• Home
    • Recipes
      • Recipe Index
      • VIDEO SERIES: Learn to Cook on a Budget
      • How-To & Cooking Tutorials
      • Popular Recipes
    • Meal Plans
      • Weekly Meal Plans
      • Freezer Meal Plans
      • The ORIGINAL 20 Meals for $150 Plans
    • Classes
      • Grocery Savings 101 Workshop
      • Freezer Cooking 101 Workshop
      • Meal Planning 101 Workshop
      • Whis-Kid Cooking Lessons
      • Instant Pot Cooking 101 Course
      • My Efficient Kitchen Course
    • Store
    • Blog
    • Contact
      • About
      • Press
    • Login

    $5 Dinners | Budget Recipes, Meal Plans, Freezer Meals

    Budget Recipes, Meal Plans, Freezer Meals and Cooking Tutorials for the Busy Home Chef

    Join Erin's 5-Ingredient Challenge in 2023

    Beef Tamale Skillet Dinner

    January 17, 2011 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 16 Comments

    53 shares
    • Share
    • Tweet
    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Sign up to receive FREE weekly emails with recipes, coupons and other money saving tips right into your inbox. Become a friend on Facebook too AND/OR join the $5 Meal Plan Family and get meal plans delivered to you each week!

    This recipe is part of the latest 21 Gluten Free Meals from Costco Plan. The original recipe has been updated to include the ingredients from the Costco list, such as green pepper (pictured) for red pepper. The recipe is written as ONE skillet dinner. I would not freeze this recipe as is, but you could freeze it before adding the tortilla strips. Then reheat and add tortilla strips as directed. If you make this as a ‘double’ to eat half and freeze half, you will need to make it in a large saucepan or Dutch oven.

    Beef Tamale Skillet Dinner | 5DollarDinners.com

    Last night I was rummaging through the freezer again, taking an inventory of what needs to be used and what needs to be re-stockpiled. I uncovered some corn tortillas and ground beef and recalled a recipe that Marissa sent a l.o.n.g. time ago under the “recipes” tab in my inbox. I dug it up and went looking for the rest of the ingredients…

    (And in the process did a little jig as I opened the pantry door, as I’m quite thrilled with the fact that my long term memory is still working!)

    Here’s how it went down in the skillet…

    After adding the tomato sauce, corn and red/green peppers to the ground beef, I could tell that we were going to need some more liquid and sauce. While I didn’t want mushy tortillas, I also didn’t want dried out tortillas.

    beef tamale skillet dinner

    I added a can of tomato sauce plus about a can’s worth of water, so that the tortillas would have something to soak up!

    Stir, stir, stir.

    Simmer, simmer, simmer.

    But only for a few minutes.

    I leave you with my variation of the recipe…

    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe Recipe Saved!

    Beef Tamale Skillet Dinner

    An easy skillet version of delicious tamales!
    Prep Time5 minutes
    Cook Time20 minutes
    Servings - 4 servings

    Ingredients 

    • 1 lb ground beef
    • 1 red pepper seeded and diced
    • 2 cups frozen corn
    • 15 oz tomato sauce
    • 2 Tbsp homemade taco seasoning
    • 10 corn tortillas cut into short strips
    • Salt and pepper to taste
    • Sour cream, shredded cheese, optional
    • Frozen broccoli or green beans, as side dish

    Instructions

    • Brown and drain the ground beef. Return to the skillet.
    • Add the diced red pepper, frozen corn, tomato sauce, taco seasoning and some salt and pepper to taste.
    • Stir the tortilla strips into the dish, until they are mostly covered with liquid. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for no more than 8 minutes. OR maybe 10...depending on how your stove, your pot, the humidity...(no, not really...but you just have to watch and not let the tortillas get too mushy!)
    • Prepare the broccoli or green beans as directed.
    • Serve Beef Tamale Skillet Dinner with side of broccoli orgreen beans.

    beef tamale skillet dinner

    53 shares
    • Share
    • Tweet

    Filed Under: Beef Recipes, Budget Friendly Recipes, Food Allergies on a Budget, Freezer Recipes and Freezer Meal Plans, Gluten Free Recipes, One Dish Dinners Recipes, Skillet Dinner Recipes

    These meals are a LIFESAVER!

    Want a set of our best selling freezer meal bag holders?! You can now order them right here!

    Comments

    1. [email protected] says

      January 17, 2011 at 6:14 pm

      Thanks for hosting Erin! Have a great week!
      ~Liz

      Reply
    2. [email protected] Balance Sheet says

      January 17, 2011 at 8:43 pm

      Looks delicious.

      Thanks for the link-up.

      Reply
    3. Chaya says

      January 18, 2011 at 12:18 pm

      Thanks for hosting this, each week and offering us so many interesting ideas.

      Reply
    4. Lindsey says

      January 18, 2011 at 1:06 pm

      I’m totally making this next week. I’ll link to it in my menu plan next Monday if you don’t mind 🙂 Sounds delicious!

      Reply
    5. mandey says

      January 19, 2011 at 12:50 pm

      Erin, Just wanted to say that I’ve learned so much from you over the past year (I’m a lurker, most of the time, just wanting to learn) 🙂 and I wanted to say thank you, as you’ve really been a great teacher! 🙂 Have a wonderful day, Mandey

      Reply
      • Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom says

        January 19, 2011 at 7:46 pm

        Thanks for lurking Mandey! And I’m thrilled that you’ve been able to learn so much!

        Erin

        Reply
    6. Brenda says

      January 23, 2011 at 7:54 pm

      Hi. I am thinking of using this recipe for a YW cooking activity. How many servings is this for? Thanks.

      Reply
    7. Wendy says

      January 23, 2011 at 10:15 pm

      Can’t wait to try this one!!

      Reply
    8. Daryl says

      September 4, 2014 at 8:18 pm

      The can of water is not listed in the ingredients! I just made this and thought it was not possible to cover the tortillas with the liquid sauce so I added a bit of water.

      Reply
    9. Sarah Southerland says

      February 23, 2017 at 11:18 am

      For some reason, the Print button isn’t working right. It takes me to the Print page but only has the top heading and bottom info– none of the actual recipe. It’s only this one too since I’ve been printing off recipes for the past 20 minutes without any issues.

      🙂

      Sarah

      Reply
      • Jenn K says

        February 27, 2017 at 5:14 pm

        Sarah – thank you so much for telling us! I’m not sure what was wrong but I reformatted the recipe and the print button works now. 🙂

        Reply

    Trackbacks

    1. Chicken Riddle Soup Recipe | Hoosier Homemade says:
      January 17, 2011 at 6:11 pm

      […] linking to…$5 Dinner Challenge, Menu Plan Monday, Mouthwatering […]

      Reply
    2. Cheesy Broccoli and Cauliflower Soup says:
      January 17, 2011 at 6:16 pm

      […] $5 Dinner Challenge Like this article? Share it! […]

      Reply
    3. Japanese Vegetable Beef Curry | Modern Gal says:
      January 17, 2011 at 8:55 pm

      […] at $5 Dinners and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday // January 17th, 2011 in Food, […]

      Reply
    4. Tomato Treat – Paula Deen | Chaya's Comfy Cook Blog says:
      January 18, 2011 at 12:33 pm

      […] Linked to Five Dollar Dinners […]

      Reply
    5. Meal Plan Monday #16 - Play 2 Learn with Sarah says:
      July 7, 2014 at 3:01 am

      […] Tuesday – Beef Tamale Skillet Dinner […]

      Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    I’m Erin Chase…

    Also known as the
    $5 Dinner Mom.

    I have a little problem. I cannot make a meal that costs more than $5.
    It’s a fun challenge,
    and my pocketbook
    thanks me.
    Want to join me?

    Learn more here!

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

    Search $5 Dinners

    Favorite Meal Planning & Cooking Resources

    Whis-Kid Cooking Lessons Grocery Budget Makeover My Freezeasy Erin Chase Store 5DD Freebie Library 20 Meals for $150 Plans

    © 2023 5 Dollar Dinners | Disclosure Policy | Copyright Information | Terms of Service/Privacy Policy | Accessibility | Design & Tech Support by Klong Designs



    Copyright © 2023 · 5 Dollar Dinners Genesis Child Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in