Affiliate Disclosure
“By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe challenge sponsored by Cabot Creamery and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I received free samples of the Cabot cheese mentioned in this post, but was not additionally compensated for my time.”
Ahhhhh cheese. The food I could eat every day....at every meal.....or perhaps it could be my meal??? Do you identify? I mean....I feel like it could be said with a pretty high degree of certainty that 99.9% of everyone really likes cheese. And for good reason! The creamy, stringy, melty and general cheesiness of cheese brings forth smiles and sighs of bliss from people who are lucky enough to eat some. Textures of cheese range from soft and silky to hard and crumbly - flavors range from sharp and tangy to smooth and sweet - cheese has something to offer every palate!
Thanks to sponsorship from the lovely folks at Cabot Creamery, members of the Recipe Redux have been challenged to create healthier snack foods featuring - you guessed it - cheese. And could there seriously be a better time to devote a week to snack foods made with cheese? We are in the midst of awards season, friends! And the Super Bowl/Big Game is less than a week away! That means there are parties to plan and gatherings to be had as we cheer on our football team and fawn over red carpet fashion.
I'm so happy that Cabot has initiated this partnership with healthy recipe developers to showcase a food as delicious and decadent as cheese to be part of creative, colorful, and healthy finger foods and appetizers. To kick off our week of party-ready snacks, I'm sharing a recipe inspired by one of my favorite dinners - Turkey Tamale Tartlets. My inspiration came from the Chicken Tamale Casserole recipe from Cooking Light, which happens to be one of our favorites in my "weeknight dinner" recipe arsenal.
These little bites are filled with the flavors of authentic Mexican tamales and are perfect bite-sized treats to serve as part of an appetizer party menu. The base of these tartlets resembles the texture of the creamy masa shell of a tamale, and they are topped with my favorite Hatch Green Chile and Roasted Garlic enchilada sauce, lean ground turkey meat, and the classic Cabot Vermont Sharp Cheddar Cheese. The recipe makes quite a bit of tartlets, so it's perfect for feeding a crowd!
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Turkey Tamale Tartlets
Ingredients
- 1 7.5 oz box Hodgson Mills Whole Grain Cornbread Mix ( or a similar size of another mix)
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- ⅓ cup milk
- 1 ½ tablespoons reduced sodium taco seasoning
- 1 4 ounce can diced green chiles, drained thoroughly
- 1 14.5 ounce can cream style corn
- 1 pound lean ground turkey meat
- 2 tablespoons reduced sodium taco seasoning
- 1 cup Hatch Green Chile and Roasted Garlic Enchilada Sauce or other green enchilada sauce
- 8 ounces Cabot Vermont Sharp Cheddar Cheese grated
- Optional: fresh cilantro for garnish
- Special equipment: mini muffin tin and cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400. Grease mini muffin tins and set aside.
- Combine the cornbread mix, egg, milk, 1 ½ tablespoon taco seasoning, green chiles, and creamed corn in a medium bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. Drop a heaping tablespoon full of this batter into each well of your muffin tin. Bake for 10 minutes; the mixture will be just set.
- While your corn bases bake, brown the turkey meat. Once it is cooked through, season with the 2 remaining tablespoons of taco seasoning. Set aside.
- Once the corn bases for the tartlets are done cooking, remove from oven and poke a few holes in each with the end of a wooden skewer. Top each with 1 teaspoon of the enchilada sauce, followed by 1 tablespoon of turkey meat, and about 1 tablespoon of grated cheese.
- Bake the tartlets for an additional 8-10 minutes or until the cheese has melted. Let cool on a wire rack for about 5 minutes and use a small offset spatula for easy removal onto a serving platter. Garnish with freshly torn cilantro leaves and serve hot!
Notes
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Regan @ Cabot Creamery says
I love tamales. Seriously... but I would never ever make them. Too much work!! This recipe is a brilliant shortcut to great taste without all the extra effort 🙂
Whitney Reist says
Thanks, Regan!
Cindys Recipes and Writings says
So cute! Perfect bite-sized snack!
Jen and Emily @ Layers of Happiness says
These tamale tartlets are perfect for a weeknight dinner... so easy and absolutely delicious! Yum! 🙂
Serena says
I think this needs to make it onto my 'weeknight dinner arsenal' too! I'll make in the tarts like you - and my kids will adore.
Whitney Reist says
Yes they are definitely kid-friendly! Sometimes I'll sub shredded chicken for the ground turkey or red enchilada sauce for the green - whatever you have on hand!