This keto tamale pie is sure to satisfy those Mexican food cravings! Richly seasoned ground beef topped with a grain-free coconut and almond flour crust. And plenty of cheese too! It’s an easy and delicious low carb dinner recipe.
This easy keto tamale pie is a wonderful dinner recipe with all the great flavors of real tamales. You won’t miss the corn, I promise! And I’ve given it a little update so now it’s even meatier and lower in carbs.
My family adores Mexican inspired recipes, and tamale pie is no exception. A few others that they love and willingly gobble down include my famous Keto Taco Pie, and Keto Mexican Cauliflower Rice.
I do believe that a little bit of ground beef, some taco seasoning, and plenty of melty cheese may be the way to my kids’ hearts!
Tasting real tamales for the first time
The first time I tasted real tamales was at Zuni Pueblo in New Mexico. I have to admit, I’ve had some interesting experiences in my day.
After I finished my BA at the University of British Columbia, I was offered an internship at an archaeological center in southwestern Colorado, right in the heart of the Four Corners region. This was actually where I met my husband, who had just finished up his own internship and liked the place so much he took a job working at their front desk.
We made a day trip to Zuni Pueblo for a Feast Dance, and were honoured to be invited into the homes to take part in the feast. We were plied with food and drink, and it was there that I first spotted the corn-husk wrapped tamales.
Canadian-born Gringa that I was, I had absolutely no idea what they were. But one taste of a real tamal and it was love at first bite. From thence forward, I ordered them every chance I got.
Easy keto tamale casserole
Fast forward about a decade and diabetes put tamales on the naughty list for me. All that lovely steamed corn dough is not exactly diabetes-friendly. But I have since discovered that coconut flour can be made to taste quite a bit like cornbread. Add a little corn extract or cornbread flavor and it’s quite an acceptable facsimile. My keto cornbread recipe is extremely popular for that very reason.
By all accounts, it’s a lot of work to make real tamales, carefully filling the corn husks, wrapping them, and steaming to tender perfection. Very few of us are up to the challenge on a busy weeknight.
But we can get the same great flavours in a keto tamale pie. Simply cook some ground beef or pork with spices, top it with some faux cornbread, and bake it all in the same pan, and you have a delicious low carb dinner in under an hour.
I apologize to my Pueblo friends for the lack of authenticity. All that really matters is that it tastes good, right? It’s a new family favourite in our house!
How to make keto tamale pie
Brown the ground meat: You can use all ground beef, or a mix of ground beef and ground pork. You could even use ground turkey in this recipe. You want to cook it until it’s no longer pink but you don’t want to let it become too dry.
What seasonings to use? I used an organic taco seasoning blend I get at a nearby grocer. But you can always make your own or you can grab this healthy taco seasoning from Primal Palate. Whatever you use, be sure to check your labels for fillers and sugars.
I also amped up the heat and flavour with an additional tablespoon of chili powder and some chopped jalapeno. Those additions are optional, depending on your tastes.
A little tomato paste and water helps make the filling nice and saucy but not too wet. Then top that lovely spicy filling with some shredded cheese, if so desired.
Keto cornbread topping: You might recognize this mixture as similar to my keto cornbread recipe. And you would be right. Coconut flour with a little almond flour and a little sweetener makes an excellent grain-free “cornbread”.
Spread the topping over the filling, all the way to the edges. In essence, you want to seal the juicy fillings into the pan before baking. Then simply bake until the topping is golden brown and firm.
Serve with your favorite toppings! We love it with sour cream and some chopped tomatoes and avocado.
Keto Tamale Pie is a healthy and easy family friendly meal!
More delicious keto Mexican recipes
- Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice
- Easy Keto Enchilada Skillet
- Keto Mexican Shredded Beef
- Keto Carnitas
- Keto Albondigas Soup
- Keto Paleo Burrito Bowls
Keto Tamale Pie
Ingredients
- 2 lb ground beef or pork
- Salt and pepper
- 3 tablespoon taco seasoning
- 1 tablespoon chili powder (optional)
- 1 medium jalapeno, seeded and minced (optional)
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
- ½ cup water
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- ½ cup coconut flour
- ¼ cup almond flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs
- 6 tablespoon butter melted
- ⅛ teaspoon cornbread flavor (optional)
- ¼ to ½ cup water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325F.
- In a 10-inch oven-proof skillet set over medium heat, brown the ground beef with a little salt and pepper until mostly cooked through, breaking up any clumps with the back of a wooden spoon. Stir in the the taco seasoning, chili powder, and jalapeno.
- In a small bowl, whisk the tomato paste with the water until well combined. Pour over the beef and stir in, then remove from heat. Sprinkle with the shredded cheese.
- In a large bowl, whisk the coconut flour, almond flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the eggs, butter, and cornbread flavor until well combined.
- Add the water a little a time until the batter is thick but spreadable.
- Dollop the batter over the beef in the pan. Use a knife or an offset spatula to spread over the top and to the edges.
- Bake 30 to 40 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the top is firm to the touch. Remove and let cool 10 minutes before serving.
Video
Marie says
Had this for dinner tonight. It is soooo good! I plan on baking a double recipe and put it in the freezer for busy weeks.
Gail O says
OH MY GOODNESS!!! I was blown away by this. I have been wanting to try this for years but was always a bit afraid as I only had tamales once when I was in Mexico and did not like them, but the rave reviews made me take the chance. I made this for Cinco de Mayo last night. This was AMAZING!!! Fed it to my non keto family and they loved it. They thought I was lying when I said there was no corn flour in it. This is going to be a regular now. Thanks Carolyn for such an amazing recipe!!!
Fran says
I’m making this for the second time today. My husband generally doesn’t like anything he considers a casserole, which would be this dish, but he loved it. We topped it with his homemade salsa, and it was perfect in every way. I didn’t use the cornbread flavoring as it has propylene glycol in it. If you’re eating for better health, take a look at that ingredient. The tamale pie tastes great without it. This recipe makes a generous amount. We had two meals and a lunch out of it and it reheats really well. In fact the taste was even better the Second day. Great recipe! Thank you 😊.
Heather Cates says
Glad to hear it was awesome without the cornbread flavoring. I’m going to try it tonight.
Shannon Austman says
Perfect! Searched your site for ground beef and pork, as I had a half kilo of each that need using. Somehow missed putting the cheese on the meat before the topping (eye roll), but put it on top for the last 10 minutes, with a sprinkle of paprika. Absolutely delicious!
Debbie Huewe says
We like this very much! There’s just two of us and love easy dinners. I think this dish fits the bill!
Melody says
I’d like to make this as “bites” in a mini muffin tin. Any chance you tried flipping it upside down (cornbread on bottom) and it worked like that as well?
I’m going for the finger food concept. 😁🤷♀️
Carolyn says
Feel free to experiment.
Tyra Gonzales says
We had pastor
Meat so we used that. Had my husband finish the “masa” topping since I’m recovering from surgery and got tired. It was easy enough for him! Looking forward to it coming out of the oven.
Dee says
Made this last night and it was absolutely amazing. Glad I invested in the corn flavoring for a prior recipe (your corn bread), and it comes out really well. So good!
Carolyn says
Great to hear!
Cheryl says
I made this for dinner tonight. I followed the directions and it turned out perfect! Full of flavor and very filling. Will be adding to the rotation.
Judith C Harrah says
I made this tonight. I kept adding tons of water to the cornbread and it was still super thick. I didn’t have nearly enough for the dish and had to duplicate it. If I kept working it in, I felt it would’ve been way too thin. I believe I have a same size cast iron, which is small enough for a standard large burner. Just really bummed that I had to double the crust. I also ran out of butter for the second batch of crust.
Carolyn says
Hi Judith. You should have made the topping as written. It is absolutely enough for the recipe if you are using a 10 inch skillet. Sounds like you’re not sure if you were, though. But you can see from the rave reviews that this recipe works as written.
Carri says
I attempted to half this recipe but soon saw the batter for the cornbread topping was too little. So I just make the batter as the recipe stated but had already made only half of the meat mixture ingredients The ratio between meat and cornbread was NOT right. The meat mixture should have been much thicker for the ratio between meat and topping to be right. JUST A HEADS UP. Plus I don’t believe the recipe as is, serves 10 people! Much less.
Carolyn says
I am trying to make sense of this… so you halved the filling but made the regular amount of topping, and you’re complaining that there isn’t enough filling?
Rosa says
Does the cornbread top reheat well in the microwave for left overs?
Carolyn says
It sure does! Just don’t heat it too quickly.
Catha from Austria says
I only used 700g of ground meat and added some chopped onion, minced garlic and about 200g of finely chopped mushrooms to make it less „meaty“. I needed 3 TBSP of tomato paste with 200ml of water to get the perfect consistency. I also cut down on the cheese a bit as it is already quite heavy. The batter is really cornbread-like! Great taste and delicious with some greens and Avocado of course 💚
Kristina says
I made this today using ground pork as my son does not eat beef. I had 2 jalapeños left that had to be used up so I sliced them in half and cleaned out the seeds and membranes from 3 of the 4 halves so there was a little heat but not too much. All the other ingredients I used as posted except I didn’t have cornbread flavouring but tasting it after it was done, it didn’t need it but reading Lisa’s comment, I might just invest in it. This is an awesome recipe Carolyn, thank you!
Lisa says
There is NO WAYYYYY this is keto!! Carolyn you are the most brilliant scourceress!!! I made this last night and OMG it is soooo delicious! I did get the exact corn extract and added it to the batter. Amazing how just that tiny amount changed the flavor to true yummy cornbread!! I have more in the fridge for leftovers. I’m hoping the crust reheats well and doesn’t get mushy. As always all my thanks to you for creating and sharing all the amazing recipes that you do!!!
Monica Verdugo says
Wow this recipe is just on point as usual! The Mexican in me was a bit skeptical But once again you didn’t disappoint! Didn’t have the cornbread flavor but that didn’t seem to make a difference in flavor although I’m sure it would have put this recipe over the top. We topped this with a dollop of sour cream fresh homemade pico and of course hot sauce for me and it was delicious.Thanks again for another delicious recipe.
Carolyn says
Well, I am flattered to hear that it met with approval. I don’t try to pass any of my recipes as “authentic”… keto kind of eliminates that from the get go. But I try to aim for the flavor profile.