Not exactly authentic, but this low carb, grain-free tamale pie will satisfy those Mexican food cravings! It’s a new family favorite in our house.
The first time I tasted a real tamale was at a feast dance 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. 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 plenty of day trips to interesting places in the Four Corners area, and pueblo feast days were high on our list of activities. Feast Days are, as you might imagine, when a pueblo community comes together in celebration of their culture and heritage. They are typically open to the public and can give you a fascinating glimpse into a rich and complex society.
As students of anthropology and archaeology, these trips were very special to us. The traditional music, the dances, the multi-story adobe structures, it was like having some of my university textbooks come to life. And because some of the archaeologists had friends in the Zuni community, we were honoured to be invited into people’s homes and “feasted”, as it were. We were plied with food and drink, and it was there that I first spotted the corn-husk wrapped tamales. Canadian Gringo that I was, I had absolutely no idea what they were. As far as I knew, tamales were little red cinnamon-flavoured candies. But one taste of a real tamale and it was love at first bite.
Fast forward a few years later and I was a graduate student at Arizona State University. Tamales were everywhere, from the truly authentic kind sold on the corner by a man whose wife made them by hand, to the ho-hum frozen kind from Trader Joe’s. They no longer seemed like a delicacy to me but I still loved them. And I was charmed to discover that many Arizonians had a tradition of eating tamales on Christmas Eve. Many would even cross the border into Mexico to pick up “real” tamales. I could definitely see the appeal.
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. And while I am not about to go to all the trouble of filling and wrapping and steaming tamales (from all accounts, it’s a lot of work to make real tamales!), I figure I can get a little of the same great flavours in a tamale pie. Cook some ground beef or pork with spices, top it with my recipe for low carb cornbread, and there you have it. Low carb tamales! Sort of. 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!
- 1 1/2 lb ground beef or pork
- 2 tbsp taco seasoning
- 1 tbsp chili powder (optional)
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 2/3 cup coconut flour
- 1/3 cup almond flour
- 1 tbsp Swerve Sweetener
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 4 large eggs
- 6 tbsp butter melted
- 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
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Preheat oven to 325F.
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In a 10-inch oven-proof skillet set over medium heat, brown ground beef until mostly cooked through, breaking up any clumps with the back of a wooden spoon. Stir in the the taco seasoning and chili powder.
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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 shredded cheese.
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In a large bowl, whisk the coconut flour, almond flour, sweetener, baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt. Stir in the eggs, butter, and almond milk until well combined. Your batter will be quite thick.
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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.
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Bake 40 to 45 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the top is firm to the touch. Remove and let cool 10 minutes before serving.
Serves 10. Each serving has 3.2g NET CARBS.
Food energy: 336kcal
Total fat: 23.41g
Calories from fat: 210
Cholesterol: 153mg
Carbohydrate: 6.85g
Total dietary fiber: 3.65g
Protein: 23.18g
Katharine Barrett says
I don’t have an oven proof skillet, but I’m assuming I can transfer the meat to a baking dished pie plate?…
Carolyn says
Yes, that would work just as well!
Shondra Turner says
The hyperlink for the coconut flour was not properly done in your recipe. But I will try the recipe regardless because you have made some really good things on this site that my family loves.
Carolyn says
Thanks for the heads up, I will fix that!
Anne O says
Looks wonderful Carilyn- I am trying this week. Just went on a baking spree with 3 of your goodies: sour creme cranberry muffins, pecan biscotti and pumpkin scones. All so delish! Thank you!
olga says
Hi Carolyn,
I’m only cooking for 2. Can I halve the recipe and use my 6 inch iron skillet?? It is a little bigger than half of a 10 inch skillet, but do you think that would work? Should I lengthen baking time any? Thanks. This looks really good,
Carolyn says
I think it should be okay. The square inches of a 10 inch circle = about 64 square inches. The square inches of a 6 inch circle equal almost 30 square inches. So really, it’s a little less than half but it’s close. If you find you have too much filling and too much topping, just grab a ramekin and put the rest in there.
kelly says
I went to the U of A in Tucson (rivals!!) and live in Albuquerque, NM now. =) I LOVE a good tamale and yes, they are very labor of love intensive. Thanks for your low carb alternative. My daughter has T1d and we so appreciate your low carb recipes. They are delicious and made with pretty normal ingredients. (Almond flour, coconut flour, and swerve are every day pantry items now =)
I do have one thought for this recipe to maybe add some “authenitic” type flavor to it…what do you think of subbing just a tiny bit of masa harina to it? If so, I would love to guinea pig this and try it with your suggestions. We are making chili tomorrow and some yummy corn bread would go perfect with this!
Carolyn says
I think in place of the almond flour, you could do the masa harina.
McDonna says
I am a big fan of masa harina, but am wondering what substituting that for the almond flour will do to the carb count?
Tobbe says
1/3 cups almond flour is about 2 g carbs. 1/3 cup of masa harina is about 27 g net carbs. So approximately 25 g more carbs in the entire dish if you use corn flour.
Per serving you’re looking at a 2.5 extra grams of net carbs with the corn flour.
Tobbe says
Did you really mean to say 1 1/5 lbs ground meat? Or should that actually be 1.5 lbs (1 1/2 lbs)? The nutritional values match up better when I change to 1.5 lbs 🙂
Carolyn says
1 and 1/2 pounds. Did I write something strange there? Let me fix it.
Emb24601 says
Has anyone tried this omitting the sweetener? My family prefers unsweetened cornbread, but wasn’t sure if he coconut flour comes through too strong if you on sweeten it.
Carolyn says
I think it should be fine.
Tobbe says
I never use sweeteners in any lunch/dinner/breakfast recipes. Only in deserts. Never had a problem with taste 🙂
Robin says
I made this for lunch yesterday. It was super yummy, though I think next time I might not use the sweetener. It was so good that we ate it again for dinner. We were super tempted to have a second piece at lunch, but decided to restrain ourselves. We are Texans living in Zimbabwe and we just LOVE this recipe. Thanks!
Carolyn says
Wow, you’re a long way from home! Glad it gave you a taste of home.
Conni says
How long can you keep almond milk? That is something that I have not used yet.
Pam says
I made this last night for dinner. It was yummy!! Thanks so much for yet another winner.
Elizabeth says
I made the cornbread portion of this recipe (Sausage Jalapeno Skillet Cornbread) a few weeks ago and added 1 cup of creamed corn. This added roughly 35 carbs to the entire dish (or 8 g carb per serving of 10). Anyhow, it turned out wonderfully and placated my corn craving. As a T1D individual, I did notice a little spike in my blood sugar post-meal. Amazing how a little can have such an effect. Wishful thinking usually gets the best of me!
Carolyn, I do have a question regarding sweetener choices. I have and do use Swerve and Truvia, but I learned that I have to be careful with how much of it I consume over time. Three days’ consumption of any recipe using the erythritol sweetener will produce undesirable effects, gastrointestinally speaking. I am wondering if you have experimented with options such as SweetLeaf, Stevia in the Raw, or other non-erythritol sweeteners in your cooking and what you might recommend?
Thank you again for all you do for so many!
Carolyn says
I don’t get any GI effects from Swerve but I understand that everybody (and every gut) is different. I have many recipes that use a little stevia to cut the erythritol, I just don’t love it as much. And my son appears to have developed a sensitivity to stevia, he gets an itchy mouth (it’s a member of the ragweed family). But I am always happy to help people try to adapt my recipes for the sweetener of choice. Some you really do need the erythritol for, though.
Elizabeth says
I agree that stevia is just not “as good.” I have always liked the erythritol; it just doesn’t like me! Cutting it with stevia..I will give that a try. Thank you for the reply!
Tobbe says
In savory dishes I always leave the sweetener out. In sweet dishes I usually mix erythritol, stevia and xylitol to get as little of the after taste as possible from any single one of them.
Brenda says
Elizabeth — I am also not happy with Stevia (even the organic has an awful aftertaste). Recently I’ve been reading from many low-carb/keto followers about a sweetener called Monk Fruit. Just ordered it from Amazon (got the blend with erythritol, but you can get pure Monk Fruit if preferred). I’ve been using it for about a week and LOVE it! So much better than Stevia… I’m not sure why anyone uses it now that I know there are better options. I guess some don’t have the sensitivity to the bitter taste. Anyway, just wanted to share that and hope it helps.
Stephanie Deal says
Made this tonight and it is oh so yummy!! I added chopped orange bell pepper to the meat mixture cause I love it. I also served the tamale pie with sour cream, guacamole and salsa!! Just delicious – thx Carolyn.
Karen says
My oven is not working. I’m wondering if this could be made in a crock pot. I guess I could be the guinea pig and try it, although if anyone else has done it I’d love to know how it turned out.
Carolyn says
I think it might be too moist for the topping but it’s worth a shot!
Maria says
Are you God? My prayer answered! I think I’ve asked for this before and you delivered. I know how labor intensive (been there done that) genuine tamales are and how high the carbs. I’ve got a brilliant thought, or perhaps a foolish one, to make this recipe in true tamale form using the traditional corn husks. Making the dough soft, pliable and wet enough (but not too wet so it stays together when unrolled) to coat the corn husk, filling and rolling it. I will try this if you can give me some guidance on the amounts in the ingredients to achieve the proper dough consistency. To make it ‘corn’ tasting how about some corn extract? Could they then be cooked in an electric pressure cooker (don’t have an Instant Pot, though keep trying to win one :). It’s a Mexican tradition to have tamales Christmas eve. Thank you 🙂
Kelly Mac says
Another winner from All Day I Dream About Food. One of the things I love the most about your site is that I NEVER have to worry if a recipe is going to turn out right, or if it’s going to be good. Every one of your recipes has been a winner… (plus i enjoy your writing ste and sense of humor!) I was worried about the coconut taste being too prevalent so I actually subbed 1/2 of it with Carb Quick. I was serving for company and wanted to make sure it had a tamale taste and consistency. And I skipped the sweetener bc I just prefer the topping more savory . But the consistency of the whole thing –pie and topping — was right on and everyone loved it. Will be making this again soon. Thanks carolyn!!
Casey Crane says
Did you try this?? I found this site looking for a grain free tamale filling to make rolled tamales in my instant pot! I would love your feedback!
Janice says
Made this last week for dinner, but we ended up eating the leftovers for breakfast. I topped eat serving (heated) with 2 fried eggs, more shredded cheese, salsa, sour cream, and chopped fresh cilantro, with avocado on the side. It was amazing! Thanks for the recipe. I will definitely make it again.
Carolyn says
great idea!
KalynsKitchen says
Looks so good and I love these photos too!
Mary says
Made this tonight. Very tasty! To the meat I added onion, garlic, cumin and dried oregano, plus a dash of Tabasco and some ground black pepper. My non-low carb husband even commented on the crust tasting good despite the hint of coconut flavor. thanks!!! I don’t make a lot of baked goods so always appreciate savory recipes.
Samantha Liner says
Just made this recipe for dinner tonight and it was a great success! Very easy, you can add whatever veggies you’d like to the meat and based on other comments, I left the sweetener out of the crust. Didn’t miss it at all. Thanks for sharing another great recipe, I’m addicted to this blog and have made it my mission to try as many recipes as I can. I haven’t had a bad one yet!
Mary Anne Robinson says
I added a small can of chopped green ortega chiles to the meat mixture – yum!
Carolyn says
Great idea!
Kathy says
I don’t have any almond milk but can I use half-and-half in this?
Carolyn says
I think that should be fine.
Lynn Lang says
Hi looking forward to making this tonight. Could I use coconut milk instead of almond milk. Just having to throw nearly full carton of almond milk away as had to be used with 5 days of opening, now 6. I am using coconut milk at moment.
Carolyn says
Absolutely.
Lynn Lang says
Thank you Carolyn, didn’t see your reply until posted second one. Think I will use coconut milk.
Lynn Lang says
I have googled and found half and half which I can do. Many thanks for the brilliant recipes.
Shelsea Harwood says
Thank you so much for another great recipe! I’ve made it twice and have served to guests who also loved it. Tastes just as good, if not better than “authentic” tamale pie.
Danae Kirschman says
I love your recipes and can’t wait to try this! I see you spent some time in Colorado- I live in Colorado Springs and find some of these these don’t turn out quite like yours (still tastes great). Do you have any ideas about adjusting for high altitude? Maybe a bit more coconut flour? Thanks!
Carolyn says
I have never baked at high altitude (the time I spent in CO was not time when I baked much!). But I hear that you make the same adjustments you do for conventional recipes.
Danae Kirschman says
Okay- often high altitude calls for adding all-purpose flour and water. I’ve just been hesitant about adding more coconut or almond flour not knowing how they’d react in the recipe. Sounds like I’ll just have to experiment 🙂
Nancy Poe says
I’m confused. How can the total carb count be 6.85g, but have 23.18g of sugar. That’s more than the carb count. And where is all that sugar coming from?
Carolyn says
It doesn’t. I have someone going back through my recipes and adding the nutritional info into the recipe card and he made a mistake. That’s the PROTEIN grams, not the sugar.
Lulu says
Hi! Not a big fan of taco seasoning but I will definitely be trying your topping on some tarted up Manwich mix and try adopting my Mum’s cottage pie base. Thank you!
Carolyn says
Enjoy!
Ange says
What does the xanthan gum do? Is it compulsory or could it be substituted?
Carolyn says
Just helps hold it together a bit more…
momofgirlswcurls says
Could you substitute Guar Gum if you are sensitive to Xantham Gum?
Carolyn says
Yes, that should be fine.
Kristine says
I just tried the corn bread part of this recipe last night for my chili and it was fantastic. The texture is amazing and the flavor is very similar to your standard corn bread. My husband even tried some and was very impressed, he honestly couldn’t tell the difference once the chili was on the bread! I have tried multiple different recipes for low carb corn bread and this one is by FAR the best one I have tried. Thank you so much for your dedication to low carb and healthy eating, we always look forward to trying your recipes.
Carolyn says
Thank you, Kristine. I feel the same way about it, that it’s almost indistinguishable from real cornbread!
Jessica says
Do you drain the ground beef before adding the seasoning?
Carolyn says
No, I never do. Why waste all that good fat and flavor?
Brenda says
I’m getting ready to make this (so excited… I love cornbread and any Mexican tamale type casserole! I was looking over the ingredients and have one quick question: Is the Swerve powdered. That is the only form I have seen it and want to make sure I use the right stuff.
Carolyn says
You cause either.
Lu Vickery says
I am allergic to coconut, can I substitute almond flour, and would I use the same amount of the almond flour as called for, for the coconut flour?
Carolyn says
No, this recipe won’t work properly with almond flour.
Katie says
If you don’t have tomato paste, could you use tomato the same amount of sauce instead of the water?
Carolyn says
Yes, that would be perfect.