Mexican Dinner Aka Taco Pie

Submitted by momaphet

"I've been making this for my family for over 25 years, it came from the LLLI cookbook, Whole Foods for the Whole family. The original recipe calls for beans, I have never used them as I can't stand them, so I have included them as optional. This is a very kid friendly recipe, and easier for them to eat then hard shell tacos. It is NOT very spicy, if you like it spicy add more hot sauce, some green chilies, more cumin, etc. Pepper jack on top would also spice it up some more. The crust is very different, more bread or biscuit - like not at all like a regular pie crust. When you spoon it in the pan is will seem all gooey and you'll wonder how it works."

 

• Ready In: 50mins
• Ingredients: 21
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• Crust

• 1⁄2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1⁄2 cup shortening
• 1⁄2 1/2 cup yogurt or 1/2 cup sour half-and-half
• 1 egg

• Filling

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1⁄2 cup onion, chopped
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1⁄4 - 1⁄2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cumin
• 1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups kidney beans, cooked (optional)

• Toppings

• chopped lettuce
• diced tomato
• grated cheddar cheese
• sour cream
• salsa
• sliced black olives

directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Grease and flour a 9" or 10" pie pan (not deep dish) or spray w/non stick cooking spray.

2. Crust:

3. Combine the crust ingredients, stir until blended, batter will be lumpy.
4. Pour into prepared pie dish. Spread batter thinly to within 1/4 inch of the rim - sometimes it likes to slide down, adding the filling will push it back up some.

5. Filling:

6. Brown the beef and chopped onion together then drain.
7. Stir in all the other ingredients, mix well then spoon into crust.
8. Bake for 20-30 minutes.
9. Let cool for few minutes, serve with your favorite toppings.
10. Note: The original recipe called for buttermilk, or plain yougurt, or sour half and half, I misread it the first time I made it and used sour cream, it worked so it's what I had always used, but I finally tried it with buttermilk and it was great.

Reviews

[IngridH]

Yum, yum, yum! This is just wonderful! I substituted butter for the shortening, and pinto beans instead of kidney, and added more spices than called for; but I just loved the result. The crust is a tender, puffy biscuit, and the filling is like a rich, smokey burrito. I topped with queso fresco cheese, green onions, and sour cream. Loved it, and will definitely make again! Well worth the calories, I can diet tomorrow!

 

[SugarHATER]

I made a low carb and vegan version of this that is much lower in calories. What I love about this recipe, is that it was so easy to modify without hoping everything would turn out good. To start with - I eliminated the crust and replaced with with a low-carb tortilla from "La Tortilla Smart & Delicious" at the bottom of a pie dish. By replacing the pie crust with a low carb torilla, you only have (for the whole crust) 90 Calories, 3 grams fat, 6 net carbs and 13 grams of Fiber!! Which means if you divide this pie by 4 servings/people, that means each person gets 22.5 calories each!!!!!! NICE! Substituted the meat with Lightlife Veggie protein crumbles which have 14 grams of protein and ZERO GRAMS of FAT! I left the rest of the spice and beans as directed and topped this pie with: Fresh salsa from the produce section, a sprinkle of vegan cheddar cheese and romaine lettuce (because Romaine has more nutrients, regular lettuce has no nutrional value) Original recipe was 650 calories with 455 calories from FAT! :-O My modifications I was able to DRASTICALLY REDUCE: calories, fat, and carbs. So, now I can enjoy a pie like this and put off heart-bypass surgery for another 10 years!

 

[WiGal]

We loved this! Made as posted except when I went into my cabinet I discovered that I hadn't any kidney nor black beans so used garbanzo which looked unique-lol- but tasted great. The three of us ate the whole thing. Thank you momaphet for sharing.

 

[Bayhill]

Delicious! We really loved this quick and easy taco pie. The crust was flaky and tender and complimented the filling. I used buttermilk for the crust, and added a 4 oz. can of diced green chilies and a 15 1/2 oz. can of kidney beans for the filling. I topped the pie with shredded lettuce, 4-cheese Mexican cheese, sour cream, green onions, and salsa fresca. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe. **Made for 2015 Culinary Quest (Tex-Mex) for Munching Minions.

 

[nochlo]

Yummy! This is a great meal for dinner. We all enjoyed, even my picky eaters ate this!!!This is a KEEPER! Made for PRMR!!!!