A simple Step-by-Step Recipe and Instructions for Authentic Tamales! You can fill them with the meat of your choice, but in this Recipe I show you How I make my Delicious shredded Beef Tamales.
I made Tamales for the first time 2 years ago for a Christmas Party and I thought they were going to be an epic fail. I searched many recipes to see what they all had in common and how I could adjust the quantities and flavors to make my own recipe. I tried the first recipe I created which were the ones I made for a Christmas Party in 2019 and they came out so good, flavorful, and the Masa came out perfect! I couldn't believe that my first attempt at Tamales was a success! But...yes, there is a but, at that point I hadn't really used a lot of Dry Chiles before so I had no idea you had to strain the skins after cooking and blending them, and that they would leave chewy and unpleasant bits in the Chile sauce. So that was the downfall, the meat had little bits of Chile skins that I caught myself spitting out every few bites. They were still so good that you could get past it. Despite the pesky Chile skin, I still got a lot of compliments that day, and many people told me those were the Best Tamales they ever tasted.
So the next few times I made these, I made a few changes in the quantities of the Chiles I used to make the Tamales have the perfect amount of spice, that's not too spicy but has a little kick (I also strained the Chile sauce for a silky smooth texture.) So after a few more tweaked batches I think I finally perfected my Tamal Recipe.
Ingredients
Meat:
- 4 lbs. Chuck Roast
-Salt (about 4-1/2 teaspoons or season to your liking)
-Ground Pepper (1 teaspoon)
-5 sprigs Fresh Oregano
-8 sprigs Fresh Thyme
-3 Garlic cloves
-1 small Yellow Onion
-4-1/2 cups Water
Chile Sauce:
-2 cups of Beef drippings or Broth + 1-1/2 cups Beef Broth (separated)
-1 small Yellow Onion
-3 Garlic cloves
-2 Ancho Chiles
-4 Guajillo Chiles
-2-3 tablespoons Vegetable Shortening
-1/2 cup All purpose Flour
-3/4 cups Water + 1 cup Water (separated)
-1/2 teaspoon Ground Pepper
-2 teaspoons salt (or season to your liking)
-1 teaspoon Chilli powder
Masa:
-6 cups of Maseca Instant Corn Masa
-1 tablespoon Salt
-5 tablespoons Vegetable shortening (Melted)
-5 tablespoons Butter (Melted)
-2 teaspoons Baking Powder
-5-1/2 cups Water
*1 package Corn Husks for Tamales (soaked for at least 30 minutes)
Directions:
To get started you have to soak the Tamal Corn husks in Hot water for at least 30 minutes. This will make the corn husks more pliable and easier to work with. I do this by filling up my sink with hot water and 1/4 cup of vinegar and let them soak in there for at least 30 min or up to 1 hour. After the corn husks have soaked, I drain the water, shake off as much excess water as I can, and place them on my counter or table patting them with napkins or a kitchen towel to let them air dry.
To prepare the meat, I cut my chuck roast into large chunks so that it cooks faster. I place my meat chunks into a large (13x9) lasagna pan. Then I season the meat with salt, pepper, oregano, thyme, garlic and onion on both sides. I fill the lasagna pan with about 4-1/2 cups of water to cover the pan halfway.
*This is going to Bake in the oven for about 2 hours and 45 minutes until the meat is fall apart tender.
Once the meat is tender, remove it from the oven and transfer all the meat chunks into a bowl and let them cool. Now you want to save all that liquid and beef drippings in the pan and place them in a large measuring cup. I had exactly 2 cups of Beef drippings, if you don't have enough add water or use Beef broth as a replacement.
Now into a Medium sized saucepan over Medium heat add the beef broth along with the Dry Chiles, onion, and garlic. Let that all boil together for about 10 minutes, then remove it from the heat.
Place the boiled chiles, onion, garlic, and liquid into a food processor along with a (10.5 oz can) which is about 1-1/2 cups of Beef Broth. Blend it all together until a Chile sauce forms.
After it's all blended, you want to strain this using a fine mesh strainer to trap the Chile skins and any little bits which are an unpleasant texture. I got my strainer set from Amazon.
After I strained it, I had a total of about 2-1/4 cups of the Chile sauce. I set the sauce aside and now i'm going to make a thick paste to help thicken the sauce more. So in a small saucepan over Low heat, I'm going to combine 2-3 tablespoons of Vegetable Shortening and 1/2 cup All purpose Flour and whisk them together. Then I'm going to add 1 cup of the Chile sauce a little bit at a time and keep whisking until a thick paste forms, almost like a refried bean consistency. Then remove it from the heat.
I add the Chile sauce into a large pot over Medium heat, then add this thick paste into the Chile sauce along with 1 cup of water and whisk it all together for 3-4 minutes to combine. Taste it and add more salt and pepper if you feel it needs it, also add chilli powder or even hot sauce if you want more of a kick.
When the sauce is silky smooth like this, you want to remove it from the heat and set it aside for now.
Now it's time to shred the beef which should already be fall apart tender, so just grab 2 forks and start pulling away. Make sure to leave some chunks of beef, you don't want the meat to be finely shredded because we want the Tamales to have some texture.
After the meat has been shredded, it's time to add it into the Chile sauce pot. Place the Chile sauce pot back over a Lower Medium heat setting and then add in all the shredded meat.
Mix the meat into the Chile sauce well, and add about a 1/2 cup more of Water if it's too thick. Mix it well and let it simmer in the pot for about 10 minutes.
Now for the Masa, I use Maseca Instant corn Masa. For this Recipe I use 6 cups of the Dry Masa which is about half of a (4 lb.) bag.
Before I start mixing the Masa, it's time to make a little slurry using a choice of either shortening, lard, or butter and baking powder.
I usually use vegetable shortening or a mixture of shortening and butter. In a saucepan over Low heat add 10 tablespoons of shortening or butter/shortening mix and whisk it until it is melted, then remove from the heat and add the baking powder. Whisk it together well.
To start mixing the Masa, in a large pot add the 6 cups of Dry Masa along with 1 tablespoon of salt, and this slurry mix we just made. Mix well.
Then add 5-1/2 cups of water, a little at a time. It seems like a lot at first but trust me, this Masa soaks up water like a sponge and once you keep mixing it will come together.
Use your hands to get in there and really feel and mix the Masa. If your Masa is too sticky and wet add a little more Dry corn masa. If it feels to dry and crumbly then add a little more water. The Masa should have a slight damp clay texture and should be slightly tacky, but should not stick to your palms. You should be able to roll it into a ball without it sticking to the palms.
Before assembling the Tamales, look through the corn husks and see which ever ones are broken or too small to be able to roll a Tamal in. All the husks with imperfections rip them into think strips. These are going to be used as ties to hold the tamales in place.
To start assembling the Tamales, grab a corn husk and lay it flat on your surface. Fill the Tamal with 1/2 cup of Masa and spread it around to flatten using your hands.
*NOTE: Be sure to leave at least 1-1/2 inches of space at the bottom of the corn husk as this will be folded over at the end.
Then fill the center of the Masa with about 1/4 cup (or more if you can fit it) of the meat filling. Spread it around evenly.
Now roll and fold one side of the corn husk into the center to close the Tamal, and then reopen it.
*NOTE: Another trick to knowing you have the perfect Masa consistency, is when you fold the Tamal over, it will detach itself from the corn husk without sticking.
Fold the other corn husk side over, and reopen it. This will cause the 2 Tamal sides to meet in the middle and stick together and close.
Roll one side of the corn husks towards the Tamal and roll together to close the Tamal.
Then fold the bottom flap over the front center of the Tamal. Use one of the corn husk string pieces that were cut into strips earlier and tie the flap that was folded over to secure the Tamal. Tie another one in the center of the Tamal.
This is what the Tamales look like after they all have been wrapped and tied. This recipe was enough for exactly 25 Tamales but I made some of them a little too big, so if you make them all the same size, you should be able to get about 30 total.
You can cook these right away in a Tamal Steamer Pot. Or you can Freeze them and Cook them at a later time. The Great thing about these Tamales is that they can be Frozen for up to 4 months! I like to store them in ziploc bags, date them, and freeze them. Then I make them whenever I am craving a Delicious Tamal!
To cook them:
You need a Tamal Steamer pot to cook Tamales.
This is the one I use and I've had it for many many years.
The Tamal Pot comes with a removable steamer insert that you remove, then fill the pot with water right up to where the insert goes, and add the insert back in.
Place the Tamales standing up on the insert, if you're making a big batch place them standing up in a circle filling the pot from the outside in.
*If you're making the Tamales right away without freezing them, you want to cook them for about 1 hour maybe 45 min depending on How many and if you're using a smaller steamer pot.
*If you're making the Tamales after they have been frozen, you want to cook them for 1 hour-1 hour and 15 min depending on how many you're making and how big your Tamal steamer pot is.
The less you make and the smaller your Tamal steamer pot is means less time steaming, If you're using a large Steamer pot like mine and filled the entire thing for a large batch, then give them about 1 hour 15-20 min to cook. These Tamales should get steamed in the pot over Medium-High heat.
After the required steam time, turn the heat off and let the Tamales sit in the pot for a few minutes. Don't try to remove them from the pot right away because
The pot is extremely Hot and if you open it right away the steam released can cause burns (I know from experience.)
The Masa will still be a little soft, therefore your Tamal can break if you try to pull it out right away. As they sit and cool for a few min in the Pot they will get firmer and easier to unwrap when it's time to eat.
*Finally after they have cooled for at least 10 minutes. You can remove them from the pot using an oven mit to prevent burns and some tongs to grab them. Then you can unwrap them from their Corn husk.
I serve mine with a side of Mexican rice. Yummm!
FULL RECIPE VIDEO:
Print or Download Ingredient and Supply List Below
Didn’t make these but you did and gave me so and 🤤 lol