yummy! I’m thinking it was the cream corn that added the sweetness more than the cornbread mix. No matter, since I’d liberally shake my hot sauce bottle over it. I’m with you on the heat! Hope you’re feeling fine — been thinking about you and wondering about baby!
That cracks me up about the extra mild salsa. How sad that they probably make that for me….I have such a whimpy mouth. although I guess I can now say that I can do the mild okay–I’m not quite whimpy enough for the “extra mild”. Maybe it’s a Utah thing because here in the Midwest I can rarely even find the mild version but usually only medium. I guess that’s another reason why I need to move back home to Utah
. Okay…so it’s like 1 a.m. here and I realize that this is the longest rambling comment ever. Sorry 
?!?
I love casseroles at this busy time of year! This one is a keeper
Sounds terrific to me. I’m a Mexican food fanatic. When I was pregnant, all I ate was Mexican food. I had mad cravings for enchiladas!
Your package is on its way! Happy Thanksgiving!
Lots of great flavours here. It sounds really tasty!
Happy Thanksgiving!
What a beautiful state New Mexico is! So lucky are you to be able to grow up there!
And thank you for the amazing casserole recipe! This is definitely something I can eat all day long!
This is my kind of dish for sure! Thanks for the light version.
My family enjoyed this recipe tonight. My husband said that he really liked the sweet taste
I messed up and bought sweet whole kernel corn instead of creamed corn. So I used that and added a little sour cream. It still turned out good. Thanks for the recipe.
we made this too after seeing it in your blog, it was pretty good but the sweet was strange. I had moments where I liked the sweetness but overall, I think it was too sweet too. We used jiffy as well. it was so easy to make though!
Hi there!!! New to your blog and I just LOVE IT!!!!! Made this for dinner the other night and my hubby and kids all loved it!!! My daughter wanted the leftovers for breakfast the next morning?!?! LOL!!!! I let her have them for lunch!!! Great recipe!!!
This dish is good, but doesn't produce the true taste of a tamale. It was too sweet, not spicy enouth and needed that traditonal masa taste that makes a tamale a tamale. Has anyone experimented with revising this recipe to accommodate these things?Would love to hear revised recipes!
Thanks for a great recipe. I make this often. My husband loves it!
Sarah ~ http://www.stickyphrases.com
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I hear you about the extra mild salsa! I’m down here in El Paso. I don’t think I could bring myself to ever purchase it.