Allow me to preface this by quickly saying that these are NOT a traditional tamales recipe. They are, however, easy and delicious turkey tamales made with leftover Thanksgiving meat.
These Thanksgiving 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.
Why This Recipe Works
- Great for using up leftovers. These tamales are incredibly versatile and pretty great for a budget-friendly meal too!
- Fluffy and easy to make. Making tamales is a time consuming event, but the steps and prep work is 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.
Jump to:
🥘 Ingredients
For the Dough, you will need:
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.
Taco Seasoning Mix- We add a little taco seasoning to make sure there are plenty of flavors.
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.
For the Turkey Filling, you will need:
Olive Oil- Use olive oil to cook the onions and garlic until soft.
Onion- Onions will give our filling a better depth of flavor.
Garlic- Garlic is a great flavor enhancer. You can use fresh or jarred minced garlic.
Chicken Broth- Adding in some broth will help to moisten the filling, so these tamales don't turn out dry.
Cooked Turkey- Use leftover turkey, or even shredded chicken will work fine here.
Taco Seasoning Mix- You can DIY taco seasoning to use or buy taco seasoning packets from the store.
For specific quantities, see the recipe card below.
🍽 Equipment Needed
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🔪 Instructions
Check out how to make turkey tamales with these simple step-by-step 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 turkey 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.
🧾 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 tamales may 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.
🍴 Recipe Tips
Recipe Scaling
You can scale this leftover tamales recipe up or down as needed but you will need to make sure that there are enough tamales to stand upright in your steamer basket. If there are large gaps causing your tamales to fall over, roll up some balls of aluminum foil and place them in the basket next to the tamales to act as a brace.
👩🏻🍳 Storage
These easy tamales are great for storing in an airtight container for up to a few days after being cooked. 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.
Cooked tamales last for about 4-7 days when stored properly.
💭 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 Mexican rice to tortilla chips, jalapeno cornbread, and cilantro lime rice, or black beans.
As far as condiments go, you can top your tamales with ranchero sauce, mole, guacamole, 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 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 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 great Dinner recipes to check out soon
- Air Fryer Tostadas
- Instant Pot Taco Zucchini Boats
- Loaded Totchos (Tater Tot Nachos)
- Air Fryer Chicken Tacos
📖 Recipe
Turkey Tamales
Ingredients
For the Dough:
- 3 cups Masa Harina ($0.62)
- 1 cup Crisco or Lard ($0.70)
- 2 ½ cups Chicken Broth or Water ($0.76)
- 1 packet Taco Seasoning Mix ($0.44)
- 7 ounce Package Corn Husks ($3.98)
For the Turkey Filling:
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil ($0.13)
- 1 Onion, Finely Chopped (1cup) ($0.70)
- ½ cup Chicken Broth ($0.31)
- 2 cloves Garlic, Minced ($0.18)
- 3 ½ cups Finely Chopped Cooked Turkey ($3.64)
- 1 packet Taco Seasoning Mix ($0.44)
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 turkey 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
What to serve with tamales
Tamales are usually served with rice and beans but you can choose to serve yours with anything you'd like. Some examples include anything from Mexican rice to tortilla chips, jalapeno cornbread, and cilantro lime rice, or black beans.As far as condiments go, you can top your tamales with ranchero sauce, mole, guacamole, sour cream, salsa, red chili sauce (or my personal favorite) red enchilada sauce.
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