Cheesy Sloppy Joe Tamale Cups (Gluten-Free)

Today’s Cheesy Sloppy Joe Tamale Cups are going to be an instant favorite with your family. Packed with bold flavors and textures, every bite is pure delight.

Welcome to another edition of Progressive Eats, our virtual version of a progressive dinner party where each course is held at a different home. This month’s theme is different ways to utilize a traditional muffin pan hosted by Liz of That Skinny Chick Can Bake. This is such a great and creative theme – thanks for picking it Liz! I decided to take two of my all-time favorites – Sloppy Joes and Tamale Pie and do a mash up, then assemble and bake them in a muffin tin. These Cheesy Sloppy Joe Tamale Cups are amazing. What a fun treat – and one your kids will love!

Traditional Sloppy Joes are fairly mildly flavored, perfect for picky eaters. But when I decided to merge this with the flavors of tamale pie, I added Mexican seasonings including chile powder and chipotle to take these in a more savory direction with a touch of sweet heat. You can easily go with the regular sloppy joe flavors and it will be just as good. You can also amp up the heat factor by adding chopped jalapenos or some hot sauce.

One of the tricks to getting moist and tender corn muffins is to give the cornmeal and flour blend time to fully absorb the liquids – this can take anywhere from 2 to 3 hours or up to overnight if you want to start this a day ahead. The meat mixture can be made ahead and reheated as well. This gives you the option to have most of the ingredients pre-made and you can pull dinner together really quickly.

These were baked to a lovely crispy exterior thanks to the USA pan I used. They transmit the heat so effectively that they bake almost like cast iron. The edges look a bit too dark, but that is actually the honey in the batter caramelizing on the outside.

The muffin part has a lovely chewiness thanks to the sugars, and the filling perfectly balances each bite for pure perfection. With the firmer exterior I was able to eat these with my hands which makes them even more fun for children and those of us who have never left our child-like natures behind! 🙂

The next time you decide to make Sloppy Joes, make a double batch and freeze the leftovers. Then the filling is ready whenever you want to make these fun, individual serving Cheesy Sloppy Joe Tamale Cups, giving you a delightful change of pace dinner or lunch!

You’ll love all the muffin tin recipes from this incredibly talented team that puts a really fun twist on mealtime! Be sure you check out all the links below the recipe.

How to make Cheesy Sloppy Joe Tamale Cups:

1. Make the corn muffin batter and let rest 2 to 3 hours or overnight
2. Make the beef filling by cooking the meat and vegetables together, then stir in the chili sauce and BBQ sauce; keep warm over low heat
3. Add remaining ingredients to the muffin batter and stir in corn kernels
4. Put a little of the batter in the bottom of each muffin tins followed by some of the meat mixture, and finally more of the batter to cover
5. Bake for about 25 minutes, topping with the cheese in the last 5 minutes; cool for 5 minutes in the tins then transfer to a cooling rack for a few minutes before serving

 

What is corn flour?

Corn flour is a very finely ground form of corn meal. It becomes the texture of regular flour but with the concentrated flavor of corn. It is also gluten-free making it an excellent option for your gluten-free baking.

 

PRO Tip:

When choosing the type of barbecue sauce, you’ll be using for this dish, pick one that is more savory to offset the mild sweetness of the cornmeal muffins. I made the mistake of selecting a very sweet version and had to do a lot of tweaking of the seasonings in the filling to get mine closer to the flavors I was looking for.

 

Key Ingredients for this Recipe

• Gluten-free flour blend or all-purpose flour
• Yellow cornmeal
• Buttermilk
• Butter
• Honey
• Egg
• Baking powder, baking soda, and salt
• Corn kernels
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Ground beef
• Onion, celery, carrot, and red bell pepper
• Ground cumin, chili powder, chipotle powder
• Chili sauce (such as Heinz brand, which is gluten-free)
• BBQ sauce (such as Stubb’s, which is gluten-free)

 

Kitchen Tools I Use to Make This Recipe (affiliate links)

• Chef’s knife
• Cutting board
• Large mixing bowl
• Large skillet
• Spring-loaded ice cream scoop
• Muffin tins
• Cooling rack

 

Gluten-Free Tips:

Use a gluten-free flour blend while making the corn batter and be sure that the cornmeal you use is guaranteed gluten-free. I used Bob’s Red Mill brand of yellow cornmeal which is made and packaged in a dedicated gluten-free facility.

 

This recipe is part of our monthly progressive dinner party, #ProgressiveEats. See the links below for more inspiration and great recipes!

 

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This post was first shared in May 2016. The article was updated in 2020.

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