Chicken Tamales Recipe
These homemade chicken tamales are filled with juicy chicken and zesty green chile sauce, wrapped in soft masa dough. They’re comforting, flavorful, and perfect for gatherings or weekly meal prep.
Equipment
- large mixing bowls
- Blender or food processor
- Steamer pot or tamale steamer
- Tongs
- Spatula
- Aluminum foil or parchment paper (optional for steaming)
- Knife and Cutting Board
Ingredients
For the corn husks:
- 50 corn husks about 1/2-3/4 pound
- hot water
For the green chile:
- 8 ounces tomatillos husked and rinsed
- 2 jalapeno peppers stems removed
- 2 poblano peppers stems removed
- 1 serrano pepper stem removed (omit if you don't want it spicy)
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 cup water
For the chicken:
- 2 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into very small pieces (see photo in blog post for example)
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon lime juice about the juice of 1/2 lime
For the tamale dough:
- 8 1/4 cups masa harina half of a 4.4 lb bag Maseca
- 1 3/4 tablespoons fine salt
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 3/4 cups canola oil or corn, vegetable or any other neutral-tasting oil
- 6 1/2 cups chicken broth or vegetable – low sodium preferred
Instructions
- Soak corn husks in hot water until soft and pliable.
- Blend tomatillos, peppers, onion, garlic, salt, and water to make the chile verde sauce.
- Cook chicken pieces with oil, salt, and lime juice until tender.
- Mix masa harina with salt, baking powder, oil, and broth to form soft dough.
- Spread masa onto softened corn husks and top with chicken and sauce.
- Fold and wrap each tamale neatly, seam-side in.
- Steam tamales upright for about 1.5 hours until the dough is firm and cooked through.
- Let them rest for 10 minutes before serving warm.
