Turkey tamale pie: Comfort food, fast

Tamale pie is a comforting Tex-mex casserole that combines meaty chili, vegetables and cornbread. According to Serious Eats, it’s been around since at least the 1930s and is a popular easy potluck dish. It’s often made with shortcut ingredients like canned beans, spice blends, chiles and tomatoes, so the dish is a prime candidate for a 5:30 Challenge makeover.

To cut down on the long list of spices in most tamale pie recipes, I like to use a can of flavorful chili beans in the filling. You can use any variety and spice level of chili beans you’d like — I like kidney beans with mild spice to keep things kid-friendly. Along with the beans, I use ground dark meat turkey in the filling, but any ground meat, such as beef or chicken, or even a meat substitute will work just fine. I combine both of these ingredients in an oven-safe cast-iron skillet with a bit of water and a touch of salt and bring the whole thing to a simmer. (If you’ve got a few extra minutes, you can take the time to thoroughly brown the turkey before adding the beans; this step will take dinner into 5:35 Challenge territory, but you’ll develop a little extra flavor from the browned meat.)

For the topping, I use a simple, plain corn muffin mix combined with milk and an egg. Dollop it on top of the chili mixture once it starts to simmer. The mix won’t completely cover the filling before it is cooked; leave the edges uncovered to allow expansion. From there, all you need to do is pop the skillet in the oven to bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Take this time to gather toppings or make a side dish — I like to serve my tamale pie with jarred salsa, sour cream and fresh cilantro.