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Real Homemade Tamales

These tamales are made with tender pork wrapped in masa and corn husks with a flavorful red chile sauce. This recipe comes from a kind woman I met in a Mexican market—it's been my favorite ever since! Great served with refried beans and a salad.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 30 minutes
Course lunch/dinner
Cuisine south american
Servings 16 people
Calories 4560.4 kcal

Equipment

  • 1 Dutch Oven For simmering pork
  • 1 Blender For chile sauce
  • 1 Fine-mesh Sieve For straining chile sauce
  • 1 Steamer Basket For cooking tamales; fits into a large pot
  • 2 Large Mixing Bowls For masa dough and soaking husks

Ingredients
  

Main

  • 1 ¼ pounds pork loin
  • 1 large onion halved
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 4 dried chile peppers such as guajillo or ancho
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 ½ teaspoons salt
  • 1 8 ounce package dried corn husks
  • ⅔ cup lard
  • 1 10.5 ounce can beef broth, or as needed
  • 2 cups masa harina
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup sour cream

Instructions
 

  • Gather all ingredients. ALLRECIPES / ANA CADENA
  • To make the filling: Place pork, onion, and garlic in a Dutch oven. Add enough water to cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer until pork is cooked through and tender, about 2 hours. ALLRECIPES / ANA CADENA
  • Meanwhile, to make the chile sauce: Use rubber gloves to remove stems and seeds from chiles. Place chiles in a saucepan with 2 cups water. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool. ALLRECIPES / ANA CADENA
  • Transfer softened chiles and cooking water to a blender and blend until smooth. Strain the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl and stir in salt. Discard the solids left in the strainer. ALLRECIPES / ANA CADENA
  • Remove pork from the pot. Discard onion and garlic. Shred pork using two forks and mix in 1 cup chile sauce. Reserve remaining chile sauce for serving. ALLRECIPES / ANA CADENA Recipe Tip Reserve 1 cup of the pork broth to use instead of canned beef broth when making the dough.
  • Prepare husks and dough: Soak corn husks in a bowl of warm water until softened, about 30 minutes. ALLRECIPES / ANA CADENA
  • While the husks are soaking, beat lard with 1 tablespoon broth until fluffy. ALLRECIPES / ANA CADENA
  • Combine masa harina, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl; stir into the lard mixture, adding more broth as needed to form a soft, spongy dough. ALLRECIPES / ANA CADENA
  • Remove husks from water and pat dry. Spread about 2 tablespoons masa dough onto the center of each husk about ¼ inch thick, leaving a 1-inch border on the sides and top. ALLRECIPES / ANA CADENA
  • Spoon 1 tablespoon pork filling over dough. Fold sides of husk toward the center, then fold up the bottom to seal. Repeat with remaining husks, dough, and filling. ALLRECIPES / ANA CADENA
  • Arrange tamales upright in a steamer basket over simmering water. Cover with a damp towel or extra husks. Steam until dough is firm and pulls away easily from husks, about 1 hour. ALLRECIPES / ANA CADENA
  • Remove tamales from husks. Drizzle with remaining chile sauce and top with sour cream (or stir sour cream into chile sauce for a creamy sauce). ALLRECIPES / ANA CADENA
  • Serve hot with your favorites sides. Enjoy! ALLRECIPES / ANA CADENA

Notes

For the chile sauce, lightly toast the dried chiles in a dry pan before simmering; this deepens their smoky complexity. When preparing the masa dough, beating the lard until genuinely fluffy is paramount for a light, tender tamale texture. Always use the reserved pork cooking liquid for the masa instead of canned broth for a richer, more cohesive flavor profile. Avoid overfilling the tamales to ensure even cooking and a balanced masa-to-filling ratio. Proper steaming, with tamales standing upright and not submerged in water, is key for a firm yet moist result. Consider adding a bay leaf and a few black peppercorns to the pork simmering liquid for enhanced aromatics.