5 Ingredient Tamale Pie Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is tamale pie made of? ›

Tamale pie is thought to have originated in Texas sometime in the 1900s and became popular in high school cafeterias to feed students. Variations may include beef, pork, chicken, chorizo, beans, and cheese with vegetables, cornbread, and/or creamed corn.

Some tamales are made of a paste of freshly ground corn, while others are made from nixtamalized and dried corn that's then mixed into a dough. Most Mexican tamales contain a savory filling of meat or vegetables, but sweet tamales filled with dried fruit are also popular, and some tamales do not contain filling at all.

You can serve tamales with a variety of sides such as fried plantains, potatoes with rajas, Mexican rice and black beans. “When planning a tamalada, or tamal party, you can accompany your tamales with bowls of red and green salsa, crumbled cotija cheese or queso fresco, fresh lime and pickled red onion,” Sibley says.

What Is Masa? Masa para tamales (dough for tamales) is a blend of nixtamalized corn—fresh or dried—with lots of fat for richness, baking powder to leaven and lighten the dough, salt for seasoning, and flavorful broth to bind it all together and hydrate the dough.

Traditional Tamale Sauce is made from red, dried chilies, garlic, and cumin. It begins by roasting peppers briefly in the oven, followed by a soak in water. Then, the chilies and water are blended into together with spices.

Vegetable shortening is a meat-free and dairy-free substitute for lard, allowing you to serve tamales to meat eaters and vegans alike. That said, there are other substitutes for lard that will work well in tamale recipes as well, like refined coconut oil, butter, and avocado oil.

Tamal or tamalito is dough only, with no meats or other fillings. This dish is used to accompany a meal and used to scoop food on the plate, or just eaten plain along with the main dish.

Baking powder prevents the tamales chewiness rise caused by a decrease in fat content. At a high fat content, baking powder does not cause major changes in tamales texture. In the absence of fat, the leavening agent causes a desirable tamales texture.

Directions. In a blender, add the enchilada sauce, 1 large chopped onion, garlic and cilantro; blend until pureed. Heat the oil in a nonstick pan; add the ¼ cup diced onion and sauté until transparent. Add the pureed sauce and cook over high heat for 5 minutes.

Tamales are full of nutrition thanks to their high fiber content, well-rounded macronutrient composition, and micronutrients. Filled varieties in particular make great meals since they're higher in protein. Therefore, they're wonderful foods to incorporate to promote your health.

Do you boil or bake tamales? ›

Steaming. or a pot on the stove. Take tamales out of the bag and leave them wrapped in the husk. Place in steaming device with space around the tamale.

A tamale, in Spanish tamal, is a traditional Mesoamerican dish made of masa, a dough made from nixtamalized corn, which is steamed in a corn husk or banana leaves. The wrapping can either be discarded prior to eating or used as a plate.

Tamales are a traditional Mexican dish made with a corn based dough mixture that is filled with various meats or beans and cheese. Tamales are wrapped and cooked in corn husks or banana leaves, but they are removed from the husks before eating.

Tamales are most often wrapped in dried corn husks (soaked in water to make them pliable) or banana leaves. The wrapper is not eaten but imparts a certain flavor to the tamales when they are steamed.

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.