How to Make Heart Healthy Tamales

Soft masa (corn) dough wrapped around a tasty savory filling, all wrapped up like a little present in a corn husk. Made with broth and olive oil in place of the traditional lard, these heart healthy tamales taste so authentic and delicious. If you’re a tamale lover and you’ve ever thought about trying your hand at making tamales at home, you’re going to love this recipe! Especially if you’ve been concerned about your cholesterol or heart health. And did I mention they are gluten free and diabetic friendly too?

So many people love tamales and make them a tradition in their homes. You might be dismayed at the cost of pre-made tamales, but if you have some time, it’s not hard to make them at home. While many treasure tamales as a Christmas tradition, tamales freeze well and make a fantastic, quick portable meal year-round.

The Culture and History of Tamales

Tamales are a portable hand-held meal that date back to the Mayans and Aztec cultures, particularly for soldiers, hunters and travelers. As early as 8000 to 5000 BC, indigenous people were making tamales in Guatamala and Mexico. These peoples considered tamales sacred, as it was said to be the food of the gods. Other Latin American countries adopted the tradition as well. And to this day, modern Mexican and Hispanic people make tamales for festivals and rituals.

Once you’ve mastered the technique, gather up your friends and make a big batch of various kinds of tamales together, then send a bag of delicious hand-made tamales home with everyone. Tamale making gatherings (called Tamaladas) are a Mexican tradition, especially at Christmas or New Year’s.

Making Tamales

So how do you make tamales? I have been WANTING to make tamales for many, many years. Even before my (now) adult kids were born! I didn’t want to make mine with lard, though. After we visited some friends last year who made us homemade tamales, I was encouraged to figure out how to make them myself. I discovered that olive oil-based tamales aren’t as hard as I thought! Here are the basic steps, with photos of the dough and shaping process. Please refer to the recipe below for more specifics.

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1. Soak the corn husks in hot water for at least 30 minutes, until softened.
2. Make the filling (can be made ahead of time).
3. Mix up the masa dough. You’ll want it to be a soft dough about the consistency of ice cream. (first photo)
4. Lay out a corn husk and spread a square of masa across the bottom center of the corn husk. Try to pat it out as thin as possible. Wet your fingers to keep them from sticking to the masa. (second photo)
5. Spoon about 3 Tablespoons of filling in a line down the center of the masa. (third photo)
6. Fold the right side over the filling to cover the filling with the masa, then the left side so the masa dough meets in the middle, then wrap both sides up. (4th – 6th photos)
7. Fold the “tail” (the triangle at the top) down. Set the tamal tail side down on a platter while you prep the others. (7th photo). Some people like to tie them shut with string or a strip of corn husk.
8. Steam the wrapped tamales, open side up, for 60 – 75 minutes, or until you can easily unpeel the corn husk away from one of the tamales. (8th photo)

To date, I have tried four different fillings. For my first two batches, I tried chicken and spicy lentil and both batches turned out amazing. The other two are cooking as we speak.

What to Use for Filling Heart Healthy Tamales?

While most people think of pork because that seems to be the most common filling for tamales, there are SO many ways you can stuff a tamale, and all of them are delightful.

Vegan and vegetarian options:

• Lentils – try my lentil chorizo (which is what I used in photo above) or lentil taco filling
• Refried beans – add a little hot pepper and cheese for extra flavor
• Zucchini corn salsa – I tried some of this yummy salsa in a couple of tamales too.
• Cowboy caviar
• Green chile & cheese – a traditional New Mexico flavor and one of my very favorites

Meat and Seafood filling:

• Chicken – see my recipe below for cheesy chile lime chicken filling – SO good!
• Pork – this one from 24 Bite is tempting me
• Beef – this shredded beef filling looks really good
• Ground beef – Mix taco meat with sauteed onion, sweet corn & bell pepper, cheese and enchilada sauce or salsa
• Picadillo – another ground meat option is picadillo
• Seafood tamales with poblano cream sauce. Yum!

How to Serve Tamales

You can eat tamales directly from the corn husk (as pictured), topped with hot sauce or salsa and your choice of toppings. Many people like toppings such as avocado or guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, chopped tomatoes or cilantro.

Another way I have experienced restaurants serve tamales is to remove the corn husk wrapper, smother them with enchilada sauce and cheese, then bake them until the sauce is bubbly and the cheese is nicely melted. The sauce and cheese help keep the tamal moist. This is an AMAZING way to enjoy your tamales!

Can you Freeze Tamales?

Absolutely! Tamales freeze so well, either before or after you cook them. I cooked mine before I froze them, so that they are quicker to reheat.

If you wish to freeze your leftover tamales for later, here’s a great article on how to do that. The post also explains how to thaw them out and eat them after freezing. They reheat wonderfully in the microwave, but the BEST way is to steam them again.

Recipe adapted from Mexico in my Kitchen

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