Tamale guide
How to make tamales, from the masa to steaming and reheating, with recipes from Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela
Corn dough, a wrapper and steam or boiling water. What changes from one country to the next, and how to make them without a tamale steamer.
A tamale is a dough, almost always made from corn, wrapped in a husk or leaf and cooked by steaming or boiling, with or without a filling. The same idea gives very different results. A Mexican tamale is small, made with masa whipped with lard and wrapped in a corn husk. A Colombian tamal is big, wrapped in banana leaf with whole pieces of meat inside. A Venezuelan hallaca is flat, colored orange with annatto and filled with a three-meat stew.
Below you'll find every tamale we have a recipe for from those three countries, with the dough, wrapper and cooking time of each, plus the answers that apply to all of them: how much lard goes into the masa, how long to steam tamales and how to tell when they're done, how to steam without a steamer, how many to make per person, and how to store, freeze and reheat them without drying them out.
What is a tamale?
The word comes from the Nahuatl tamalli, meaning wrapped. You don't eat the wrapper: it shields the dough from the water or steam, adds aroma and works as a plate. Three things change between Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela, and the chart below maps them for the 24 tamales on this site: the dough, the wrapper and how it's cooked.
In Mexico, the dough is masa, corn treated with slaked lime and ground, whipped with lard until light; the tamale is wrapped in a dried corn husk and steamed. In Colombia, the dough can be hominy-style dried corn, precooked corn flour, fresh corn, even cassava or rice, and most are wrapped in banana leaf. In Venezuela, the hallaca uses precooked corn flour with lard and annatto, spread thin on a banana leaf and boiled.
Close relatives outside these three countries include Nicaraguan nacatamales, with raw pork and rice inside and 4 hours in the pot; Puerto Rican pasteles, made from green banana and malanga, boiled for an hour; and Chilean humitas, grated fresh corn with basil, boiled 40 minutes in the husk.
Mexican tamales, from green chicken to Oaxacan
Start with green chicken tamales, filled with chicken in a tomatillo and serrano salsa, and rajas con queso tamales, with roasted poblano strips and cheese for anyone who doesn't eat meat. Each makes 24 from 2.2 lb (1 kg) of masa and steams for 60 to 75 minutes. Sweet tamales have sugar, raisins and pink coloring in the dough and are served with atole or champurrado, a thick masa and chocolate drink. If you want the base before choosing a filling, our tamale masa has its own recipe.
Oaxacan tamales swap the wrapper: chicken in black mole folded into flat packets of toasted banana leaf, steamed 75 to 90 minutes. Uchepos from Michoacán skip the masa altogether: raw fresh corn ground with butter, wrapped in the green husk and served with a tomato salsa.
From the north and center there are three more: red pork tamales, with pork in a guajillo and ancho chile sauce, the tamale most Americans picture; red chile beef tamales, the small, thin norteño style from Sonora and Chihuahua; and corundas from Michoacán, triangular, unfilled and wrapped in the long leaf of the corn plant. Two stay without a recipe because they don't work in a home kitchen or far from home: zacahuil from the Huasteca, a tamale three to six feet long baked in a wood oven, and Chiapas chipilín tamales, made with an herb that outside Mexico only turns up frozen in some Latin stores.
LunchRed Pork Tamales (Tamales Rojos) with Guajillo Chile Sauce
Red pork tamales made with shredded pork shoulder in guajillo and ancho chile sauce, wrapped in corn husks and steamed for 75 to 90 minutes. Makes 24, with a two-day plan, US and UK shopping tips and no tamale steamer needed.
LunchGreen Chicken Tamales (Tamales Verdes) for a Tamalada
Green chicken tamales with tomatillo salsa and masa whipped with lard until a pinch floats in ice water, 24 tamales in 3 hours, 90 minutes hands-on. Masa harina swap, steaming without a tamalera, a party plan for 40 and freezing.
LunchRajas con Queso Tamales, Cheese and Poblano Pepper Tamales
Rajas con queso tamales with charred poblano strips, tomato and melting Oaxaca cheese in masa whipped until it floats. 24 tamales in about 3 hours. Easy vegetarian swap, Monterey Jack option, steaming without a tamalera and freezing.
LunchRed Chile Beef Tamales, Northern Mexican Tamales Norteños
Red chile beef tamales the northern Mexican way, small and thin, with shredded chuck in dried red chile sauce and an olive tucked in each. Makes 60 from 4.4 lb (2 kg) of masa over two days, with chile swaps and steaming times.
LunchOaxacan Tamales with Mole Negro in Banana Leaves
Oaxacan tamales are banana-leaf parcels of soft, thin corn masa filled with mole negro and shredded chicken, steamed 75 to 90 minutes. How to soften frozen leaves, jarred mole paste, the fold, party quantities and freezing. Makes 16.
DessertsMexican Sweet Tamales (Tamales de Dulce), Pink and Fluffy
Mexican sweet tamales, pink tamales de dulce with raisins, made with 250 g of sugar and 300 g of fat per kilo of masa and whipped until it floats. Makes 24 in 160 minutes, with coloring options, steaming time, freezing and cost.
BreakfastUchepos, Mexican Fresh Corn Tamales from Michoacán
Uchepos are fresh corn tamales from Michoacán, made from raw kernels blended with butter and steamed upright in green husks for 55 minutes. How to fix watery supermarket sweet corn, fold the husks, go sweet or savory and freeze them.
LunchCorundas, Triangular Tamales from Michoacán with Salsa
Corundas are small triangular tamales from Michoacán, made of lard-beaten masa folded flag-style in a long corn leaf and steamed for 70 minutes. How to fold them, what wrapper to use outside Mexico and the salsa on top.
Colombian tamales by region
Every region has its own, and most are eaten for breakfast with hot chocolate and an arepa, on Sundays and at Christmas. The tamal tolimense is the best known: dough of ground dried corn with rice and peas, chicken, pork ribs and bacon, potato, carrot and egg, tied in a round bundle with a topknot and boiled 150 minutes. The valluno tamal cooks the dough first, like a thick porridge in the meat broth, colored with a slow onion and annatto sofrito, and boils 120 minutes. Bogotá-style tamales have chicken, ribs, bacon and chickpeas and boil 2 hours.
Pipián tamales from Popayán are smaller, filled with red potato, peanuts and a tomato sofrito, and steam just 45 minutes. The llanero hayaca is the Christmas tamal of the eastern plains, with beef, pork and chicken, wrapped in bijao or banana leaf. Pork tamales and chicken tamales are the everyday home versions, made with precooked corn flour, steamed 2 hours and made 12 at a time for the freezer. Other regions have the Antioquia-style tamal, the Santander-style tamal, rectangular and full of chickpeas, and Caribbean-coast rice pasteles, a rice dough with no corn at all and the December tamal of the Caribbean coast.
The unfilled relatives: corn envueltos, fresh corn with butter and fresh cheese; coastal bollo de yuca, just ground cassava and salt in a corn husk; and tungos from the plains, ground rice with fresh cheese.
LunchColombian Tamal Tolimense, With Rice in the Dough
Tamal tolimense: cracked corn soaked three days, rice and split peas in the dough, chicken, pork ribs and belly. Boiled two and a half hours in banana leaf, why the soak cannot be rushed and what to buy in the US.
BreakfastBogotá-Style Tamales, Colombian Tamal Santafereño for 12
Bogotá-style tamales (tamal santafereño) with soft corn masa, chicken, pork ribs, pork belly and chickpeas, tied in banana leaves and simmered 2 hours. How to wrap and tie them, how to tell they are done, scaling up and freezing.
LunchAntioquia-Style Colombian Tamales with Pork and Hulled Corn
Antioquia-style Colombian tamales with a masa of boiled and ground white hulled corn, seasoning paste and raw pork ribs, shoulder and belly. How to judge the corn and the tamal, the masarepa shortcut, and amounts for 12 or 24.
LunchSantander-Style Colombian Tamales with Chickpeas and Pork
Santander-style Colombian tamales with a cooked corn masa, chickpeas, chicken, pork and pork belly sealed between two layers of masa and steamed 4 hours. Amounts for 10, US and UK corn swaps, the doneness test and reheating.
LunchColombian Valluno Tamales, Masa Cooked First
Tamal valluno from the Valle del Cauca, where the masa is cooked into a porridge before it ever meets the leaf. Then boiled 2 hours with chicken, pork, potato and peas, with US swaps and why these are not Mexican tamales.
LunchColombian Pipian Tamales, Popayán's Peanut-Potato Tamales
Colombian pipian tamales from Popayán, filled with a stew of potato, toasted peanuts and annatto-tinted hogao, wrapped in banana leaves. US and UK swaps, how to tell they're done, peanut ají and freezing, 12 tamales in 2 hours 40.
LunchHayacas Llaneras, Colombian Plains Christmas Tamales
Hayacas llaneras are the Christmas tamales of Colombia's eastern plains, with beef, pork and chicken cooked first and dough made with their broth. Wrapped in banana leaf, boiled 90 minutes, with make-ahead, freezing and scaling notes.
LunchColombian Rice Pasteles, Caribbean Coast Christmas Tamales
Colombian rice pasteles are leaf-wrapped parcels of raw rice seasoned with annatto, cumin and vinegar around raw pork and chicken, boiled 2 hours. Banana leaf swaps, a make-ahead plan, batch sizes up to 48 and how to freeze them.
BreakfastColombian Pork Tamales Made With Broth Instead of Lard
Colombian pork tamales built on leg and spare ribs, with the masa hydrated by the pork's own broth and checked with the float test. Why this tamale needs no added lard, and how much broth per cup of masarepa.
BreakfastColombian Chicken Tamales, Juicy With Sofrito in the Masa
Colombian chicken tamales with corn masa, bone-in thighs, potato, carrot and peas wrapped in banana leaf, a dozen per batch. Why breast dries out over a two-hour steam and why three quarters of the sofrito belongs in the masa.
BreakfastColombian Corn Envueltos, Fresh Corn Steamed in the Husk
Colombian corn envueltos are fresh corn ground with butter and fresh cheese, wrapped in its own husk and steamed for 60 minutes. Makes 12 in 2 hours, with sweet corn fixes for US and UK cooks, dried husks or foil, freezing and costs.
BreakfastBollo de Yuca, Colombian Cassava Rolls Boiled in Corn Husks
Bollo de yuca is boiled cassava ground hot with salt, wrapped in corn husks and simmered 45 minutes until firm. Makes 8 rolls in 115 minutes, with frozen yuca, dried husks or foil, the anise and cheese versions, safety and storage.
BreakfastTungos, Colombian Rice and Cheese Parcels from the Plains
Tungos are Colombian plains parcels of soaked raw rice ground with an equal weight of fresh cheese, packed into leaf cones and steamed 45 minutes. US and UK swaps for the cheese and leaves, the doneness test and freezing.
Venezuelan hallacas and bollos
The hallaca is the Venezuelan Christmas tamale: precooked corn flour kneaded with broth and annatto-colored lard, spread in a thin circle on banana leaf, topped with a beef, pork and chicken stew marinated for 24 hours, plus olives, capers and raisins. One batch is 40, so families make them together on an assembly line, and they boil for 90 minutes. They vary by region, and the recipe lists the variations.
Leftover dough and stew become Christmas bollos, with the stew kneaded into the dough and 30 minutes of boiling. Hallaquitas are plain dough, or dough with ground pork cracklings, in a corn husk, boiled 40 minutes and served beside grilled meat. Bollitos pelones are the relative without a wrapper: dough balls filled with meat and simmered in tomato sauce. And on the Colombian plains the hallaca has its own version, the llanero hayaca.
LunchVenezuelan Hallacas, the Christmas Tamal Wrapped in Leaves
Venezuelan hallacas the family way: beef, pork and chicken marinated a full day, corn dough colored with annatto lard. Olives, capers and raisins, tied in plantain leaf and boiled, with US substitutions and a two-day plan.
SnacksVenezuelan Hallaquitas, Corn Husk Rolls for the Grill
Venezuelan hallaquitas are arepa-flour dough rolled in corn husks and boiled for 40 minutes, plain or mixed with crushed pork rinds. How much dough per roll, how to tie them, how to tell they're done, swaps and freezing.
BreakfastVenezuelan Christmas Bollos, Hallaca Leftovers in a Leaf
Venezuelan Christmas bollos turn leftover hallaca dough and filling into small leaf-wrapped corn parcels, boiled for 30 minutes. How much filling per pound of dough, how to wrap and tie them, the yield, and freezing them raw.
LunchBollitos Pelones, Venezuelan Corn Dumplings in Tomato Sauce
Bollitos pelones are Venezuelan corn dumplings, balls of precooked corn dough stuffed with dry-cooked ground beef and simmered in tomato sauce. A 1:1 dough that holds, 24 dumplings in 105 minutes for 6, masa harina swaps and freezing.
Tamale masa, with lard, shortening or oil
There are two kinds of dough. Mexican masa is whipped: 2.2 lb (1 kg) of fresh masa, or 14 oz (400 g, about 3½ cups) of masa harina for tamales mixed with 2½ cups (600 ml) of hot water, plus 9 to 10½ oz (250 to 300 g) of lard, baking powder, salt and about 2 cups (500 ml) of warm broth. Beat the lard alone until white and fluffy, add the masa in pieces, and it's ready when half a teaspoon floats in a glass of ice water. If it sinks, the tamales come out heavy. That amount makes 24 husk-wrapped tamales or 16 Oaxacan ones.
Colombian and Venezuelan doughs are kneaded, not whipped. They use ground dried corn or precooked corn flour with the meat broth and far less fat: 30 to 50 g per kilo of dough (1 to 1¾ oz per 2.2 lb) in hallacas, hallaquitas and flour-based Colombian tamales, and none at all in the Tolima and pork tamales, where the broth brings the fat. Precooked arepa flour (masarepa, such as P.A.N.) doesn't work for Mexican tamales, which end up tasting like arepas, and masa harina doesn't work for hallacas. Cornmeal works for neither.
No lard? Vegetable shortening whips the same way and tastes neutral. Oil can't be whipped because it's liquid, so the float test never works and the tamales come out dense. Skip the "prepared masa" sold in Mexican groceries unless you account for it: it already contains lard and salt, so it only needs broth and beating. The full method is in our tamale masa recipe.
Corn husks or banana leaves, and where to buy them
Dried corn husks wrap Mexican tamales, hallaquitas and bollo de yuca. Soak them in very hot water for 20 to 30 minutes with a plate on top so they stay under, until they fold without cracking. Fresh husks straight off the cob wrap uchepos and envueltos and need no soaking. Banana leaves are passed over a flame for 5 to 15 seconds a side, until they turn from bright green to dark, matte green, which makes them pliable. Bijao, the leaf used on the Colombian plains, is handled the same way; outside Colombia, use banana leaf instead.
Where to buy them. In the US, dried corn husks are in the Latin aisle of most large supermarkets and in Mexican groceries, and banana leaves are sold frozen in 1 lb (454 g) packs in Latin and Asian stores. In the UK, look for husks from online Mexican grocers and frozen banana leaves in Asian supermarkets. Thaw frozen leaves overnight in the fridge.
How to tie them. Mexican tamales steamed standing up don't need tying: just fold the narrow end back. Tamales boiled under water do, because water that gets in turns the dough soggy: wrap a second leaf the other way and tie with kitchen twine or thick cotton string, never plastic, two or three times in each direction. Without leaves, foil seals well, but you lose the aroma of the leaf.
How long to steam tamales
It depends on the dough and the size, not the filling, which almost always goes in cooked. Steamed, a Mexican tamale in a corn husk needs 60 to 75 minutes once the steam is going, an Oaxacan one in banana leaf 75 to 90, and Colombian pork or chicken tamales 2 hours, while the Santander-style tamal, with its double layer of dough, takes 4. Boiled, the big ones take 90 to 150 minutes: 90 for hallacas and llanero hayacas, 2 hours for Bogotá-style and valluno, 150 for the Tolima tamal. Small ones are faster: 40 minutes for hallaquitas and 30 for Christmas bollos.
How to tell when they're done. Pull one out, let it rest 5 minutes and open it: if the wrapper peels away cleanly and the dough is firm and opaque, they're ready; if it sticks or the center looks glossy, give them 10 to 15 more minutes. Don't judge one straight from the pot, since hot masa always looks raw. When they're done, leave the batch covered off the heat for 15 minutes: the dough sets and releases from the husk.
Without a tamale steamer. Any tall 8 to 10 quart pot with a lid and a steamer rack or basket will do. Put 1½ inches (4 cm) of water under the rack, never less than 1 inch, and drop a coin in the bottom: while it rattles there's water; when it stops, add boiling water down the side. Stand the tamales up, open end on top, snug but not packed, covered with extra husks and a clean towel. And yes, you can overcook them: a valluno tamal that is firm at 120 minutes starts drying out by 180.
How to reheat and freeze tamales
In the fridge. Cooked tamales in their wrappers, in a closed container, keep 3 to 4 days at 40 °F (4 °C) or below. Get them into the fridge within 2 hours of coming out of the pot, and spread a big batch over shallow containers so it cools faster.
In the freezer. Cooked, still wrapped, they keep their quality for 3 months, some up to 4. Freeze them in bags in the portions you'll eat at once. You can also freeze them raw and assembled and cook them straight from frozen with extra time: raw Christmas bollos boil 1 hour instead of 30 minutes, and Colombian pork tamales need 140 minutes of steaming instead of 120.
To reheat, the center has to reach 165 °F (74 °C). In a steamer, upright in their husks, 15 to 20 minutes from the fridge and 25 to 30 from frozen, no thawing needed. Tamales that were boiled reheat the same way, sealed, in boiling water: about 10 minutes from the fridge and 20 to 30 from frozen. In the microwave, wrap each in a damp paper towel and heat in 1-minute rounds; they come out fine, but the masa toughens if you overdo it. In the oven, wrapped in foil at 350 °F (175 °C), 15 to 20 minutes turning halfway, or 25 to 30 from frozen. In an air fryer at 350 °F with the husks dampened, 8 to 10 minutes, turning halfway: the husk toasts and the outside of the masa crisps a little.
How many tamales per person
Mexican tamales, about 2½ oz (75 g) of masa each: 2 per person with other dishes on the table, 3 when they're the main event at a party, so a batch of 24 serves 12 people two each or 8 people three each. Big Colombian tamales like the Tolima or Bogotá-style, and hallacas: one per person, since each is a full plate; on the Venezuelan Christmas plate the hallaca sits beside roast pork, ham bread and chicken salad.
What a batch costs. At US prices from August to October 2026, a batch of 24 rajas con queso tamales comes to about $19.28, 80 cents a tamale, and the bag of corn husks is the biggest single item. Meat is what drives the cost up everywhere else, and outside Latin America, husks and flour ordered online can cost more than the filling.
A tamalada over two days. The day before, cook the meat and leave the salsa or stew thick and cold in the fridge; for hallacas, the stew marinates 24 hours. On the day, soak or toast the wrappers, make the dough and set up an assembly line: one person spreads, one fills, one folds and ties. Making 24 is barely more work than 12, and whatever isn't eaten goes in the freezer. In Mexico tamales are made for the posadas, Christmas Eve and February 2, Candlemas; in Colombia, for Sunday breakfast and Christmas; in Venezuela, hallacas belong to December. For the whole menu, see Mexican, Colombian and Venezuelan Christmas food.
Frequently asked questions
How long do you steam tamales?
Mexican tamales in corn husks take 60 to 75 minutes once the water is steaming; Oaxacan tamales in banana leaf, 75 to 90; Colombian pork or chicken tamales, 2 hours. Tamales boiled under water range from 30 minutes for Venezuelan Christmas bollos to 150 for the Tolima tamal.
How do you know when tamales are done?
Take one out, let it rest 5 minutes and open it. If the husk or leaf peels away cleanly and the dough is firm and opaque, they're done; if it sticks or the center looks glossy, steam 10 to 15 minutes more. Any tamale looks raw straight from the pot, so always wait before judging.
Can you overcook tamales?
Yes. Past their time the dough dries out, and if water gets into the wrapper it turns soggy. A valluno tamal that is firm at 120 minutes starts drying out by 180. Keep the water topped up and check one tamale at the minimum time.
How do you steam tamales without a steamer?
Use a tall 8 to 10 quart pot with a lid and a steamer rack or basket. Add 1½ inches of water below the rack and a coin in the bottom: when it stops rattling, add boiling water down the side. Stand the tamales up, open end on top, cover with husks and a towel, and close the lid.
What is the best way to reheat tamales?
Steam them in their husks, the way they were cooked: 15 to 20 minutes from the fridge or 25 to 30 from frozen, until the center hits 165 °F (74 °C). For one or two, wrap each in a damp paper towel and microwave in 1-minute rounds. In the oven, wrap in foil and heat at 350 °F for 15 to 20 minutes; in an air fryer, 8 to 10 minutes at 350 °F with the husks dampened.
Can you freeze uncooked tamales?
Yes. Assemble them, freeze them raw and cook them straight from frozen with extra time: raw Christmas bollos boil 1 hour instead of 30 minutes. Cooked tamales freeze even better, about 3 months in their wrappers, and reheat without thawing.
How long do tamales last in the fridge?
3 to 4 days at 40 °F (4 °C) or below, cooked, in their wrappers and in a closed container. Refrigerate them within 2 hours of cooking. For longer, freeze them.
What's the difference between a tamale and a hallaca?
A Mexican tamale is small, made with masa whipped with 9 to 10½ oz of lard per 2.2 lb, wrapped in a corn husk and steamed; people eat two or three. A Venezuelan hallaca is flat and much bigger, made with precooked corn flour colored with annatto, filled with a three-meat stew marinated for a day plus olives, capers and raisins, and boiled in banana leaf. One is a full plate.
How many tamales do I need per person?
For Mexican tamales, 2 per person with other dishes or 3 as the main course. For big Colombian tamales or hallacas, 1 per person. A batch of 24 Mexican tamales feeds 8 to 12.