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Some freak once gave tamales the side eye, and said "what if we made this a casserole" and that person changed the entire trajectory of comfort food history. This vegan tamale pie is basically really good chili and vegan queso with a fluffy AF golden cornbread top. It's a mega-low-effort quick-win for potlucks and meal-prep alike.
Recipe tips tailored to what matters most to you:
Two swaps: a gluten-free all-purpose blend for the flour, and my pinto bean chili for the filling, since my go-to chili is made with seitan.
Store-bought vegan chili works perfectly fine here. Bake it ahead too, it keeps 4 days and reheats at 350°F in 15-20 minutes.
This is what leftover chili is for. Starting fresh? Pinto bean chili is the cheapest filling, and extra cornmeal can stand in for masa harina.
Build it on a bean-heavy chili and go lighter on the vegan cheddar up top. The hatch chiles and corn bring plenty of flavor.
Hatch chiles not available to ya? Fresh roasted poblanos or chipotles in adobo work. No masa harina? More cornmeal does the job, with a little less corn-plexity.
Stir just until no dry clumps remain and then put the spatula down. Mixing too much develops the gluten and turns your fluffy cornbread topping into something you could use to patch drywall.
If it's thin and soupy, the cornbread batter will sink right into it and bake up dense and gummy on the bottom. If you are working with something mega-loose like vegan taco soup, drain it almost entirely first.
Rocking this out for Thanksgiving in the Midwest? Skip the whole batter discussed in this blog post, and replace it with vegan pumpkin cornbread batter instead!
Oodles more tips, step-by-step recipe photos, info on weird ingredients, and FAQs are all still here. I just tucked 'em out of the way so you can start cooking sooner.
Tamale pies started showing up in Texas over 100 years ago, then went absolutely turnt in school cafeterias across America, which means somewhere out there is a 75-year-old still getting kinda emotional about lunch period. It's Tex-Mex comfort food royalty. The whole genius idea was to deliver all the slightly sweet corny glory of a real tamale without the part where you stand at the counter wrapping 47 tiny corn husk parcels like an unpaid tamale elf.
I mean, I love me some vegan tamales, but this is different. It's gringo stuff, and I don't entirely mean that in a bad way. Slice into it and you'll see. You get: astonishingly moist and perfect cornbread up top, gooey melty cheese in the middle, meaty seitan and bean chili holding it all down. 3 textures. 1 fork. Beautiful chaos. Be still, m'heart.
Serve it with some vegan chiles rellenos, calabacitas, or tofu tacos, and you just won yourself the vegan Tex-Mex weeknight meal olympics with great ease. Like a wild tamale-eating sports goose.
I had just enough leftover chili so decided to try this. The layers of flavor are great! I especially like the addition of masa harina to the cornbread. I think it's best to have leftover chili so you only have to make the cheese and cornbread layers. It would be a nice touch to spread some sliced black olives over the top before baking. Baking for 40 minutes was just right.
Jump to:
🥰 Why you'll adore this vegan tamale casserole recipe
🧀 There Is a Whole Queso Layer In This Thing: Not messing around with some measly shreds of Daiya sprinkled on top like a Godforsaken afterthought. Yep. There's an entire layer of vegan queso between the chili and the cornbread. You will be sincerely psyched.
🌽 The Cornbread Is Not Fooling Around: The topping is a slight adaptation of my popular vegan cornbread recipe, but with some of the cheesy vibes of my vegan corn casserole dish. Masa harina, fire-roasted hatch chiles, sweet corn, and vegan cheddar all folded into 1 heavenly, maple sweetened batter.
✊ Vegan AF (and Eeeasily GF): Not a single animal's been harmed (though several HAVE been snuggled) in the making of any of my vegan Tex-Mex recipes. Swap the flour in the cornbread topping for your fave gluten-free option, use a GF chili, and you can even love this if you hate gluten with all of your heart and soul.
🍽️ 1 Pan. That's It. 1: Everything bakes in a single 9 x 13-inch (23 x 33 cm) dish. I've made recipes that required 7 separate pots and I am forever sorry about that. This is not one of those recipes.
Tested and Approved Worldwide: Every vegan recipe I share survives a full global taste test from over 1,000 home cooks before it gets posted. Think of it as a very delicious job interview, and this one got the job.
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🌶️ Vegan Cornbread Chili Casserole Ingredients
The Chili
Hold your hat. I mean for real- I use my "vegan chili in a hat" recipe as the base for this. I mean, of course I would prefer if you rocked a whole quart of that straight out of a frilly ladies hat with a ribbon, but we can't all have our dreams come true now, can we?
The problem is, that particular recipe isn't GF, because it has seitan in it. So if that matters to you, you can 100% make this using my pinto bean chili, or tofu chili instead.
Store-bought vegan chili works perfectly fine too if you need to move faster and not do every friggin' thing from scratch.
The Cheese Layer
My vegan queso and vegan nacho cheese sauce (pick the one that you love more) are absolutely unhinged inside this tamale pie. Store-bought dairy-free cheese sauce works too, but is a lot less cost effective.
Masa Harina
Masa harina is the ingredient that gives this topping that deeper, more complex corn flavor that regular cornmeal just cannot fully replicate. My absolute fave brand is Masienda. I use their yellow and white for my vegan chiles rellenos and their blue for my food truck blue corn pancakes.
No masa harina? You can get away with just subbing in additional cornmeal in place of it.
Egg Replacer Powder
I use Ener-G egg replacer which is the OG (it's been around for longer than I have been vegan which is like 400 years now), and it is genuinely the move for keeping this cornbread batter together without eggs.
Bob's Red Mill makes one too if that's easier to find. Since it's essentially just starches, tapioca starch or potato starch work great in place of it too.
Fire Roasted Hatch Chiles
I grab the small cans of these at Trader Joe's and it's a great way to add flavor without much heat to the tamale pie, my hatch chile salsa, and sometimes vegan refried beans.
No TJ's? Fresh roasted poblanos work as a sub, or you can swap them out for a couple of tablespoons of minced chipotle peppers in adobo.
Vegan Sour Cream
My vegan sour cream recipe is right here on the blog and it is ridiculously easy to make and genuinely so much better and cheaper than store-bought options.
If you don't have time to make your own, Tofutti, Kite Hill, and Forager are my three top picks from stores, and all work great as a garnish for serving portions of this tasty dish.
*See the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact quantities, nutritional info, and detailed cooking directions.
📖 How to make vegan tamale pie
You can practically smell that cornbread already and it doesn't even exist yet. That's the power of tamale pie, m'love. Follow these step-by-step instructions for the full breakdown, or skip to the printable easy recipe card below before your imagination tortures you any further.
Step One
Chili Me Softly:
Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch (23 x 33 cm) baking dish.
Spread the chili evenly across the bottom of the prepared baking dish.
Step Two
In Queso Emergency:
Spoon the queso over the chili, then spread it into an even single layer using the back of a spoon or an offset spatula.
Step Three
Corn on the Fourth of July:
In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, masa harina, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and egg replacer powder. Create a well in the center.
Step Four
Batter Call Saul:
Pour in the maple syrup, plant-based milk, apple cider vinegar, and olive oil, then stir with a rubber spatula until a smooth, thick batter forms.
Step Five
Cheddar Off Dead:
Fold the shredded cheddar, hatch chiles, and corn kernels into the batter.
Step Six
Cornbreaddy Krueger:
Spread the cornbread batter evenly over the chili and queso layers with a spatula.
Step Seven
Bake Me Out to the Ball Game:
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the topping is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center (AT THE DEPTH OF THE CORNBREAD ONLY) comes out clean.
Brush with vegan butter immediately after removing the casserole from the hot oven. Let the tamale pie rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Step Eight
Good Golly Ms. Tamale:
Top each slice with sour cream, sliced scallions, and fresh cilantro.
Grab my easy-yo-use app that builds your whole week with real, chef-tested vegan dinners in 30 seconds, customized to your budget, time, and taste, with a shopping list sorted by aisle.
👉Top tips
- Don't Overmix the Batter: Stir just until no dry clumps remain and then put the spatula down. Mixing too much develops the gluten and turns your fluffy cornbread topping into something you could use to patch drywall.
- Your Chili Needs to Be Thick: If it's thin and soupy, the cornbread batter will sink right into it and bake up dense and gummy on the bottom. If you are working with something mega-loose like vegan taco soup, drain it almost entirely first.
- Holiday Vibes? Rocking this out for Thanksgiving in the Midwest? Skip the whole batter discussed in this blog post, and replace it with vegan pumpkin cornbread batter instead!
🤷♀️ Recipe FAQs
You can, and the recipe notes this as an option. Just know that masa harina has a deeper, more complex corn flavor and much finer texture than regular cornmeal, so skipping it entirely will still give you a great topping, just a slightly less tamale-forward one.
It can be. Swap the all-purpose flour for a gluten-free all-purpose blend and you're set. Just double-check that your chili is also certified gluten free if that matters for your situation.
🧊 Refrigerating: Transfer leftovers to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
❄️ Freezing: Let the tamale pie cool at room temperature completely, then transfer individual portions to airtight freezer-safe containers. Freeze for up to 3 months.
🌡️ Thawing: Move the tamale pie from the freezer to the refrigerator and let it thaw overnight before reheating.
🔥 Stovetop Reheating: Add a portion to a skillet over medium-low heat with a small splash of vegetable broth, cover with a lid, and heat until warmed through, about 5 to 7 minutes.
♨️ Oven Reheating: Transfer a portion to an oven-safe dish and reheat at 350°F (175°C) for 15 to 20 minutes until warmed through.
✌️You'll love these vegan casseroles too:
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Vegan Tamale Pie Recipe
Ingredients
Filling:
- 4 cups vegan chili
- 2 cups vegan queso or vegan nacho cheese
Cornbread Topping:
- ¾ cups yellow cornmeal
- ¼ cup masa harina or substitute with additional cornmeal
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour or substitute with gluten-free all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoons salt
- 4 teaspoons egg replacer powder
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- 1 ½ cups unsweetened plant-based milk
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 ¼ cup vegan cheddar cheese shreds
- 4 oz. canned fire roasted hatch chiles
- ½ cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
- 4 teaspoons vegan butter for brushing on the finished casserole
Optional garnishes:
- ½ cup vegan sour cream
- 1 scallion thinly sliced
- Cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Lightly oil a 9 x 13-inch (23 x 33 cm) baking dish.
- Spread the chili evenly into the prepared baking dish.
- Spoon the queso over the chili and spread into an even layer using an offset spatula or the backside of a spoon.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, masa harina, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and egg replacer powder. Make a well in the center.
- Add the maple syrup, plant milk, apple cider vinegar, and olive oil and mix with a rubber spatula until a smooth thick batter forms.
- Fold in the shredded cheddar, hatch chiles, and corn kernels.
- Spread the cornbread batter evenly over the chili and queso layers with a spatula.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the topping is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Brush with vegan butter as soon as the casserole is removed from the oven. Let the tamale pie rest for 10 minutes before serving. Top each slice with a small dollop of sour cream, sliced scallions and cilantro.
Notes
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Cathy says
Made with Adam's pinto bean chili recipe and cornbread gluten free'd
Lynn Armstrong says
I had just enough leftover chili so decided to try this. The layers of flavor are great! I especially like the addition of masa harina to the cornbread. I think it’s best to have leftover chili so you only have to make the cheese and cornbread layers. It would be a nice touch to spread some sliced black olives over the top before baking. Baking for 40 minutes was just right.
Cathy says
I made the casserole with vegan chili and gluten free tamale cornbread.