How to Make Tamales That Are Light, Fluffy, and Deeply Flavorful

Tamales have a long history that’s often taken for granted. According to M. Dustin Knepp, an assistant professor at the University of Central Arkansas who specializes in Latino and Latin American Cultural Studies, it is believed that the creation of tamales dates between 8,000 and 5,000 B.C. The dish was often prepared for religious rituals, offerings, celebrations, and Aztec banquets.

Bernardino de Sahagún wrote in the 16th-century Florentine Codex that tamales were a fixture of Mesoamerican social events and religious holidays, to show gratitude for the fertility of the soil and as an offering to the dead. Nowadays tamales are much more than just a meal: They mark special occasions as well and serve a symbolic purpose, showing up at weddings, baptisms, the Day of the Dead, and the Feast of Candelaria, celebrated on February 2.

While tamales are still enjoyed at important celebrations, and people host tamalizas—the parties all about making and eating tamales—they’re also an everyday food eaten for any meal. Most often tamales are found in street stalls, and they are commonly kept warm inside a beverage cooler or basket covered with cloth, corn husks, banana leaves, or plastic. When I traveled around Mexico for a year to do research for my first cookbook, My Sweet Mexico, I often ate tamales not just because I love them, but because they gave me so much energy! That also makes them popular with construction workers and farmers.

For many families, making tamales is a ritual, and younger and older generations each have specific roles in the process. One person may make the masa; another may cook the fillings; another may press the dough into the corn husk and wrap in the filling while a fourth person arranges them in the pot. It’s a big, beautiful family affair.

Though there are many different kinds of tamales, learning how to make tamales of any kind must begin with understanding the importance of fat and liquid in the dough. For best results you want to make the masa right when you plan to make and cook your tamales so the dough doesn’t dry out, though if necessary you can form them one day and cook them the next.

Basic Tamal Dough

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Lard makes tastier and fluffier tamales than other fats do. You can replace the lard with solid fats, like duck fat or shortening, to obtain a similar texture; butter and liquid oils work but will make a denser masa.

The liquid you use for the masa will impart a lot of flavor, which is good so long as it doesn’t overpower the fillings. You want the flavors to be balanced. I find that a good chicken stock works well, but if I’m making vegetarian tamales, I like to use a vegetable stock instead of plain water. At home we save all our vegetable scraps, including garlic and onion skins and vegetable trimmings. We keep them in a zip-lock bag in the freezer, and when we have a whole bunch, we toss them with a bit of oil and roast in a 375°F oven to give them a bit of char and then move them to a pot to make stock. If you’re cooking meat or chicken for your filling, save the delicious juices and use them for moistening the tamal dough.

Where to Buy Fresh Masa (and Masa Harina) in the U.S.

The consistency you are looking for may vary depending on the type of tamal, but as a general rule, the dough will be a bit sticky and will look a bit like a soft—though not runny—cake batter. It should hold its shape in a spoon. You also want to make sure it has been mixed thoroughly, either by hand or with a mixer. You can test your dough’s readiness by rolling a pea-size ball and placing it in a glass of cold water. If it sinks, it needs more beating. If it rises, it’s good to go.

Always taste the dough once it’s done and add more salt if needed. At this point you’re ready to make the tamales, but if you want even lighter, fluffier ones, refrigerate the dough for an hour, then beat it again and add a bit more broth to bring the mixture to the soft consistency it had before.

To form the tamales, you can use presoaked corn husks or banana leaves. Usually about a quarter cup of dough will do. Spread it flat, making sure to leave some space around the edges. Put the filling in the center and then fold according to your recipe. You want to make sure the tamales are wrapped tightly enough that they won’t come apart when cooking, but also not too tight as they need a little room to expand.

Whether you are steaming, baking, or roasting the tamales, you’ll know they’re done when the husk peels away from the masa easily. At this point the dough may seem loose, but it will firm up after resting. You don’t want to overcook the tamales or they’ll turn dry.

Tamales con Elote y Chile Poblano (Tamales With Corn and Poblano Chiles)

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Learning how to make tamales may start with one recipe and a few tips, but there are around 500 varieties of tamal in Mexico alone. Most often the base is a masa dough made with dried or fresh corn, and they are filled with salsa, meat, vegetables, cheese, or a combination. They’re usually wrapped in corn husks, but people also use banana, maguey, or avocado leaves, and sometimes even aluminum foil.

The word tamal actually comes from the Nahuatl word tamalli, which means “wrapped.” They are steamed over an open flame in a pot or tamalera, a special vessel specifically made for steaming tamales. They are also cooked in pits underneath the soil and even grilled.

Here are a just few of the different types of tamales you can find in Mexico:

Corundas: Triangular tamales from the state of Michoacán prepared since pre-Hispanic times by the Purépecha people. They are commonly topped with a little fresh crumbled cheese, crema, and a salsa.

Tamal Oaxaqueño: These Oaxacan specialities come wrapped in banana leaves. They’re often filled with meat (pork, beef, or sometimes iguana) as well as a salsa or mole.

Mucbil Pollo: The word comes from mukbil in Maya, which means “buried.” It’s a kind of tamal casserole made with banana leaves and a thick layer of masa, and it’s stuffed with a chicken-and-pork filling that has been cooked with achiote, spices, and habanero chile. Mucbil pollo is traditionally cooked in a pit, which explains the name.

Tamales Barbones: From the coastal states of Nayarit and Sinaloa, these tamales come filled with whole shrimp and guajillo chiles. They get the name—which translates to “bearded tamales”—from the shrimp that sticks out of the tamal.