- Country of origin
- Mexico
- Category
- Main Course
- Difficulty
- ●●○ Medium
History
Tamales predate the Spanish conquest by several centuries, with origins tracing back to Mesoamerican civilizations (Maya, Aztec, and earlier cultures) that developed nixtamalization: treating corn with an alkaline solution that makes it nutritionally viable as a staple food and yields the masa dough at the heart of tamales. Archaeological and historical evidence indicates tamales served as both everyday food and ceremonial fare tied to religious rituals and celebrations, long before any contact with Europeans.
The practice of wrapping masa, often filled with a savory or sweet filling, in corn husks or banana leaves before steaming remains largely unchanged in spirit today, even though fillings and styles vary enormously across Mexico and Central and South America. Tamales remain strongly associated with communal, festive preparation: whole families or communities often make large batches together for holidays like Christmas or the Day of the Dead, reflecting their historical role as food for shared occasions rather than ordinary solitary meals.
Ingredients — for 6 people (12 tamales)
- 500g masa harina (nixtamalized corn flour)
- 250g lard or butter
- Chicken broth, baking powder
- 300g shredded chicken or pork, red or green sauce
- Dried corn husks (hojas), soaked
Step-by-step tamales recipe
- Whip the lard until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the masa harina, baking powder, and broth gradually until you get a soft, airy dough.
- Spread a layer of dough onto each drained corn husk.
- Spoon filling into the center, fold the husk to seal the dough completely inside.
- Stand the tamales upright in a steamer pot, cover, and steam for 1 hour.
- Check doneness: the dough should pull away easily from the husk without sticking.
Cooking method
Technique: corn dough whipped until light before wrapping and extended steaming.
Traditional equipment: a large tamale pot (tamalera) with a steamer basket; a pot with a metal steamer insert also works.
Landmark to watch: the dough is ready when a small piece floats in a glass of water; if it sinks, keep whipping.
Nutrition, per serving (2 tamales)
Calculated from the raw ingredient quantities above, divided across six servings.
Lard, whipped into the masa until airy, is what makes the dough light rather than dense — and it’s also the reason the fat figure runs high at 51 g per serving, with 19 g saturated. Six grams of fibre comes from the nixtamalized corn itself, a whole-grain product even once ground into flour.
Economic context
Corn flour and lard are both inexpensive, storable staples in Mexican kitchens, but tamales are costly in a different currency: time. Making a batch means whipping dough, preparing a filling, wrapping dozens of husks by hand and steaming for an hour — work that historically got shared among a household or a community, which is exactly why tamales remain tied to group preparation for holidays rather than a quick weeknight dish.
Source: World Bank / FAO, Food Prices for Nutrition database (Cost and Affordability of a Healthy Diet) v4.0, 2024 data, CC BY 4.0, DOI 10.57966/41AN-KY81. Retrieved 29 July 2026. This figure describes the cost of a healthy diet in Mexico generally — it is not a costing of this specific recipe.
Who this dish suits
Fits well with
- Batch cooking and freezing — tamales reheat well from frozen
- Diets tracking fibre from whole-grain corn
- Group or family cooking sessions
Worth knowing
- 51 g fat per serving, largely from the whipped lard in the dough
- Energy-dense at 785 kcal per serving (2 tamales)
- Corn husks are not edible — purely a cooking wrapper
What about you?
In your opinion, what’s the best place or restaurant to enjoy great tamales?