This family friendly casserole recipe for Crock-Pot Tamale Bake brings all the delicious Mexican food flavors into a super easy one pot dish!
Crock-Pot Tamale Bake
My family LOVES Mexican food! And, while this recipe is not an authentic Mexican dish it is inspired by those delicious south of the border flavors we all love.
This yummy casserole type dish really hits the spot on a busy weeknight dinner. Ground beef is browned on the stove-top (you can totally do this ahead of time and just pull a bag of frozen pre-cooked hamburger out of the freezer) and then tons of great flavors are added with onion, garlic, tomatoes and spices and then everything is topped with a homemade cornbread type topping and cooked in the slow cooker.
Cheese and a sprinkle of green onions is the final touch and you have a hearty stick-to-your-ribs dinner that everyone will adore. This is one of my go-to recipes when I need something that I KNOW my kids will eat after a busy day of school and then evening after-school activities!
| Rating |
Rate this recipe!
|
| Servings | 6People |
| Prep Time | 30Minutes |
| Cook Time | 3Hours On HIGH Or 6 Hours On LOW |
- 1 Pound Extra Lean Ground Beef Or Ground Turkey
- 1/2 Cup Finely Diced Yellow Onion
- 1 Clove Garlic Minced
- 3/4 Cups Yellow Cornmeal
- 1 Large Egg
- 1 1/2 Cups Milk
- 15.25 Ounces Canned Corn Drained
- 14.5 Ounces Canned Diced Tomatoes Undrained
- 1.25 Ounces Taco Seasoning Mix Or Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix
- 2.25 Ounces Canned Sliced Black Olives Drained
- 1 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
- 1 - 2 Whole Green Onions Minced (For Garnish - Optional)
|
Ingredients
Servings: People
|
|
- In a large skillet brown and crumble the ground beef with the diced onion and garlic until the meat is no longer pink.
- Drain ground beef to remove excess fat.
- In a large mixing bowl combine cornmeal, egg and milk and mix until smooth.
- Add to the cornmeal mixture the corn, tomatoes, taco seasoning, olives and ground beef mixture and mix well.
- Dump mixture into the bottom of a 3.5 quart casserole slow cooker OR a 4 quart or larger oval or round slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on HIGH for 3 hours or on LOW for 6 hours.
- Sprinkle with cheese and cover again and cook for an additional 15 minutes until cheese is melted.
- To serve, spoon into bowls or onto plate and garnish with chopped green onion if desired.
Barb says
November 18, 2013 at 3:45 PMI love tamales so I know I will be trying this recipe. I have a Wolfgang Puck Versa slowcooker. ( kind of sort of like the ninja slowcooker) so I can brown the meat right in it. Then add the other ingredients. Thanks for share your recipe.
Rhonda says
November 21, 2013 at 7:42 PMI made this last night but ran late. I didn’t get any of it till lunch today. Wow, is it good! I couldn’t wait to get home from work to have seconds! Thank you!
Marcia says
January 3, 2014 at 10:42 PMI am used to cooking Mexican food from scratch and don’t use taco seasoning. I have a molcajete ( a Mexican blender) and grind my spices, such as cumin, garlic, peppercorns .I use a paste made of Ancho chillies. The taste is terrific and it smells great cooking.
Lin-Z says
January 18, 2014 at 1:40 PMSorry if this comes across the wrong way Marcia, but what’s your point?
Megan says
January 22, 2014 at 2:01 PMTamales are one of my most favorite things in the world.This recipe caught me by surprise as the cornmeal mix was super liquidy. I thought I had done something wrong! But in the end it turned out super delicious. I think the next time I make it, I will put in more olives as there seemed to be only a few per serving. Thanks for this idea!
Jeri says
January 27, 2014 at 4:58 PMCan this be assembled the night before , refrigerated and cook in the morning?
Lady Heidi says
January 28, 2014 at 6:46 AMI don’t see why not!
A. Nicole M says
April 3, 2014 at 3:16 PMI can’t wait to try this recipe! I just wanted to ask if there were any good sides to go with this or is the recipe itself full enough without sides?
Lady Katie says
April 6, 2014 at 4:07 PMYou could do a simple side of rice to add to it. But it is a meal in itself.
Monica M. says
May 18, 2014 at 4:37 PMMade this today and used the 3 hours on high. Wasn’t soupy or anything perfect thickness. It was good but not what I expected. Real Tamales are way different. There wasn’t enough spice in it. A little on the sweet side because of the corn. It was good, but not what I was looking for. Thanks for the recipe though!
sarah says
August 9, 2014 at 4:42 PMWill it ruin it if cooked longer than what the recipe says? Sounds good with some sour cream and even tostitos for the kids.
Lady Heidi says
August 10, 2014 at 10:26 AMHi Sarah, I would not cook it much longer than the recipe calls for as it may dry out. If you really must bump up the cooking time I would try adding some extra liquid. But I cannot guarantee the results on that suggestion.
Lauren says
September 23, 2014 at 1:05 PMcan this be frozen in advance?
Lady Heidi says
September 24, 2014 at 8:11 AMThis one cannot be frozen in advance since the corn bread part would not freeze well.
Cindy says
October 30, 2014 at 2:46 PMAny way to make this in the oven?
Lady Heidi says
October 31, 2014 at 5:24 PMHi Cindy,
While I am sure you can convert this into an oven recipe this recipe was tested and developed as a Crock-Pot recipe and without really testing it myself in an oven I am unable to advise on cooking temperatures and time. However you are willing to experiment and see if you can make it work. Experimenting is part of the fun in cooking!
ali says
February 10, 2015 at 5:02 PMI made this tonight but it was very mushy. I followed the recipe to the T. What did I do wrong or is it supposed to be that way?
Lady Heidi says
February 10, 2015 at 7:44 PMThe texture is semi mushy…like a casserole.
Debbie says
February 12, 2015 at 6:27 AMI’m going to try this in the oven, I’ll post my results! I can’t wait to try this!!
Lady Heidi says
February 12, 2015 at 1:51 PMLet us know how it goes Debbie!
Debbie says
February 12, 2015 at 5:36 PMTurned out great! I mixed all together like the recipe says, then put it in a sprayed 9×13 pan and baked about 30 minutes at 350. Might have to go s little longer, was cooking other things at the same time.
Lady Heidi says
February 13, 2015 at 5:16 PMAwesome, glad that came out OK for you. We don’t normally test our recipes in the oven since this is a Crock-Pot site but many of them can be converted.