Chicken Tamale Casserole

This recipe is adapted from a Cooking Light recipe that was printed in November 2008. I altered and substituted for a few of the ingredients and amounts, but it turned out scrumptious. As you can see, I even have pictures to share (thanks to my husband who was finally able to get them downloaded to my computer - Argh! Technology gets the best of me, again.)! The leftovers are just as tasty the next day.


Chicken Tamale Casserole
Yield: 8 servings

1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
½ cup milk
1 egg
1 tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. ground red pepper
1 (14¾ oz.) can cream-style corn
1 (6.5 oz.) bag corn muffin mix
1 (4 oz.) can chopped green chiles, drained
1 (10 oz.) can red enchilada sauce
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
½ cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine ¼ cup cheese, milk, egg, cumin, red pepper, cream-style corn, muffin mix, and green chiles in a large bowl. Stir until just moistened. Pour mixture into a 13x9 inch baking pan that has been coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Pierce the surface with a fork and pour the enchilada sauce over the top. Top with shredded chicken and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake an additional 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes. Cut into 8 pieces and top each with a tablespoon of sour cream before serving.

The preparation time is approximately 55 minutes. I saved time (about 15 minutes) during the evening by poaching and shredding the chicken earlier in the day. Poaching is a great way to keep the chicken moist, and chicken is really easy to shred when poached. It's also a time-saver to poach and dice extra chicken breasts. In fact, I had an extra cup that I diced and froze to use in another dish.