Tamales in a Jiffy

I grew up eating a wide range of Mexican fare.  One thing I never touched: tamales.  They looked scary {and I wonder why my oldest has food issues…HA!}.  I was in college when I had my first tamale…I.DIED.  Why in the world did I deprive myself for SO long?!?!  Trust me when I tell you that I spent the remainder of my college career making up for lost time.  Oh how I ADORE tamales, but they have to be the real deal.  When I found this recipe on Pinterest, I was intrigued by the combo of flavors.  Usually, any recipe that requires the addition of Jiffy corn muffin mix is a winner in my book.  And the fact that it’s named after one of my favorite Mexican foods made me want it all the more!  I’ve gotta tell you that the name is extremely misleading…this dish is a FAR cry from tamales.  However, this little number packs in A TON of flavor and it’s definitely a keeper!!!!

 

CHICKEN TAMALE CASSEROLE

from Cooking Light

1 cup 4-cheese Mexican blend

1/3 cup milk

1/4 cup egg beaters

1 tsp. ground cumin

1/8 tsp. ground red pepper

1 {14 oz.} can cream style corn

1 {8.5 oz.} box corn muffin mix {I used Jiffy}

1 can chopped green chiles, drained

1 {10 oz.} can red enchilada sauce

2 cups shredded, cooked chicken breast

1/2 cup sour cream

 

Here’s the line up.  Since I like to pay ZERO attention to the recipe as I’m taking pictures, I add a few extra things just to throw you off.  Which one of these doesn’t belong?? {hint, hint: cream cheese.  NO idea what I was doing.}

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cook your chicken & shred {OR, shred your rotisserie chicken…it’s A LOT faster!}  Combine 1/4 cup of the cheese with the milk, egg beaters, cumin, corn, red pepper, corn muffin mix, and green chiles in a large bowl.

Grease a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and pour mixture inside.  Bake at 400 degrees until mix is firm and cooked.  {The original recipe said to let it cook for 15 minutes, but it wasn’t ready.  The top will look ready, so poke into it with a fork just to check.  I had to put mine back in for another 10 minutes or so. }  Remove from oven and pierce the entire surface {very generously} with a fork.  Pour the enchilada sauce on the top.  Top with the chicken and sprinkle with the remaining 3/4 cup of cheese.  Pop it back in the oven {at 400} for another 15 minutes or until the cheese melts.  Remove from oven, let stand for 5 minutes, and serve with sour cream :)

Oh my YUMMINESS!!!!  Again, nothing like a tamale, but ohmiword…DELISH!!!

Now, I will tell you that I LOVED this dish.  Mr. Spouse liked it a lot, but it wasn’t his favorite.  He said it was “sweet”.  Yes…it was definitely on the sweet side, but personally, I LOVED it.  Next time, I’ll use a bag of frozen corn instead of creamed corn…that would cut down on the sweetness for sure.  The Jiffy corn muffin mix also tends to be a lot sweeter than any of the other mixes, so using a different brand mix might help curb the sweetness, too.  If you make this with either of the changes, let me know how you like it!  I’m anxious to have this again!!!  A little sweet, a little savory.  Nothing like tamales whatsoever, but it was amazeballs nonetheless!!!!