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Making your own tamales at home can be a fun family project.  Of course, the first step is making the masa dough.  This is our recipe for the tamale dough we use in our Instant Pot Tamale Project.

Go To Recipe

This dough is easy to make.  That being said, making tamales is a time-consuming process.  You not only need to make the tamale dough, but you also need to make fillings.  We like to make several types of fillings, so this becomes a big project.

Check out our guide to the full process for making tamales.

Cole Cooks: Guide to Instant Pot Tamales

Tamales are one of those Mexican dishes you don’t find in many restaurants.  This is because they are labor intensive.  However, with proper planning, you can make your own tamales that are better than most any you can buy commercially.  This is our guide to Instant Pot Tamales. Overview The good news is that by […]

The good news is you can freeze both the dough and fillings for later use.  If you plan ahead it can be fairly easy to whip up a batch of homemade tamales.

Being in Southern California, most grocery stores carry the masa specifically used for tamales.  If not you can always order it in bulk from Amazon.

Most people will note that homemade tamale dough is pretty heavy on lard.  Tamales are not exactly a low-fat dish.  For those afraid of lard, I think you can substitute vegetable shortening, but we have never tried this option.

We have had problems with our stand mixer (it keeps breaking) so this dough was mixed by hand.  It is messy but really not that much work.

Each batch of dough will make about 30 to 36 tamales.  You can make this dough ahead of time and freeze it for later use.

Check out our guide to the full process for making tamales.

Cole Cooks: Guide to Instant Pot Tamales

Tamales are one of those Mexican dishes you don’t find in many restaurants.  This is because they are labor intensive.  However, with proper planning, you can make your own tamales that are better than most any you can buy commercially.  This is our guide to Instant Pot Tamales. Overview The good news is that by […]

Potential Fillings include Beef Barbacoa (shredded beef), Chicken Tinga, Carnitas, and our Vegetarian Tamales with corn, cheese and peppers.

Cole Cooks: Instant Pot Mexican Shredded Beef

Mexican Shredded Beef is a staple filling for tacos and burritos.  The restaurant chain Chipotle took this style of beef to the masses under the name Barbacoa.  This is our recipe for Instant Pot Mexican Shredded Beef. Go To Recipe We first came across the term Barbacoa in our Sunset Mexican Cookbook dated 1991.  This […]

Cole Cooks: Instant Pot Chicken Tinga

Chicken Tinga is a common filling in Mexican cooking.  It is savory shredded chicken that has been cooked in a smoky chipotle sauce.  I have developed my own version of Instant Pot Chicken Tinga that can be prepared in an hour. Go To Recipe Chicken Tinga is surprisingly easy to make.  The Instant Pot can […]

Cole Cooks: Authentic Pork Carnitas

Carnitas is a classic Mexican pork dish.  We have many ways to cook carnitas, but our favorite is the traditional way of cooking carnitas in lard.  This is our recipe for authentic pork carnitas. Go To Recipe Any way you prepare carnitas, it is a fairly decadent dish.  Traditionally it is fatty pork that is […]

Cole Cooks: Vegetarian Tamales

Making your own homemade tamales can be a great deal of fun.  When our children were young, they loved vegetable tamales with a corn/cheese and pepper filling.   This is our home version of Vegetarian Tamales. Go To Recipe My first note is that our tamale dough is not vegetarian because it uses lard.  If you […]

Homemade Tamale Dough

Dave Cole

This is a dough recipe for making tamales at home.

Print Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 15 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mexican

Servings 30 tamales

Ingredients

  

• 6 cups corn masa flour for tamales
• 4 cups chicken broth or water
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 cups lard or vegetable shortening

Instructions

 

• In a bowl mix masa, baking powder and salt.
• Add chicken broth or water and with your hands mix into a moist dough.
• In another bowl mix lard or shortening until light and fluffy. Add masa and beat until the batter is smooth and slightly sticky.

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