Skip to main content
Main

Bean Tamale Pie

A baked casserole of beans, corn, peppers, onions, tomato sauce, and spices topped with cornmeal.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 10 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Cumin and beans match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,188 recipes. Both carry linalool, which smells floral, citrus. The science ↓

Bean Tamale Pie

Oven350°F
Time30 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the base

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

  2. Cook green pepper and onion in oil until tender.

  3. Stir in rest of ingredients up through chili pepper and cook over low heat for 5 minutes.

Assemble and bake

  1. Pour into a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.

  2. Make cornmeal topping and pour over the mixture.

  3. Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

315Calories
7 gProtein
16 gFat
42 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 10 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Corn1/2 cup kernels (82g)77
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Waternot in our table0
Beannot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Cumin + beanstop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,188 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  2. Tomato + beanstop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,713 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Tomato + cumintop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,272 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Beans + corntop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,211 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Onion + cumintop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,498 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Canned beans
Provide the bulk and hearty texture of the filling.
Tomato sauce
Supplies moisture and acidity that carry the seasonings through the filling.
Chili powder
Adds the main warm, spicy aroma to the filling.
Green pepper
Softens and adds mild sweetness and vegetable flavor to the base.
Onion
Softens and adds savory aroma and sweetness to the base.
Corn
Adds sweetness and a tender, juicy texture to the filling.

The step that matters

Cook green pepper and onion in oil until tender. Vegetables that stay firm will remain crunchy after baking. Cooking them in oil softens their cell structure and lets their flavors blend into the filling.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, tomato, sauce, cumin, beans, corn):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Okrafits better
  3. Spinachfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, tomato, sauce, cumin, beans, corn. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

You might also like

Tomato SoupTomato Soup526 recipesCorn FrittersCorn Fritters203 recipesCream of Tomato SoupCream of Tomato Soup107 recipesTomato BisqueTomato Bisque61 recipes