Taco pie recipes come in all shapes and flavors. This one in particular was a big hit with my family and our neighbors. Full of tasty ingredients already found in the refrigerator and pantry. Common goodies brought together to make a very satisfying meal when your so hungry you hardly speak during dinner. This recipe was inspired by a very handy cookbook, Make-Ahead Meals For Busy Moms by Jane Doiron. (Great book full of family friendly meals. Read my full book review I wrote a while back.)
HERE'S ALL IT TAKES
serves 4 hungry adults and 3 growing kids
- 2 pounds extra lean ground beef
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 cup or 1 medium green bell pepper, diced
- 6 whole garlic cloves
- 3 teaspoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons Mexican oregano
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 (15-ounce) can or 2 cups pinto beans, partially drained
- 1 cup fresh corn off the cob, or canned or frozen
- 1 (4-ounce) can mild green chilies
- salt & fresh ground pepper to taste
Cornbread topping
You can either use two (6.5-ounce) ready mix packages of cornbread and follow the directions, or make it from scratch as I did.
- 1 1/2 cups fresh cornmeal
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 eggs, slightly beaten
- 1 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
- 1/2 cup milk
Condiments and toppings (optional)
- sour cream
- favorite salsa
- Tabasco sauce
- jalapenos
Over medium high heat in a large skillet, start by browning the beef with the onions, bell pepper and garlic until no pink remains in the color of the meat.
Stir in the chili powder, oregano, cumin, garlic powder and cook for one minute.
Add in water, pinto bean with a little liquid, corn and green chilies. Season with salt and fresh pepper to taste. Cook until heated through. Transfer meat and vegetables to a 13-inch by 9-inch casserole dish greased on its sides.
HEAT OVEN TO 400ºF.
In a medium bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients of the cornbread topping. Make a well and pour in all the wet ingredients. Stir until all the dry ingredients are moistened. Pour the cornbread batter over the middle of the meat filling in the dish and spread evenly. The batter will spread to the edge of the dish during baking. Trust me.
BAKE 20 to 30-minutes, depending on the heat of your oven. Bake until cornbread is light golden on top and a fork inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Cook's Notes: If you find the cornbread in this dinner to be a little dry, add your favorite salsa over the top and/or sour cream. I purposely left out the 1/4 cup shortening called for in the original cornbread recipe. I didn't miss it and it didn't hurt the cornbread.
I love recipes like this!! I stumbled across my mother in law’s copy of a Bisquick book the other day, and was reminded of all the “Impossible” pie combinations there are. I’m not a huge fan of Bisquick, but I have to admit, I’ve eaten my share of it.
This recipe looks like a much less packaged version of something very similar. You should do a whole series of them!!!
I like the way you think, Mimi! That’s a VERY GOOD idea.
So many times when I’m looking at Product Brand recipes, I end up going around the package suggested and make my own version. Most of the time I have all the individual ingredients on hand and it’s not any more time consuming to make the recipe from scratch.
Yum, this sounds really good and thank you for including the cornbread recipe. I live in Germany and we can’t get cornbread mix here but I love this type of dish.
Hi Christina!
You know I am completely oblivious to what other countries have and don’t have in the way of food products. I don’t buy a lot of prepackaged mixes, because it’s just as easy to make stuff from existing pantry staples. I get emails all the time from folks all over the world. They usually let me know about products they don’t have and need help with finding a substitute.
Did you know that Australians don’t have Half-n-Half? Do Germans have Half-n-Half? I think I should write up a quick survey asking folks outside the U.S.A. what they have that we don’t and vice versa. Wouldn’t that be interesting to find out?
Thanks for a great recipe! My husband and girls (ages 1 &3 ) loved it. I too live overseas (in Colombia), and I am always grateful for recipes that don’t rely on a box of this or a jar of that.
I made this for my family but had to alter it a bit because I didn’t have a green pepper or a can of chilies in the house. I ended up adding a can of diced tomatoes with green chilies (Ro-tel) and made it “unhealthy” by topping the meat mixture with shredded cheese and then spread on the cornbread. Yummy! It was so simple and quick. Two words I love.
Thanks Jill for all the great recipes.
Oh, and I like your casserole dish shown in first picture. Great addition to any kitchen.
Kristen, your version sounds good to me!
Thank you!