Allow me to preface this by quickly saying that these are NOT a traditional tamales recipe. They are, however, an easy and delicious Thanksgiving Tamales made with leftover turkey meat.
Recipe: $15.87 | Per Serving: $1.32 | Servings: 12
These leftover turkey tamales may be the thing that I look forward to after my yearly feast. While I don't enjoy the several hours of prep, it's the deliciously soft dough and meaty filling inside every corn husk that has me making my dining table into an assembly line year after year.
I enjoy taking my Dry Brined Turkey and turning it into several meals following Thanksgiving but my favorite "after feast" meals are Creamy Turkey Wild Rice Soup, Turkey Dumpling Soup, and these Leftover Turkey Tamales.
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🍯 Why This Recipe Works
- Great for using up leftovers. These Thanksgiving Tamales are incredibly versatile and pretty great for a budget-friendly meal too! See How to Reuse Leftover Food for more great ideas.
- Fluffy and easy to make. Making tamales is a time consuming event, but the steps and prep work are all very simple and repetitive.
- You can swap out the turkey for chicken. Don't have enough holiday meat left over? That's okay! You can just use some shredded chicken instead.
🥘 Ingredients
Ingredient Notes:
Masa Harina- You can buy a big bag of this for fairly cheap in the baking aisle or the international aisle in your local grocery store.
Lard- Traditionally, lard is used, but we can get the same results from using regular shortening.
Chicken Broth- Use chicken broth to moisten the dough while leaving some good flavor in the dough.
Corn Husks- You will need to prep some corn husks in warm water before using them. This will make them much easier to fold and fill.
Taco Seasoning Mix- You can DIY taco seasoning to use or buy taco seasoning packets from the store.
For specific ingredients and measurements, please see the recipe card below.
🧾 Substitutions
Chicken broth. If you don't wish to use chicken broth or don't have any on hand, water can be used instead. While the Thanksgiving Tamales would not have as much flavor, they will still taste incredible.
Lard. This can be an inconvenient purchase if you don't use it much and while you could buy a small container of it exclusively for this recipe, you could just as easily use the plain flavored Crisco shortening already in your pantry.
Cooked Turkey. If you don't have cooked turkey on hand, you can use cooked chicken instead. Just make sure to watch out for bones and to remove the skin from any meat source you choose.
🔪 Instructions for Thanksgiving Tamales
Prep
Step 1: Soak corn husks in a bowl of warm water until softened, 20 min; drain.
Dough
Step 2: Mix masa and taco seasoning together in a bowl. Stir in crisco or lard into masa mixture.
Step 3: Add in the broth or water, 1 cup at a time, to the masa mixture until dough is smooth and the consistency of thick peanut butter. You may not need it all.
Turkey Filling
Step 4: Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat; saute onion and garlic until softened and translucent, 5 to 10 minutes.
Step 5: Remove skillet from heat and add turkey, taco seasoning packet. Stir reserved ½ cup broth into the filling until moistened.
Step 6: Return to heat and stir until the seasoning looks dissolved and there is no water running around on the pan.
Assembly
Step 7: Spoon 1 heaping tablespoon of the dough into the center of each corn husk.
Step 8: Top filling with 1 heaping tablespoon filling.
Step 9: Roll husk around dough and filling, tucking bottom of husk into tamale.
Step 10: Tie a corn husk strip or string around each tamale to secure. Making these ties is actually optional, I just think it looks pretty. If you want to omit this step, just fold the bottom over and make sure to have enough in the basket to keep the tamales upright.
Cook
Step 11: Place a steamer basket insert into a large pot and fill with water to just below the bottom of the steamer.
Step 12: Bring water to a boil. Stand tamales upright in the steamer, cover, and steam until cooked through, about 1 hour. Add more water as needed to keep the pan from running dry.
Step 13: Serve with warmed enchilada sauce, mole, or sauce of choosing.
🍴 Recipe Tips
Scaling the Recipe. Feel free to adjust the quantity of these Thanksgiving Tamales as needed. Ensure there are enough tamales to stand upright in your steamer basket. If there are gaps causing them to fall over, consider using aluminum foil balls for support.
👩🏻🍳 Storage
Airtight Container: These easy tamales are great for storing in an airtight container for up to a few days after being cooked. Cooked Thanksgiving Tamales last for about 4-7 days when stored properly in the fridge.
Reheating Recommendation: Reheat them for a simple meal throughout the week. My husband and I usually eat them for several days as a late-night snack or easy lunch option.
💭 Recipe FAQs
Traditionally, tamales are served with just rice and beans because they are considered easy on-the-go street foods, but for a sit-down meal you can serve them up with anything from Easy Salsa Rice to Air Fryer Tortilla Chips, Jiffy Jalapeno Cornbread, and cilantro lime rice, or black beans.
As far as condiments go, you can top your tamales with ranchero sauce, mole, guacamole without cilantro, sour cream, salsa, red chili sauce (or my personal favorite) enchilada sauce.
To reheat your tamales in the oven, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Wrap each tamale with foil so that no air can escape. Place them on a baking sheet in the oven for 20 minutes, flipping them over halfway through the cooking process.
You can choose to do it with or without. I always remove the husk because I can fit more tamales on a plate and it saves me effort later. But you can leave the husk on if desired.
Place the Thanksgiving Tamales on a plate and leave space between each so that they are not touching. Microwave for about 3-5 minutes depending on how many you're reheating and the strength of your microwave.
❤️ More Delicious Dinner Recipes
If you tried these Thanksgiving Tamales, please leave a ⭐️ star rating and share your feedback in the 📝 comments section below. I would truly appreciate it!
📖 Recipe
Thanksgiving Tamales
Ingredients
- 1 package (7oz) corn husks ($7.97)
For the Dough:
- 3 cups Masa Harina ($0.52)
- 1 packet taco seasoning mix ($0.54)
- 1 cup Crisco or lard ($0.76)
- 2 ½ cups chicken broth ($0.62)
For the Turkey Filling:
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil ($0.14)
- 1 cup onion, chopped ($0.91)
- 2 cloves minced garlic ($0.10)
- 3 ½ cups finely chopped cooked turkey ($3.64)
- 1 packet taco seasoning mix ($0.54)
- ½ cup chicken broth ($0.13)
Instructions
Prep
- Soak corn husks in a bowl of warm water until softened, 20 min; drain.
Dough
- Mix masa and taco seasoning together in a bowl. Stir in crisco or lard into masa mixture.
- Add in the broth or water, 1 cup at a time, to the masa mixture until dough is smooth and the consistency of thick peanut butter. You may not need it all.
Turkey Filling
- Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat; saute onion and garlic until softened and translucent, 5 to 10 minutes.
- Remove skillet from heat and add turkey, taco seasoning packet. Stir reserved ½ cup broth into filling until moistened.
- Return to heat and stir until the seasoning looks dissolved and there is no water running around on the pan.
Assembly
- Spoon 1 heaping tablespoon the dough in the center of each corn husk.
- Top filling with 1 heaping tablespoon filling.
- Roll husk around dough and filling, tucking bottom of husk into tamale.
- Tie a corn husk strip or string around each tamale to secure. Making these ties is actually optional, I just think it looks pretty. If you want to omit this step, just fold the bottom over and make sure to have enough in the basket to keep the tamales upright.
Cook
- Place a steamer basket insert into a large pot and fill with water to just below the bottom of the steamer.
- Bring water to a boil. Stand tamales upright in the steamer, cover, and steam until cooked through, about 1 hour. Add more water as needed to keep the pan from running dry.
- Serve with warmed enchilada sauce, mole, or sauce of choosing.
Notes
- Store cooked tamales in an airtight container for up to a few days.
- Cooked tamales remain fresh for about 4-7 days when stored properly.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Wrap each tamale tightly with foil, ensuring no air can escape.
- Place on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, flipping halfway.
- Remove or leave husks on as desired.
- Place tamales on a plate with space between each.
- Microwave for 3-5 minutes, adjusting based on quantity and microwave strength.
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