This Beef Taco Pie is like a combination between a classic (American) taco and a tamale. The crust is made up of a masarepa dough, it's filled with a classic beef taco mixture and ooey-gooey melted cheese, then topped with all of your favorite fixings!
Beef Taco Pie Recipe
This is the taco pie of your dreams! Think of it as one giant taco baked in a pie dish with the best soft masa crust. It's great for mixing it up for a fun weeknight taco Tuesday meal! There are a few steps involved: making and baking the crust, cooking the filling, then assembling and baking it. BUT I made it during a weeknight three times in less than two weeks, so I can confidently say this is a weeknight option. If you've got kids at home like I do, leaving the taco toppings a la carte on the table (instead of piling them on top of the finished pie) is a fun way to get the kids involved and dress up their slice!
Ingredients Needed to Make Taco Pie
Here is an overview of the ingredients needed to make this pie! Keeping scrolling down for the full recipe!
- masarepa
- spices
- butter
- ground beef
- onion
- cornstarch
- tomato paste
- beef broth
- refried beans
- salsa
- shredded cheese
- taco toppings
So what is masarepa?
I was first introduced to masarepa from my Colombian husband John, who many years ago ran an arepa business back in his home country. Masarepa is the "flour" used to make arepas, which are traditional Colombian corn cakes. It also can be used to make empanadas or tamales. The masarepa is made from corn that is pre-cooked. It can sometimes be labelled as "instant". It is similar to cornmeal, but not interchangeable.
Masarepa is made with both white corn and yellow corn and either will work here. The two most common brands out there are P.A.N. or Goya, and can be found in most grocery stores or small Latinx markets. In our home we always use P.A.N.
Can you use masa harina?
You can use masa harina with similar results, but the ratio of water to masa will be different. Try to find the masarepa if possible before you use masa harina. But with the masa it will be roughly a 1-1 ratio of water to masa.
How do you make the masa crust:
The masarepa dough is really easy to work with. You mix the masarepa with some spices and salt and then add some hot water and optional butter. My husband's family often adds butter to their arepas, so I picked up that trick from them. Using hot water is useful for a few reasons:
- It helps dissolve the salt to evenly distribute it in the dough
- It melts the butter to evenly distribute in the dough
- And it makes the dough easier to work with
Make sure to mix the dough well. Then, give it minute or two to sit and thicken up. The dough should be soft, like playdough, but it shouldn't be so wet that it sticks to your hand.
After you mix the dough together you can pat it into the 9" pie plate. You could probably roll out the dough between two pieces of plastic, but patting it into the plate is quick and easy so I've always done it that way. Next, you'll pre-bake the crust until it is cooked through. The crust isn't the same as a traditional pie crust, it will be soft instead of crispy, which makes it more like a tamale.
Make Ahead Instructions for Beef Taco Pie
You can prepare the beef mixture up to 3 days ahead of time. However, make and bake the masa crust right before you plan to serve.
Suggestions for Topping the Taco Pie
- shredded lettuce
- diced tomato
- pickled jalapenos
- thinly sliced red onion
- diced avocado
- black olives
- hot sauce
- salsa
- shredded cheese
Beef Taco Pie with Masa Crust
This taco pie is a cross between a classic American style taco and a tamale. The beef mixture is lightly spiced and baked inside a masa crust that is flavorful and soft. Garnish with your favorite taco toppings and enjoy your next taco Tuesday first!
- Prep Time: 00:15
- Cook Time: 00:40
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4
- Category: Moderate Difficulty
- Cuisine: Dinner
Ingredients
Masarepa crust:
- 1-½ cups masarepa
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 2 tablespoons butter or ghee, softened
- 2 cups hot water
For Beef Mixture:
- 2 teaspoons oil
- 1 small onion, diced fine
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 teaspon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspon cumin
- 1 tablespoon cornstrach
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- ½ cup beef broth or water
To assemble:
- ½ cup refried beans
- ⅓ cup salsa
- 1 cup shredded cheddar or Mexican cheese
For serving:
- shredded lettuce
- diced tomato,
- shredded cheese
- salsa
- pickled jalapenos
- black olives
Instructions
To make the masa crust:
- Preheat your oven to 400ºF.
- In a bowl mix together masa, salt, garlic powder, and cumin until combined. Add in the butter and pour the hot water on top.
- Mix together until it is fully combined, making sure to hydrate all of the masa. It should be the consistency of playdough. It should be soft, but it shouldn't be so wet that it sticks to your fingers. If for any reason the dough is too wet, add in a tablespoon more of masa at a time until it has reached a soft non-stick batter.
- Pat into a 9" pan in an even layer. Crimp the edges if desired. Dock the crust on the bottom and the edges with a fork to let the steam escape and to prevent the dough from puffing up.
- Bake in a preheated oven for 20 minutes.
For the beef filling:
- In oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.
- Add beef and cook through, about 8 minutes.
- Add spices, cornstarch and tomato paste and cook until toasted, about 30 seconds.
- Deglaze the pan with beef broth and cook for 3 more minutes, or until the beef mixture is very slightly thickened.
To assemble and bake:
- Spread the refried beans in the bottom of the baked crust, next add the cooked beef, then the salsa and finally top with the cheese.
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until the cheese has melted. If desired you can broil the cheese at the end.
Serve hot with your favorite taco toppings!
Notes
- If you are using masa harina (vs. masarepa) add 1-½ cups of water to start. You can adjust the water or the masa to get the right consistency.
Keywords: beef taco pie
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Allison W.
So beyond delicious and way simpler than I was anticipating! The masa crust brings it all together with such a phenomenal additional layer of flavor. Love, love, love!
★★★★★
Kelli Avila
I'm so glad you loved it! And I SO appreciate you coming here to comment about your experience. Thanks so much for your support!
Lina
Hope this isn’t a stupid question ???? but do you remove the beef from the skillet before deglazing with the beef broth?
Thank you!
Kelli Avila
Not at all Lina! The beef stays in the skillet while you deglaze the bottom! Just make sure to scrap up all that goodness from the bottom of the pan 🙂
Kate
A new family favorite! I didn't have salsa so I used adobo sauce and it was excellent. The crust was easy and delicious. This is a pie we will keep coming back to!
★★★★★
Kelli Avila
I'm so glad you loved it Kate!
Carolee Bland
Thanks I am a mother and very busy! This helped me alot!
Kelli Avila
I'm so glad Carolee!
Lisa
This looks amazing! I’ve been searching looking for a good taco pie and, I believe I hit the jackpot! I am hoping to try it this week. Love your website!
★★★★★
Kelli Avila
Enjoy, Lisa 🙂
Lisa Jenkins
I made this pie last night, I thought it was going to be difficult, it wasn’t at all. I used ground turkey instead of beef. The filling mixture was so flavorful! My biggest issue was the crust, I didn’t buy the flour you suggested bc my store didn’t have it. It was a one store shopping trip. It was also an instant flour as well so the ratios you talked about weren’t the same. It made more crust and was too thick. Next time I’m getting the right flour bc there will def be a next time! It’s too good not to make it again bc of wrong flour! Keep them coming Kelli!
★★★★★
Kelli Avila
Thanks for making, MOM! So glad you loved it! Buy the masarepa next time 🙂
Michael Doyle
Hi! I'm half Venezuelan, and Masarepa isn't the corn treated with lime. It's the pre-cooked (i.e. instant) cornmeal from Venezuela and Colombia. Masa Harina is the corn that's treated with lime ("nixtamilized"), and it's from Mexico.
Kelli Avila
Hi Michael! Thanks for stopping by! I indeed looked at the back of my package and you are correct. Thanks for catching my mix-up. I've updated my post accordingly.
Jacque
I want to try these this weekend, but want to make mini ones in a cupcake pan. How would you modify the cooking time for that? Thanks!
Kelli Avila
I haven't tried--so I can't say for sure, but I'd do everything the same, except check the pie crust at 15 minutes. And the final bake, start checking it 5 minutes before. Let us know if it works!
Clinton M.
Glad I read the comments, as I wanted to do the same thing as Lisa Jenkins above: Use ground turkey instead of ground beef. Healthier and turkey has way less than half the carbon footprint of beef.
People can choose as they want, but there is not a single study that shows beef is healthy compared to poultry and the ground turkey works amazingly well.
This is fast becoming a go-to recipe for me.
I would also like to do something on the manner of the cupcake pan idea, only larger molds. Are there "mini-pie" or individual pie tins to make single serving pies? That would be fantastic and then maybe I could freeze them for "instant meals" ready to pull from the freezer.
Thank you!
Clinton
★★★★★
Kelli Avila
They have "jumbo" muffin tins that would probably work for this! Let me know if you try!