One-Pan Tamale Bake

What’s your dream dish? For us, it’s one that doesn’t require a ton of clean-up but is still loaded with lots of warm and spicy flavors. In fact, this One-Pan Tamale Bake is definitely a top contender to be one of ours! It technically uses two dishes, one skillet for frying the juicy beef and fresh veggies, and then a big baking dish for bringing the savory sauce and melty cheese together. Super simple, right? But also, extremely flavorful. One-Pan Tamale Bake is one of our favorites for lots of reasons, you’ve just got to try it to experience them all!

Ingredients

For the tamale bake:

• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 cups yellow onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 pound ground beef
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 cup canned sliced black olives, drained
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups extra-sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

For serving:

• sour cream, to taste
• fresh cilantro, to taste, chopped
• canned sliced black olives, to taste, drained

Directions

Step 1 -Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Step 2 -Lightly grease a 13×9-inch glass or ceramic baking dish.

Step 3 -In a large bowl, add the milk and the cornmeal and stir to combine. Set it aside.

Step 4 -In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the oil.

Step 5 -Add the onions, the garlic, and the bell peppers to the heated oil and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften, about 8-9 minutes.

Step 6 -Add the beef to veggie mixture and cook, while stirring and crumbling the meat, until the beef is no longer pink, about 7 minutes.

Step 7 -Stir the beef mixture into the cornmeal-milk mixture.

Step 8 -Stir the tomato sauce, the corn, 1 cup of the olives, the chili powder, the salt, and the black pepper into the beef mixture.

Step 9 -Pour the tamale bake into the prepared baking dish and bake until it is set and well-browned around the edges, about 55 minutes-1 hour.

Step 10 -Transfer the baking dish from the oven and sprinkle with the cheese.

Step 11 -Bake the tamale bake until the cheese has melted, about 3-4 minutes.

Step 12 -Serve the tamale bake topped with the sour cream, the cilantro, and the remaining olives.