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This chicken tamale casserole is simple to prepare and great for company, even your in-laws.
What’s the first thought going through your head when you hear your in-laws are coming to town and staying with you and your significant other? Is it frustration? Is it horror? Or if you’re anything like me, it’s “OH MY GAWD, I have to clean the entire house from top to bottom and crap, what am I making?!” Yup, that’s what I did two weeks ago when they came to town. I love it when they come to town, but I always have this pressure of having to make something super delicious because they know about this blog (and are probably reading this right now) and it’d be sheer disappointment if I made something complete opposite of what I’d usually make for the blog.
And so I scoured my saved recipes on my computer and at the time, I was craving some sort of Mexican dish but I also wanted it to be easy since I was also working the day they were coming in. I found this chicken tamale pie that Lindsay had posted and it was like fireworks, y’all. Haha, super easy decision for me. It made a large portion and I knew it was going to be a hit!
Needless to say, there wasn’t a single bite left in this casserole dish after we were all through with it. It had the perfect amount of spice and it was so flavorful. The cornbread was such an awesome addition. My in-laws LOVED it. They couldn’t get over it.
I did learn a few things from their visit, though: 1. my house had never looked cleaner, maybe they should come more often so my house will be pretty much spotless ;) 2. shredding chicken sucks. The whole fork and fork method blows. I wish there were a faster way to shred 2 cups of chicken. I almost shoved it in the food processor but then it would’ve turned it to mush Not anymore! Put it in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment!! 3. Adding cornbread to Mexican food is not a bad idea, at.all. and this is unrelated to their visit but I’m freaking starving right now and I want a huge hunk of this at 8 in the morning. It can be spun into a breakfast casserole, right?
Chicken Tamale Casserole
Equipment
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup (79 ml) milk
- ¼ cup (63 g) egg substitute
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 ½ tablespoon taco seasoning, divided
- 14.75 ounce (418 g) can cream-style corn
- 8.5 ounce (241 g) box corn muffin mix
- 4 ounce (113 g) can chopped green chiles
- 10 ounce (284 g) can red enchilada sauce
- 2 cups (280 g) shredded chicken
- ¾ cup (84 g) shredded white cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 °F (204 °C) and spray casserole dish with cooking spray. My casserole dish was 9 x 13.
- Combine the first 7 ingredients, using just 1/2 tbsp. of the taco seasoning, in a large bowl, and mix until moist. Pour the mixture into the prepared casserole dish and bake for 15-20 minutes.
- While the corn mixture is baking, toss the chicken with the remaining 1 tbsp. of taco seasoning. Set aside.
- When the cornbread is done, it will be barely set and golden brown. Pierce the entire surface liberally with a fork. If it’s sticking to the fork, it needs to cook longer or rest for about 10 minutes before piercing (if it sets up, it won’t be as moist so it won’t stick to the fork as much)
- When ready, pour the red enchilada sauce over the top, then top with chicken and sprinkle liberally with cheese.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven and let stand for 5-10 minutes before serving.
If you try the paddle shred lemme know. I’ve heard it works but haven’t tried it myself yet. This dish looks awesome!!
The shredding meat thing is THE WORST! I did it with pork a month or so ago to make pulled pork sliders and I thought my fingers were going to snap off by the end. There has got to be an easier way! I might seriously try the food processor next time…
That casserole from Lindsay is what inspired me to make my turkey chili pie a few weeks ago. I think I was just enamored with her pics and colors in that dish. Yours looks equally as beautiful :)
Dinner! Thank you, I’m going for the weird savage caveman feeling and will be shredding by hand ;)
If you want to see me, drop in anytime. If you want to see my house, schedule an appointment.
Doesn’t always work and I have panic cleaning days where it takes weeks to find everything.
this looks sooo good! + i’m with bet – i usually use my hands to shred – it’s much quicker + easier than using forks, although it does always make me feel like some sort of weird savage caveman.
I just shred with my hands! Totes fast and you can throw some pieces into your mouth. Boom.
I WANT THIS.
My first thought whenever we’re having people over is about how badly I need to clean :)
Ditto what Rachel said on the stand mixer – I’ve tried it with boneless, skinless chicken breasts and it works perfectly! Your casserole looks delicious, we’re all about Mexican food lately so it’d go over very well here!
My boyfriend doesn’t understand the need to clean when I hear that his parents are coming over. The worst was when he woke my one Sunday morning when I had a massive hangover from my best friend’s engagement drinks to tell me they were dropping by that afternoon. I was so unamused.
Love love love Mexican flavours at the moment, can’t wait to try this!
I don’t have one (yet) but I heard you can shred chicken in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment? Worth a shot! This looks amazing.
You may have just saved me hours of chicken shredding. I will for sure be trying out the stand mixer & paddle attachment method!! xoxo
hahha I was laughing so hard because that is my exact reaction too…”Crap, start cleaning, I’ve got to figure out something to make” And what you mentioned about them knowing about the blog and having high expectations..total pressure! :P
This sounds awesome though..next time my soon to be in-laws are coming around, this will definitely be in my must make!
I just drooled a little, this looks SO good!