This vegan tamale pie is made with a mixture of chickpeas, pinto beans and red beans simmered in a spicy tomato sauce and baked up with a crumbly cornbread crust.
So, what do vegans eat on Christmas? What does anybody eat on Christmas, for that matter? I think the traditional thing is ham, but does anybody actually eat ham? Growing up in an omnivorous household we never had ham over the holidays, but then again I can’t really recall what we did have.
I’ve been wondering about this quite a bit lately. I feel like I’ve got a pretty good grasp on Thanksgiving, and I think that’s why Christmas confuses me. It’s kind of like, what’s left?
I’ve come to the conclusion that any type of hot and cozy food for a crowd works for end-of-year celebrations in my book, and so I made this massive vegan tamale pie.
Whether you make this for the holidays or not, you should just make it, because it’s really, really good. I’ve never had a traditional tamale pie, but from what I gather, the base is similar to chili, a cornbread crust is baked on top, and somewhere in there is a bunch of cheese. I initially figured I’d have to load my vegan version up with toppings to make up for the lack of cheese, but that turned out to be totally unnecessary. If you are inclined, feel free to throw on some avocado slices, salsa, guacamole, whatever you’re into, but I didn’t feel the need to do that, and I’m normally all about the toppings.
Three Bean Vegan Tamale Pie
Ingredients
For the Spicy Three Bean Base
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1-14 oz. can diced tomatoes
- 1-14 oz. can crushed tomatoes
- 1-14 oz. can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- 1-14 oz. can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1-14 oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
- 1 tbsp. ground cumin
- 2 tsp. ancho chili powder
- salt and pepper to taste
For the Cornbread Crust
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 2 tbsp. ground flax seeds
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 1/4 cups unflavored soy or almond milk
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2-3 scallions chopped
Instructions
Make the Spicy Three Bean Base
- Coat the bottom of a large skillet with olive oil (use a 12 inch oven-safe skillet if you have one) and place over medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add bell pepper and garlic and cook another minute.
- Add diced and crushed tomatoes, pinto beans, kidney beans, chickpeas, corn, cumin and ancho chili powder. Bring to a simmer and lower heat. Allow to simmer until sauce thickens, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- If your skillet is not oven safe, lightly oil a 9 inch by 13 inch baking pan and transfer mixture to pan. Otherwise, leave the mixture in the skillet for baking.
Make the Cornbread Crust
- When bean mixture is almost finished cooking, preheat oven to 375°.
- Stir cornmeal, flour, flax, baking powder and salt together in a medium mixing bowl. Add milk, olive oil and scallions. Stir just until fully blended. Fold in scallions.
- Carefully spread cornbread batter in a thin layer overtop of bean mixture using a large spoon or rubber scraper.
- Bake until cornbread crust is firm and bean mixture is bubbly, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes before cutting.
I’m craving this so much right now, I love tamale pie! We used to make it for an easy and bolstering Christmas eve dinner- it really is a perfect crowd pleaser!
Looks so hearty and delicious!
Nourishing Amelia | Food, Health and Lifestyle Blogger
This looks amazing! I’m a long-time follower of your blog (even before I was vegan!) but first-time commenter.
Any idea how to make this without olive oil? I’m eating a mostly oil-free diet these days, but would still love to try this!
Thank you! For the base, you could probably skip the initial sauteeing step and just throw everything into the skillet at once. The cornbread might be tricky because it’s one of those things that tends to dry out easily. Your best bet might be to work with a recipe that’s designed to be oil free. Here’s one that I have bookmarked (this site has lots more good oil free recipe too). You might need to increase the batch size by a quarter or so, as it looks like it was designed for a smaller skillet. I’d love to hear how it works if you do give it a try! :)
Thanks so much! I’ll definitely give this a try.
what can I use instead of wheat flour. Have some gluten free folks !!
I haven’t tried this with anything other than wheat flour, but Bob’s Red Mill all-purpose gluten free blend has never done me wrong, so I think that would be a safe bet. Please let me know how it works out if you try it. :)
I used almond and coconut flours. It turned out delicious.
I’m glad to hear that!!
Oops! I can see that you already answered this question. Thanks!
I just made this using Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Flour in place of the Wheat Flour and it came out wonderfully! So delicious. I would def recommend that this recipe can be altered to cater to gluten free folks with this simple substitution =)
Hi, what can I use instead of ground flaxseed?
If you’re able to find ground chia, that would work. Otherwise, you could probably get away with omitting it – the cornbread will probably just be a bit on the crumbly side.
Thanks for the response. I actually ended up using some hemp hearts and it was fantastic. Great recipe, will definitely make again!!
Yay! Glad you liked it. Thanks for stopping by to let me know. :)
This delicious dish is my go-to for my Thanksgiving dinner. I was going to skip it this year, but my daughter-in-law requested it. I am happy to keep it in permanent rotation!!
I’m so glad it’s a hit! Thanks Sharon, and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!