Enjoy this recipe for Crock-Pot Southwest Tamale Pie and have a fiesta! Created with ground beef and pantry staples like canned tomatoes & cornbread mix!

Slow Cooker Southwest Tamale Pie
This is an interesting dish that I sort of came up with one day as I was rooting around in the freezer and pantry and trying to come up with something to feed the family without needing to make a grocery store run.
I started off with a package of ground beef that I had purchased when it was on sale for $1.79 a pound. I bought several pounds and browned it all up in my big electric skillet. When all the meat was cooked and crumbled I tossed it into freezer bags and throw them in the freezer.
So out came a bag of already cooked hamburger. Easy!
Then some onion, diced green chilies, and tomatoes.
I seasoned up the ground beef with some cumin (LOVE me some cumin), garlic and dried oregano.
If you can find Mexican oregano in your grocery store…use that. It has a different taste over the Italian oregano and I love it. In our grocery store is is found in the Latin American section of the grocery store in little bags that cost right around a dollar. So very economical too.
Then, I went with a box of corn bread mix…just plain old Jiffy brand corn bread mix…these go on sale for about 50¢ a box all the time where I live so I usually buy 10 or 20 at a time and keep them stashed away. Cornbread is always a favorite for my family, or I turn them in to blueberry cornbread muffins or even hoe cakes for breakfast drizzled with honey…oh my.
But that is a whole other story…
You just make the cornbread according to the recipe on the box. Easy.
And if you want to make homemade cornbread…by all means folks…do whatever floats your boat. Sometimes I make cornbread from scratch too..and sometimes I use a box. It depends on my mood and what kind of time I have. As the mother of 5 kids…some-days this mamma is too busy for homemade.
Products Needed:

Special Diets
Low Fat | Low Sodium |Â Low Sugar
This recipe for Crock-Pot Southwest Tamale Pie is Weight Watchers Friendly on the new Personal Points plan. You can see the WW personal points for this recipe here on the Weight Watchers website. Click here for MORE of our Weight Watchers Recipes

More yummy Southwest inspired recipes:
- Slow Cooker Creamy Southwest Beef Burritos
- Crock-Pot Creamy Southwest Taco Soup
- Slow Cooker Southwestern Fiesta Chicken Wraps
- Crock-Pot Upside Down Taco Pie
- Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas (Mexican Shredded Pork)

Crock-Pot Southwest Tamale Pie Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Pounds Extra Lean Ground Beef (Or Ground Turkey (Cooked, Crumbled And Drained))
- ½ Cup Diced Yellow Onion
- 4 Ounces Canned Diced Green Chilies (Undrained)
- 29 Ounces Canned Crushed Tomatoes
- 2 Cloves Garlic (Finely Minced)
- 1 Teaspoon Dried Oregano
- 1 Teaspoon Ground Cumin
- 7 Ounces Boxed Cornbread Mix (Prepared According To The Directions On The Box)
Instructions
- In a 6 quart or larger slow cooker combine browned ground beef, diced onion, green chilies, tomatoes, garlic, oregano, and cumin.
- Mix well until combined.
- Spread evenly over bottom of slow cooker.
- Pour prepared corn bread batter over meat mixture and spread evenly.
- Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 hours or on LOW for 6 hours, or until cornbread batter is cooked through in the middle.
Nutrition

Tamale pie!!!! Yes please. I love tamales almost as much as my mom does. She is coming to visit for the holidays, so I will surely try this recipe out for her!!!
I love your site and you have great recipes.
Thanks Betty!
Hi, I know this might read odd, but I am British and I have no idea what Cornmeal bread batter is or how to make it. ?? Can you explain it to me what it is and have you a recipe for it. ?? Or can I just use mashed potato instead. ?
Hi Jackie, the recipe calls for crornbread mix which is a boxed mix to make cornbread. Here is a good copycat recipe to make your own Copycat Jiffy Cornbread Mix.
While this recipe has not been tested using mashed potatoes on top instead of the cornbread mix I think it might work and result in a Mexican inspired shepherds pie type dish.
Let us know how it turns out for you!
Very good! Our family loved it. I made the recipe exactly as instructed except doubled the seasonings (we love seasonings) and made using the homemade jiffy corn mix option. Two thumbs up!!
So glad you and your family enjoyed the recipe Cynthia!
I LOVE your recipes! Easy! When I use my crockpot I want easy! I cook up ground beef and freeze it for easy prep!
Thank you for your sweet review Sue! I love that you found this recipe easy and delicious!