Learning how to make Tamale Masa is the most important part of making homemade tamales from scratch. Masa harina is used in this easy recipe to make a traditional tamale dough.
Making tamale masa is something that comes up right away when you learn to make traditional Mexican tamales. The way I’ve been making tamales like crazy has helped me perfect my tamale masa recipe in the last year.
- Tamal vs. Tamale
- What is Masa Harina?
- Can You Freeze Masa?
- Is Masa Harina the same as Cornmeal?
- Well Seasoned Tamale Masa
- Making Tamale Dough
- What’s the Difference Between Masa and Maseca?
- Tamale Fillings
- Recipe
I love tamales and I can eat them for three meals a day, every day, and I would be perfectly happy.
I’ve learned a lot about making tamales since starting this website. If you want to learn how to make tamales, I can teach you the 5 Easy Steps to Making Authentic Mexican Tamales.
Tamal vs. Tamale
I have to point out that the single version of this tasty delight is actually TAMAL in the Spanish language. TAMALES is the plural version. It’s common for Americans to call both single and plural by the same name, though.
You will often hear someone asking for a “tamale” but, it’s technically correct to say “tamal”.
It doesn’t really matter to me what they’re called. My love for tamales will never change even if you suddenly started calling them brussels sprouts.
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What is Masa Harina?
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s talk about masa harina. Masa harina is the flour that’s used to make your tamale dough.
This flour is made from puffed kernels of maize corn called hominy. The hominy is grated into corn dough.
Once dehydrated, this grated corn is now a corn-based flour. It looks like wheat flour, but it’s entirely gluten free since it’s made from corn instead.
Maseca is the brand most widely available to us. Even here in Arkansas, we can easily find it in the ethnic section of our store. Maseca makes precooked, instant corn flour in two versions that I’ve found: regular and tamal.
We usually use “tamal” if it’s on the shelf. If not, we will get the other one. Either will work for this recipe.
Masa harina is also available in a blue corn version (azul). We have some in the pantry but I’m wanting to make blue corn tortillas with it.
It’s not as sweet as white or yellow masa harina so it has its own familiar uses as well. I don’t think I would try it with tamales because it’s harder to find and we’ve only found it in a small bag. Sounds fun, though!
Can You Freeze Masa?
I freeze Masa all the time. Sometimes, I make a full batch of masa but I run out of the filling. Or, perhaps I used the Instant Pot and I only wanted to make one batch. I freeze the leftover masa in a freezer bag or vacuum sealed bag up to 6 months.
I’ve read that many people in Mexico add milk, sugar, cinnamon and fruit to the leftover masa to make dessert tamales with leftover masa. I’m not able to do that with my masa recipe because it’s highly seasoned with chiles and spices.
Is Masa Harina the same as Cornmeal?
Cornmeal is ground corn whereas, masa harina has been treated to make hominy and then ground.
Cornmeal and masa harina aren’t interchangeable in recipes.
Use cornmeal to make bread. On the other hand, you use masa harina to make tamales, tortillas, pupusas and gorditas.
Hominy, by the way, is also used to make grits. I’ve never had grits, but I look forward to trying it.
Well Seasoned Tamale Masa
When you first learn how to make tamale masa, you’ll want to decide what seasonings you want to include. You need to know what flavors you need to incorporate.
We like to season our tamale dough well. You eat the entire tamale, not just the filling. What’s the point of going to all the trouble to make tamales if your dough is bland?
I like to use garlic powder, onion powder and cumin. Another key ingredient is tamale sauce. I use a little bit of the tamale sauce that I’m using for the filling for that continuity of flavors.
If you don’t have any extra sauce to add to the tamale dough, try adding some of the cooking liquid for flavoring. Or, try adding some chile powder.
You can use any you have on hand. Try a tablespoon of ancho powder for little added heat or a tablespoon of chipotle or habanero for more added heat.
Our Scoville Heat Scale will come in handy for making the decision about which chile powders to use.
I have used chicken stock and vegetable stock but I really didn’t like the time I used beef stock. I was surprised because it was a beef tamale. But, it didn’t taste as good as the others to me.
Making Tamale Dough
Masa dough can be made from fresh ground masa corn or masa harina, the corn flour I use here. We’ve only been able to find ground masa one time (available either prepared or unprepared), so we prefer masa harina for convenience.
To begin, whisk your flour, baking powder and seasonings together. This is the same thing that you usually do with all your baking: whisking the dry ingredients first.
You mix the dry ingredients together first so you don’t get stuck with something like a big bite of baking powder in one spot.
When you add the lard and tamale sauce, your consistency will be like wet sand, perfect for sand castles. You should be able to pick it up and mash it together to form a shape.
This has been done by hand for a long, long time in Mexico. I’m cheating, of course, but I like to use our Kitchenaid.
Once you add the chicken stock, your consistency will be like a thick hummus or cake batter. If you like, you can use vegetable stock for a vegan substitute for the chicken stock.
This tamale masa is very easy to spread on a corn husk. I have no problems with it sticking and I usually use the back of a spoon to spread it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Masa is the dough you make with masa harina. Maseca is the most popular brand name for masa harina.
I usually need to steam tamales for about 90 minutes.
This could be because there isn’t enough fat (lard or other). The most likely culprit, though, is that your tamales haven’t finished cooking. The sign of your tamales being finished is that they pull away from the husk when you open them up. Start at 60 minutes then add 15-30 minutes at a time until they start to pull away from the husk.
Tamale Fillings
I’ve used many different fillings for tamales and I have several recipes. If you’re new to making tamales, you might want to make your first stop at my Beginner Small Batch Instant Pot Chicken Tamales. Have a look at the Tamale recipes category for more options like chicken, pork, chorizo and more.
- Homemade Pork Tamales with Red Chili Sauce
- How to Make Tamales in the Instant Pot
- Easy Mexican Tamales with Chorizo
- Chicken Green Chile Tamales
Don’t stop with these fillings, though. If you have something leftover, you can style your own tamale version.
Use some adobo chicken from this Chicken Tinga Tacos recipe. Or, if you like chicken molé, try using the chicken in this Chicken Mole Tacos recipe.
Browse all of our Mexican food recipes to pick your favorite.
Have a look at this 32-Quart Stainless Steel Steamer (aff link). It’s the perfect size for all my tamale recipes. It doesn’t stain like aluminum and withstands all the tamales we make during the year. A lot! Have I mentioned how much I love tamales?
Since this recipe is only for the tamale masa, you will find the details for making the tamales in the individual recipes for each filling. You’ll find many answers to your questions there as well.
Recipe
Tamale Dough Made With Masa Harina
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For more information, be sure to check the recipe details in the attached 24Bite® post.
Ingredients
- 6 cups Masa Harina, like Maseca
- 2 tablespoons Baking Powder
- 1 tablespoon Salt
- 1 tablespoon Onion Powder
- 1 tablespoon Garlic Powder
- 1 tablespoon Ground Cumin
- 1 pound Lard
- ¾ cup Red Tamale Sauce, from linked recipe, or other preferred sauce
- 6 cups Chicken Stock
Instructions
- Whisk together masa harina, baking powder and seasonings.
- Melt lard (see below for alternatives). You can melt it on the stovetop. I melted it in a glass measuring cup in the microwave for two minutes.
- Add lard and ¾ cup Tamale Sauce to masa harina mixture. Mix well. It will look like wet sand like you would use to make sand castles.
- Add one cup of stock at a time and mix well until you have FOUR CUPS stock in the masa. Let sit for about 20 minutes for the liquid to soak into the masa harina. You are looking for the consistency of hummus or cake batter. Continue adding stock about ¼ cup at a time, as necessary, to reach the right consistency for spreading easily.
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Notes
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. All amounts are estimates and 24Bite® takes no responsibility for actual figures since calculations vary by packaging and supplier. Please calculate the amounts yourself based on package labeling if you have specific dietary requirements. 24Bite®, Kim Guzman or Christian Guzman shall not be liable for adverse reactions or any other outcome resulting from the use of recipes or recommendations on this website or actions you take as a result.
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Elizabeth says
Great recipe!
Jessica Stroup says
I love this article and this recipe!!
Rosario Arecco says
Delicious!
Chef Dennis says
We love Tamales! Thanks for sharing this.
Jamie says
Such a helpful article with great tips!
Christian Guzman says
I hope it helps. Thank you for writing!
Andrew Petersen says
A very good post on tamales and preparation. I love them too. Like hotdogs, I could eat them every day.
One note…If you do not have corn husks. I have found that you can just form the masa into a disc,add the filling, fold it over and steam as is. I do this using a silicone splatter screen over a pan of simmering water. Works great.
Christian Guzman says
I will definitely be trying that trick in the future! Thank you for visiting.
Patsy Pacheco says
Can I still use lard instead of canola?
Christian Guzman says
Yes, absolutely! I’ve never used canola oil for anything. Lard is best. I used one pound of lard for this recipe. Thanks for visiting!
Jamie says
This is exactly what I needed for the coming tamales season! Such a fluffy, flavorful masa that will make perfect tamales.
Amy Liu Dong says
Tamales are one of our favorite food in the house.
I would love to make this as we are going to have a small family gathering this weekend.
Gwynn says
I never knew that I could make this at home. It will be great for tamale season. I will need to practice soon.
Maggie says
Great recipe. I used shortening instead of lard. Came out perfectly. I love the addition of the sauce from the filling.
Julie says
I am going to try this recipe this year. Why do you not talk about testing the dough? That was the first thing I was told when started making tamales.
Christian Guzman says
I’ve never found that it works for recipes like this when you melt the lard first. Whipped lard, yes. But, this recipe isn’t the same. Thank you for visiting!
Debra says
I’ve been using coconut oil for a few years instead of lard for vegetarian and vegan tamales.
Also used red palm shorting, but prefer coconut oil, even if I make tamales with meat filling.
For sweet tamales, I’ve used coconut oil and coconut milk (instead of condensed milk) for vegan tamales. I have had good results for a sweet tamales by folding in baked sweet potato puree into masa dough. The filling was candied pecans.
Tamales are a wonderful food that I hope more vegans would try to make.
Including the cherished and humble beans are great fillings! Note I also freeze in ice cube trays the soupy or softer ingredients to make the dough seal better, then freeze as one tamal.
Christian Guzman says
What great variations! For my no lard tamales, I’ve used Safflower oil and Olive oil so far.
https://24bite.com/instant-pot-no-lard-chicken-tamales-recipe/
We really noticed no difference in taste and I look forward to trying your suggestions too. Thank you for writing!
Ingrid says
Thank you so much for your help. I just want to make sure that I bought the right flour. All I have is the package of Maseca that says that it is specially for Tamales. I don’t want to use the wrong one. Is it ok to use the Maseca for Tamales in this recipe
Christian Guzman says
I have used both types of Maseca for tamales, whichever I have available. They both work for me. One will simply have a finer texture, but the recipe will be the same. Enjoy!