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Homemade Pork Tamales

Makes about 3 dozen 5" long tamales

Course Main Course
Cuisine Mexican
Keyword chile sauce, corn husk, instant pot, KitchenAid, masa, pork, tamale, tamales
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 20 minutes
Servings 3 dozen
Author ~Texas Homesteader~

Ingredients

Meat:

  • 4 cups Cooked, shredded pork roast

Roja Chile Sauce:

  • 5 dried Guajillo chile pepper pods, stemmed seeded & chopped.
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, pressed
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 1.5 teaspoons salt

Prepared Masa

  • 3 cups Dry Masa corn flour
  • 1.75 cups chicken broth
  • 1/4 cup roja chili sauce (see above)
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt (or 1.5 teaspoons table salt)
  • 1 cup 8 oz lard (1/2 of the 1-lb block of lard)
  • additional broth - 1 tablespoon at a time to desired texture

Instructions

Instructions:

Prepare Roast & Corn Husks the Day Before

  1. The day before you are to make your tamales, cook your pork roast with onions, peppers, garlic, etc. Stick to Mexican-food seasonings such as chile powder, cumin, etc so the roast flavors won't compete with the flavor of your tamales. Then cool & shred the roast and store in the refrigerator. You'll want about 4 cups of shredded roast for your tamales.
  2. Prepare you corn husks the night before by soaking them in water. Use a heavy bowl or trivet to make sure they stay submerged.

Make the Sauce

  1. Use rubber gloves to remove stems and seeds from the chile pods. Place chopped chiles, chopped onion and garlic cumin & salt in a saucepan with 2 cups of broth. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes, then remove from heat to cool.
  2. When cool, transfer the chiles and water to a blender and blend until smooth. Strain the mixture of all solids and set aside.
  3. Mix 1.5 cup of the prepared chile sauce into the 4 cups cooked, shredded meat.

Make The Masa

  1. Mix 3 cups Masa corn flour, 1/4 cup roja chile sauce, 1.75 cups chicken broth & mix thoroughly with your hands to make a soft-moist dough. Set aside.
  2. Into separate mixer bowl, combine 1 cup lard, 2 teaspoons kosher salt & 2 teaspoons baking power. Mix on medium speed until thoroughly combined & fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
  3. Add the masa mix to the lard mix & using paddle attachment blend until the masa mixture is the texture of hummus or peanut butter. You may need to add broth a tablespoon at a time if it's too dry, or add dry masa flour a tablespoon at a time if it's too moist.
  4. Cover masa and place in refrigerator 1 hour to rest & hydrate. Then bring back out and mix at medium speed another 3-4 minutes.
  5. (additional chicken stock 1 tablespoon at a time to desired texture if needed)
  6. When a small dough ball of masa floats in a glass of water, your masa is ready

Assemble The Tamales

  1. Spread about 2 Tablespoons masa dough over the smooth side of the corn husks - approximately 4" x 5" square and about 1/4 inch thick. Place one heaping tablespoon of the meat filling in a line down the center of the masa.

  2. Fold one side of the masa-covered corn husk over the meat filling being sure the masa from one side of the meat is touching the masa on the other side of the meat. Then continue rolling the husk to the end. Fold the bottom of the corn husk up and tie with a small strip of corn husk if desired.

Cooking The Tamales

  1. Put a trivet on the bottom of the IP and add 2 cups of water. Add a few corn husks to the top of the trivet. Place tamales folded end down on top of the corn husks - I like to lean them inward so they're not straight up & down. Place additional corn husks over top of tamales to keep excess moisture from dripping into them.
  2. Cook on high pressure for 20 minutes. Do a natural pressure release for 10 minutes, then use a quick release to release any remaining pressure.
  3. Allow tamales to cool 10 minutes before eating them to allow the masa to firm up. May be frozen.