Melissa’s Kickin’ Chicken Cornbread Tamale Casserole Recipe

Do you ever struggle to feel full between meals? I do. Since becoming a group fitness instructor, I’ve been hungrier than ever. I don’t do hunger well, so I snack (a lot) if I don’t fuel up right at meals.

When I created Melissa’s Kickin’ Chicken Cornbread Tamale Casserole, I decided to use Kodiak Cakes Cornbread Mix for an extra protein and fiber kick. It helps fill and fuel me through a calorie torching day. After all, if I’m going to workout so hard, I want to see positive results.

Melissa’s Kickin’ Chicken Cornbread Tamale Casserole

Serves 8
About 518 calories per serving, 29g of protein, and 9g of fiber

Ingredients:

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For the chili:

• 14 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast, roasted and shredded. I use one package of Just Bare Chicken Breasts.
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 can reduced sodium black beans, drained and rinsed. I use Bush’s Best Reduced Sodium Black Beans.
• 1 cup frozen corn, thawed.
• 1 cup tomato sauce no salt added. I use Muir Glen Organic Tomato Sauce (no salt added). It has 20mg of sodium per serving. When looking at regular tomato sauce labels, I noticed that some have as much as 280mg of sodium per the same serving size.
• 1 cup low sodium chicken broth. I use Full Circle Organic Low Sodium Chicken Broth
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 jalapeno, diced
• 1 Tbsp. hot chili powder
• 0.5 tsp. ground cumin
• 0.75 tsp. salt
• 0.25 tsp. ground black pepper

For the cornbread:

• 1 box Kodiak Cakes Cornbread Mix
• 2 eggs
• 1 3/4 cup Unsweetened Organic Coconut Milk
• 2/3 cup Smart Balance Buttery Sticks melted

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400°. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper on both sides. Spray a square cake pan with cooking spray and place the chicken breasts in it. Why use a cake pan? So you can shred the chicken once it’s roasted without dirty-ing another dish or making a mess. Roast the chicken in the oven for about 25 minutes.
2. Coat the inside of a 9×13″ baking dish with cooking spray. I use Pyrex baking dishes.
3. While the chicken is roasting, put 1 Tbsp. olive oil into a large skillet. Put in the diced onion and saute over medium heat for about 10 minutes (until onion is softened and translucent).
4. Add tomato sauce and chicken broth to the pan. Then, add the black beans, red pepper, green pepper, jalapeno pepper, hot chili powder, ground cumin, ground black pepper, and salt. Let simmer, stirring occasionally.
5. Once the chicken is ready, remove from oven. Increase the oven temperature to 425°. Shred the chicken while keeping it in the cake pan for easy clean up. Then, stir the chicken into the chili.
6. Whisk the eggs, coconut milk, and melted butter in a medium bowl. Stir the Kodiak Cakes Cornbread Mix into the bowl. Do not over mix.
7. By the time you’ve shredded the chicken and combined the cornbread ingredients, the chili mixture should’ve been simmering for about 15 – 20 minutes in the saute pan. Pour the chili mixture into the baking dish. Then, using a silicone spatula top the chili with the cornbread batter. Even and smooth it out.
8. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes. Remove from oven when you can stick a fork into the cornbread portion and have it come out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes before cutting into and serving.
9. Some sauce may rise above the cornbread. Don’t worry about it.

Nutrition Estimates

These calculations are based off of a tool on MyFitnessPal. I am not a medical or nutrition professional.

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