Chicken Tamales
I love making these homemade tamales. They take a little time to make but are so worth the effort. I usually make them for Christmas, but my family wants them more often, so I freeze a big batch. —Cindy Pruitt, Grove, Oklahoma
Ingredients
- 24 dried corn husks
- 1 broiler/fryer chicken (3 to 4 pounds), cut up
- 1 medium onion, quartered
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 3 quarts water
- DOUGH:
- 1 cup shortening
- 3 cups masa harina
- FILLING:
- 6 tablespoons canola oil
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 2 cans (2-1/4 ounces each) sliced ripe olives, drained
- Hot water
Reviews
In reply to Dana, If you have steamed the tamales, you need to let them cool and place them in freezer bags. Don't over pack them. I usually pack them in 1 row so they will lay flat. If you have not steamed them, just place them in freezer bags and when ready to steam, remove them from the bags and place in the steamer. It will take a bit longer to steam from the frozen state. You can let them thaw first if you wish. Hope this helps!
I haven't tried this yet but I have a question. How do you freeze them? I guess my question is do wrap them in the corn husk or just freeze the stuffing?
I got brave enough to try this recipe because the directions in Taste of Home Magazine were easy to follow. I adjusted the spices to my taste. With easy to follow directions you can add to your family traditions.
For char3bc : You do not eat the husk. Use the husk to wrap the tamale in so the tamale will stay together. You can buy dried corn husks at the market or Online. You merely soak them so they are pliable, then prepare by smearing the corn husk with a layer of masa then put in a filling and wrap, and steam.Traditionally, we use pork roast, pull the pork and add cumin, oregano, and chili powder. Make sure you use some of the gravy from the roast otherwise your tamales will be dry. Put a lot of filling in for the best tamales.
Use ALL the 3/4 cup chili powder for flavor. It's not a typo. I followed the advice of a few and put in only 1/4 cup. Next time, I'll do it right
I only used 1/4 cup chili powder and it was perfect. I also made a batch with shredded beef and everyone loved them.
Hi, I had made this recipe with the chicken. It was really good!. Everyone loved them!:-). I just think that I took way to long in the kitchen trying to figure it out. I think that the time this recipe takes should be adjusted for more than it posted. But I really am grateful for this wonderful recipe. Thanks you for posting this. God bless you:-)oh by the way, the dough is the tricky part. Even though it floated, it was still not ready. So I am going to do this again soon. I will let you know how everything goes. Thanks
I add the broth from the chicken I cooked to the masa and add butter instead of lard this adds wonderful flavor! Also add a some cumin to your chicken para sabor delicioso. Another tip...I have a Ninja food processor...this is awesome for shredding your pork or chicken...use the dough blade!
These are absolutely wonderful and I will definitely be making them again. I did cut the chili powder back to just under 1/4 cup for us, and added a couple teaspoons salt to the dough. So good, can't wait to have them again. Thanks for sharing!
Let me start off by saying I did not make actual tamales. I just made the chicken filling. I did not get a broiler chicken; I just used 3 chicken breasts, and boiled it with the onion and garlic like the recipe indicated, and I probably used half the water. All the other reviews made me nervous to put in all the chili powder, so I only put in 1/4 cup. I thought it was a good amount of flavor. We put the chicken filling in homemade flour tortillas instead of making tamales. SO, this is 5 stars for the chicken filling. I will make this again.