Monday's Menu: My Mom's Slow Cooker Tamale Pie

(The picture above is courtesy of my Mom!)

I am always in need of good recipes, and lately- particularly ones tailor made for the slow cooker. (I use my slow cooker every day now!) So when my Mom raved about a new recipe she had for a tamale pie with cornbread on top, I couldn't wait to give it a try. Once I finally tried it last week, we all enjoyed it so much that I had to share it with you!

This recipe is awesome because it only took me 30 minutes of preparation before putting in the slow cooker, and it easily fed our family for 3 nights! And we still have some leftover!

If you make this recipe, please come back and let me know how your family enjoyed it. I'll post it below, and also give you the link to my Mom's website so you can see the original recipe.

Slow Cooker Tamale Pie

1 large onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 lbs ground beef

1 15 oz corn

2 15 oz cans of black beans (I used about 2 1/2 cups of cooked black beans)

2 15 oz cans of diced tomatoes

1/2 - 3/4 cup salsa

1 jalapeno, chopped

2 - 3 cups of grated cheese (cheddar or jalepeno pepper jack)

2 t. cumin

1 - 2 t. chili pepper flakes

cilantro

salt

pepper

Cornbread batter (recipe)

Sour Cream for topping

Extra Salsa for topping

Place olive oil, onion, celery, garlic & ground beef in a large skillet, Brown the beef and drain off any excess grease (if you use grass fed beef you won’t have much).

In a 6 quart slow cooker, pour in the corn, beans, tomatoes, salsa, jalapeno, spices and most of the cheese. Stir in browned ground beef mixture, top with the last of the cheese. Mix it well because once you add the cornbread batter, you won’t be able stir it again.

Top with the cornbread batter and cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours.

Spoon up onto your plate, top with sour cream and salsa & dig in! My family also loved adding corn tortilla chips.

To see the original recipe, click here.