These chicken tamales, moist and stuffed with flavorful chicken and tomatillo salsa, have everything you want in your tamales. Learn to make them with this step-by-step recipe.
If you would like green tamales with chicken that do not include lard, follow this tamale recipe here, for chile verde tamales with pork check this recipe out.
Making homemade tamales is a labor of love, but you just need to make them once to realize that they are worth it. If you are making tamales for the first time you are in the right place, this is an easy recipe to follow.
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This is the recipe I made with Tiffany from Tiff & Case. You can see the video of that day here. We had so much fun!
Chicken Tamales
Servings: approx 30 – 35 tamales (4 inches long)
Ingredients
40-50 corn husks
For the filling
- 2.5 pounds chicken breast
- 2 large garlic cloves
- 2 large bay leaves
- 10-15 black peppercorns
- 3 1/2 tsp salt (divided)
- 1 white onion (divided in half)
- 4 cups water
- 1 1/2 pounds tomatillos, peeled and washed
- 2 serrano peppers or another green chile of your choice
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 large bunch of fresh cilantro
- 1 tsp olive oil
For the Masa
- 265 grams lard (1 1/4 cup)
- 500 grams corn flour (masa harina) for making tortillas (~4 cups). My favorite is Masienda. (Check out a promotion below)
- 3-4 cups chicken broth
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
Get 10% off any Masienda products during this Hispanic Heritage Month (Sep 17-Oct 17, 2024) by using MAMALATINATIPS10 at checkout. Visit the Masienda store here.
Equipment
- Tamalera (steamer pot) or a big pot with a steamer insert
- Electric mixer or stand mixer (optional but it will make the process easier)
Process
Cook the Chicken
Place chicken, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, half an onion in a large pot, cover with approximately 4 cups of water, and put on the stove over high heat.
When the water starts to boil lower the temperature to medium heat and simmer for 35-40 minutes until chicken is tender.
Easy tip: If you want to save time you can use rotisserie chicken instead. Just prepare the salsa verde and combine them together. And buy chicken stock.
Take the chicken out of the broth and let it cool down. When is not too hot to handle shred it. Strain the broth and set aside.
Soak Corn Husks
Place the corn husks in a large bowl or pot and cover with very hot water until soft, approximately 30-40 minutes. The husks tend to float in water, so place another pot filled with water on top of them to hold them underwater.
Make the Chicken Filling
Next, put tomatillos, 1/2 onion, 2 serrano peppers, 2 teaspoons salt, oregano, cilantro, 2 cooked garlic cloves from the chicken broth and 1/4 cup chicken broth in a blender, and mix until smooth.
Pour 1 tsp olive oil into a medium-size pot and add the salsa from the blender. Cook for 10-15 minutes over medium-heat until the salsa changes color from bright green to olive green.
Add the shredded chicken mix with a spoon. Set aside.
Make the Masa Dough
This tamale dough is made with lard; if you want to prepare it with another type of fat, like oil or vegetable shortening, please read our Complete Guide to Masa for Tamales.
Place lard in a mixer bowl and beat, at medium speed, with the paddle attachment (if your mixer has one) until very soft and creamy, approximately 5-7 minutes.
In a separate bowl mix together corn flour, baking powder, and 1 teaspoon of salt.
Add half of the dry ingredients to the softened lard and keep beating at low speed until well integrated. (If you don't have a mixer, you can mix by hand). Add the remaining dry ingredients and continue beating until integrated. The mixture will look like coarse sand.
Start by adding 1 cup of the chicken broth until well integrated. Add a second cup until well integrated. At this point, turn off the mixer, remove the bowl, and add another 1/2 cup of chicken broth and mix with your hands or a spoon but the hands are better.
Continue adding more liquid until you get a soft and spreadable creamy peanut butter-like consistency masa. Cover with a kitchen towel.
Assembling the Tamales
Remove corn husks from the water and squeeze them to remove excess water, then dry them with a kitchen towel.
Next, take 2 or 3 of the husks, depending on their sizes, and separate them into strips 1/4 inch thick to use as ties for securing the tamales (See photos or video).
Now take a whole corn husk, place it on the palm of your hand and spread 1-2 tablespoons of the masa mixture on half the corn husk, starting 1/2 inch from the top of the wider end and leaving 1 inch of the husk clear of masa to one side.
Add a teaspoon of the chicken filling in the center of the masa. Fold both sides to cover the filling, the side with no masa will be on top. Then fold the tamal in half and tie. Continue until you've used all the masa.
Sometimes I the tamales on a rimmed baking sheet until they are all ready. Sometimes I place them directly in the steamer pot.
Steaming the Tamales
Fill the bottom of the pot or steamer, with approx 2 inches of water (depending on the size of your pot, it can be less or more), but make sure that the water does not touch the steamer basket or the tamales when they are placed in it.
Cover the bottom of the tamalera colander with a few corn husks and place tamales inside vertically, with the open side up.
Place some corn husks on top of the tamales, then a wet kitchen towel if you have one, if not, you can omit it.
Cover and, place in the stove over medium-high heat, until the cold water starts boiling. Then lower the temperature to keep a constant simmer and steam them for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Always carefully open your tamalera or steamer to avoid steam injury.
Make sure to check on the water level of the steamer a couple of times so it doesn’t run dry. After the 1 hour and 15 minutes, turn off the heat and let them rest for 10 minutes. Remove tamales with tongs.
Enjoy!
Chicken Tamales
Ingredients
- 40-50 corn husks
For the filling
- 2.5 pounds chicken breast
- 2 large garlic cloves
- 2 large bay leaves
- 10-15 black peppercorns
- 3 1/2 tsp salt divided
- 1 white onion divided in half
- 4 cups water
- 1 1/2 pounds tomatillos peeled and washed
- 2 serrano peppers
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 large bunch of fresh cilantro
- 1 tsp olive oil
For the Masa
- 265 grams lard 1 1/4 cup
- 500 grams corn flour for making tortillas ~4 cups
- 3-4 cups chicken broth
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
Cook the Chicken
- Place chicken, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, half an onion in a pot, cover with approximately 4 cups of water, and place over high heat.
- When the water starts to boil lower the temperature and simmer for 35-40 minutes until chicken is tender. Set aside.
Soak the Corn Husks
- Place the corn husks in a large bowl or pot and cover with boiling water until soft, approximately 30-40 minutes. The husks tend to float in water, so place another pot filled with water on top of them to hold them underwater.
Make the Chicken Filling
- Next, put tomatillos, 1/2 onion, 2 serrano peppers, 2 teaspoons salt, oregano, cilantro, 2 cooked garlic cloves from the chicken broth and 1/4 cup chicken broth in a blender, and mix until smooth.
- Pour 1 tsp olive oil into a medium-size pot and add the salsa from the blender. Cook for 10-15 minutes until the salsa changes color from bright green to olive green.
- Shred the cooked chicken, add to the pot with the salsa and mix with a spoon. Set aside.
Make the Masa
- Place lard in a mixer bowl and beat until very soft and creamy, approximately 5-7 minutes.
- In a separate bowl mix together corn flour, baking powder, and 1 teaspoon of salt.
- Add half of the dry ingredients to the softened lard and keep beating at low speed until well integrated. (If you don’t have a mixer, you can mix by hand). Add the remaining dry ingredients and continue beating until integrated. The mixture will look like coarse sand.
- Start by adding 1 cup of the chicken broth until well integrated. Add a second cup until well integrated. At this point, turn off the mixer, remove the bowl, and add another 1/2 cup of chicken broth and mix with your hands or a spoon but the hands are better.
- Continue adding more liquid until you get a soft and spreadable creamy peanut butter-like consistency masa. Cover with a kitchen towel.
Assembling the Tamales
- Remove corn husks from the water and squeeze them to remove excess water, then dry them with a kitchen towel.
- Next, take 2 or 3 of the husks, depending on their sizes, and separate them into strips 1/4 inch thick to use as ties for securing the tamales (See photos or video).
- Now take a whole corn husk and spread 1-2 tablespoons of masa on half the corn husk, starting 1/2 inch from the top of the wider end and leaving 1 inch of the husk clear of masa to one side.
- Add a teaspoon of the chicken filling in the middle of the masa. Fold both sides to cover the filling, the side with no masa will be on top. Then fold the tamal in half and tie. Continue until you’ve used all the masa.
Steaming the Tamales
- Fill your tamalera or steamer with water, but make sure that the water does not touch the tamales when they are placed in it. Cover the bottom of the tamalera colander with a few corn husks and place your tamales inside vertically, with the open side up.
- Place some corn husks on top of the tamales, then with a wet kitchen towel. Cover and, over high heat, steam for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Always carefully open your tamalera or steamer to avoid steam injury.
- Make sure to check on the water level of the steamer a couple of times so it doesn’t run dry. After the 1 hour and 15 minutes, turn off the heat and let them rest for 10 minutes. Remove tamales with tongs.
Nutrition
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