I made this and added more chili powder. It was a big hit! The whole family loved it!!

I made this last night and my family loved it. Because I did not quite have a whole green pepper, I used half a green pepper and half a red pepper. At clean up time I expected to put away some leftovers and could not find any.

This was delicious but I had trouble with it because even after boiling it down for 20 minutes, it was still too wet. I didn't drain the 28 oz of diced tomatoes and I added the full can of tomato sauce. So, I added 2 tablespoons of cornmeal and cooked the mixture for an additional 10 mins which did the trick. I also added double the amount of chili powder (4 tsps) as it tasted a little too much like tomatoes and not enough spice. This was perfect. I doubled the batch of crust. I used the entire amount on the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan and then repeated the same amount on top. You do have to cook the cornmeal mix until it is stiff and when you add the butter it makes it smooth enough to spread with ease. My husband had never had this before and he LOVED it. I garnished with cheese, sliced green onions, a dollop of sour cream, sliced avocado, and red chile enchilada sauce. Just a little over the sour cream to make it pretty and add just a little extra flavor. Due to the extra amount of crust I made, I baked for an hour and let stand for 10 minutes before serving which helped it to congeal. This was fantastic comfort food and presentation was very festive and pretty.

Excellent recipe. I've made it twice so far. This time I added some chorizo, more chilli powder and made the cornmeal mix a bit stiffer. Cheese on top to finish. Mmmmm. Leave to cool a bit after taking it out of the oven, otherwise its a bit like lava.

I have 3 in the oven right now and they look and smell delish !!! ok I read all the reviews and have never posted anything ever before. But I had to because mine came out perfect!!! I bought everything from aldi's except my beef. well they don't have 28 oz tomatoes so I bought 10 oz diced with chili's since I wanted to add some spice anyway and a 14.5 oz can of regular diced. well I guess technically I cut back 3.5 oz. of tomatoes but I added 3 tablespoons of adobo sauce and 1 chili and 2 jalapeno's Don't forget that I doubled the recipe to make three casseroles. one for each of my friends for dinn dinn. So I trippled the cornmeal instead of doubling it and I wish at this point I had not read the reviews because I know how to cook corn meal but I made it too thick listening to everyone. I would say go with your gut on this one and do it fast so it doesn't get too thick now it doesn't say to cover the top only drop by spoonfuls and it works just fine I needed to thin mine out a bit to dropp. Taste is yummy !!! oh and I had no prob with it being souppy? but I do have great beef maybe that's it ?? not sure ???

I did increase the cornmeal mixture by 33%. (50% more would have worked well also) It took a long time to cook. It needs to be ""stiff"" as one reviewer said. I did not have tomato sauce so I used a can of tomato paste with water to equal the 15 oz of sauce. I left the filling on to simmer and thicken the whole time I cooked the cornmeal mixture. Used frozen corn and agave syrup instead of sugar. So yummy!

I really loved this recipe, until it came out of the oven. There was too much liquid, but more importantly, the cornmeal was just complete mush, even after an hour. I realize now from looking at other recipes that it needs to get REALLY thick in the pan before transferring to the baking dish, otherwise it never cooks. I will make again because the flavor was great, but drain the tomatoes and stir the cornmeal longer.

This recipe reminded my of one my mother used to make. It's great for a family recipe. Mild enough for a young child's sensitive taste buds, but easy enough to spice up if desired. Based on comments about the filling being too soupy, I substituted 1 small (6 oz) can of tomato paste plus half can of water, for the tomato sauce. I also used diced canned tomatoes instead of regular canned tomatoes. Diced are less watery. I was a little concerned it was going to come out tasting too tomato-y, but it was perfect and didn't require the reduction time. A real easy way to add a little more bite is to use the diced canned tomatoes that include green chilies. I didn't think the ingredient list was too long, and it uses ingredients I ordinarily keep in stock. An additional plus is that it is a reasonably economical and easy to make family or potluck dish.

This recipe has great flavor. It was too saucy for my liking. Next time I will drain the canned tomatoes. I will also double the cornmeal recipe so I can have a thicker topping. Other than those 2 easy changes, my whole family plus kids liked this very much.

I used the basic recipe, but didn't have all of the ingredients on hand. Also, because I made it for someone who can't digest corn, I omitted the corn. I also omitted the olives because 2 out of 3 people don't like them. I made it with 2 lbs of 80% ground beef, well drained. I used 2 8-oz cans of tomato sauce rather than a 15-oz can, 1 14.5 oz can whole tomatoes, which I accidentally pureed while chopping, and 1 10 oz can of diced tomatoes with green chiles. I increased the chili powder to 3 teaspoons and added 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin. I followed the rest of the recipe. The meat mixture seemed to be a bit runny, so I let it simmer for an additional 20 minutes with no lid. That did the trick. I used only about 1/3 of the crust on the bottom of a 9"" x 13"" Pyrex dish. Topping it with the cornmeal mixture was a challenge. We finally flattened portions of the crust and laid it on top, piecing it together. After baking, it came out looking picture perfect! We all agreed it was a keeper. Since there's only 3 of us, we had leftovers. Today, I reheated them in the microwave, and served it with Mexican rice, and chopped lettuce, tomatoes, onions and sour cream. We also served it with extra cheese and taco sauce. That tied the whole meal together. We all agreed that this is one of the best dishes we've had in a long time.

I haven't cooked tamale pie for a long time, so thought I'd try this. As usual, I tried some variants; I substituted red enchilada sauce for the tomato sauce, and used Cholula sauce in place of ground chili peppers, and, finally, added more cheese and corn to both the dish and the crust. I was pleased with how well it tasted, but think it would have been better with 1/2 as much enchilada sauce and 1/2 as much as the recipe called for of tomato sauce. I did find, however, that the even doubling the recipe for the ""crust"" was not enough, perhaps because I used a slightly larger dish to cook it in. All in all, it's worth a try - again and again.

Very good stuff. The recipe will get it done right if followed. It is a little difficult to get a top cornmeal crust on neatly, but just do the best you can. the baking process floats the cornmeal up pretty well. It gets five stars if it doesn't use so many dishes. But, there you go, slothfulness prevails.

The first time I made this, I was so frustrated, because of what someone mentioned above about sloppy mess. 20 minutes of simmering time and addition of cheese to thicken the filling worked, BUT: the direction on the cornmeal is weak. It should say that the cornmeal should be stiff, not ""thick"". Thick means anything in the stages before it stiffens. Also, forget ""spooning"" the cornmeal. Use a spatula (the type used to scrape out a bowl) and spread cornemeal thinly over the bottom. I use about 1/3 cornmeal on the bottom and 3/4 on top. If you smooth the cornmeal over the top with a spatula, it will slide over the filling without making a sloppy mess. There will be filling seeping up through it, but it makes for easier coverage. This recipe is perfect comfort food!

My husband's mother passed away a few years ago, and he begged me to find one just like hers from what he remembers. This was it! He proclaimed it to be just like mom's. And it was the first time I'd ever had it, and I love it too. I add a little extra spice and zip to it, but this recipe is a keeper.

While the flavor is excellent, there is excessive liquid(28 oz can of tomatoes and a can of tomato sauce) even after reducing down for 20 minutes. The cornmeal topping was a sloppy mess, more like gruel than a cornmeal/cornbread topping. I wanted a cornbread topping that was recognizable as cornbread.

The spices are a little different than I remember, but my mom always adjusted everything anyway, so maybe she just recorded her preferences. She increased the chili powder, and she didn't drain the corn. It's easy to make the filling the day before and then make the topping and cook it the day of serving.

We enjoyed it. it was even bearable the next day as a leftover. I used half chorizo, and the spice was just right. But, I am accustomed to spicy foods. So, it may be alittle bland for my tast made just as directed. Also, it could have used slightly more cornmeal mixture.