The Instant Pot makes foods that traditionally take a long time to cook achievable in a shorter window of time - Black Bean Soup, ribs, cooking a whole chicken, even proofing dough all take less time in the multi-cooker than traditional cooking methods. So, when a friend of mine texted me from Mexico City after taking a cooking class in which they cooked their tamales in an Instant Pot, I knew I had to try this for myself.
I had never made tamales before, but I was definitely familiar with how much work they are. Another friend and former co-worker at The Chopping Block ran a tamale business out of Green City Market for years. She would make hundreds each week, filling a pot that fit 75 tamales at a time. She would steam each batch for about an hour and 15 minutes. Las Manas Tamales were amazing, and I still miss them. If I could cut down that cook time by using the Instant Pot, this would be a win for everyone! I invited over some friends who are always happy to be my guinea pigs for tasting my experiments, made a trip to a Latin market for ingredients and got to work!
First, let's tackle the fillings, both of which are also made in the Instant Pot. I wanted to offer options in the tamales so I chose Green Chile Chicken and Red Chile Pork. This is an ambitious process to do all in one day but if you have the time, it's definitely doable. You can also make the fillings ahead of time so you just cook the tamales rather than everything at one time.
Green Chile Chicken
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
3 7-oz cans salsa verde
1. Put the chicken and 2 cans of salsa verde in the Instant Pot.
2. Cook on high pressure for 10 minutes then natural release.
3. Drain chicken and shred. Toss with last can of salsa verde and set aside.
For the pork, I wanted to use my hatch chile sauce base I bought at The Chile Shop in Sante Fe, New Mexico. I love this sauce on everything from enchiladas, quesadillas, tacos, tostadas, chile rellenos, nachos, burritos, fajitas and now tamales! I know I go on and on about green chile all of the time, so it was time to show red chile some love.
Red Chile Sauce
2 Tablespoons grapeseed oil
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon cumin
2 Tablespoons flour
6 Tablespoons pure red chile powder
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/4 teaspoon salt
1. Sauté garlic in oil for 1-2 minutes on low heat.
2. Add oregano, cumin and flour. Stir until golden.
3. Blend together chile and broth until smooth and add to flour mixture.
4. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and set aside.
Some things to note about the sauce:
- Chile scorches easily, imparting a bitter taste, so cook it slowly.
- The sauce should be cooked until it's "nappe" which means thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- This sauce keeps for a week in the refrigerator.
- It also freezes nicely.
Once you have your chile sauce done, you can make the pork filling.
Red Chile Pork
2 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 2-inch cubes
1 Tablespoon grapeseed oil
Salt and pepper
1 recipe, red chile sauce (recipe above)
1/2 cup canned crushed tomatoes
1. Season the pork with salt and pepper.
2. Heat the grapeseed oil in the Instant Pot using the sauté function.
3. Cook the pork until seared on all sides.
4. Add about 1/2 cup of the red chile sauce and the crushed tomatoes.
5. Pressure cook on high for 40 minutes then natural release.
6. Transfer the pork to another bowl and discard the fatty liquid left in the Instant Pot.
7. Shred the pork and discard fatty pieces. Toss with about 1 cup of the red chile sauce. You will have a little bit of sauce leftover, so find another use for it (like Taco Tuesday!) or freeze.
Now that you have your fillings done, it's time to focus on the tamales! First, you need to rinse and soak the corn husks in warm water for at least an hour. I used the largest stainless steel bowl I had since I needed to soak about 30 corn husks of varying sizes.
Next, on to the masa.
Masa
4 cups masa
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoon baking powder
3/4 cups + 2 Tablespoons grapeseed oil (you can also use corn, vegetable or any other neutral-tasting oil)
3 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1. In a large mixing bowl, add the masa, salt and baking powder. Combine with a whisk.
2. Add oil and mix together with your hands, working the dough through your fingers until everything is well combined and incorporated. The dough should feel like wet sand and should lightly hold its shape when pressed together.
3. Add stock and mix for about 3-5 minutes until the dough is fairly wet and well saturated. The dough should be soft and spreadable like thick hummus. If the dough is too dry, add more broth. If it's too wet, add more masa. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside until ready to assemble the tamales.
I'd like to note that tamales are traditionally made with lard, but I saw several recipes online that substituted the lard for a neutral oil. Grapeseed oil worked perfectly to get the consistency I was looking for, plus it's a healthier choicer than lard.
Now, on to the fun part - the assembly!
1. Drain the corn husks and lay them flat onto a baking sheet lined with paper towels.
2. Grab a corn husk and identify which is the smooth side and which is the side with ridges. Place the smooth side face up on your cutting board. Using a large spoon, grab a heaping spoonful of masa and place it in the middle of the corn husk. Using the back of the spoon, spread the masa in a thin layer to create rectangle shape, leaving the top 1/3 of the corn husk empty.
3. Place a heaping tablespoon of the filling into the center of the corn husk. Don't put too much filling or it will overflow when you close it.
Pork filling
Chicken filling
Next, we cook the tamales.
2. Place the tamales in the Instant Pot on the rack with the open end of each facing up, making sure to lean them against the side of the pot so they don't fall down. I held them up with one hand while adding more tamales until they were stable enough to stand on their own. I was able to fit all 28 tamales in my Instant Pot. It’s a tight fit, but it will work!
One thing to note is that the tamales should all be no longer than 5 inches tall in order to get the lid on the pressure cooker. So, if you have larger husks, trim them down a bit before filling them.
3. Cover the Instant Pot with the lid, seal the steam release valve, and pressure cook on high for 30 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes, then open the steam release valve to release any remaining pressure.
4. Transfer the tamales to a serving platter and let them cool for 10-15 minutes.
5. Unwrap and serve with additional red chile sauce, cilantro and cojito cheese, if you like.
I did have to play around with the cook time on these tamales. My friend in Mexico City said they only cooked theirs in the Instant Pot on high pressure for 10 minutes. This didn't seem like enough time to me, and sure enough, my tester batch (only 4 tamales) were nowhere near done after 10 minutes. They must have super powered Instant Pots in Mexico City! Other recipes online called for a longer cook time of 45 minutes, but I wanted to see if it could be done in just 30 minutes. After all, this experiment was all about cutting as much time off the cooking process of the tamales as possible. Since the fillings were fully cooked, I only needed the masa to be done, and I found 30 minutes with a natural release of 15 minutes to be perfect.
You can use corn husk to tie your tamales like little bundles, but I felt like this wasn't a necessary step. Since the tamales cook standing upright, there's no worry that the filling will fall out. The bundles look really cute, but I was going for as quick as possible in the preparation. Chef Sara Salzinski agrees with me and didn't tie her tamales when she made them in this post. Be sure to check out her video of how to fold them!
Although the Instant Pot doesn't help with the work of assembling of tamales, it certainly cuts down on cook time. Because the assembling of the tamales can be labor intensive, invite a few friends over and make it an interactive dinner party. Have the fillings and masa done ahead of time and form an assembly line to produce the tamales. With the shorter cook time, your guests can enjoy a margarita with chips, salsa and guacamole and before you know it, your tamales will be done! I had a lot of leftover tamales, so I froze them and will simply microwave them for a couple of minutes when I'm ready to eat them again.
If you are interested in learning more about Mexican flavors including working with chiles, don't miss our Virtual Pozole Rojo and Corn Tortilla Workshop coming up this Sunday, February 26 at 11am CST.
Instant Pot Tamales
Ingredients
- 4 cups masa
- 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 3/4 cups + 2 Tablespoons grapeseed oil (you can also use corn, vegetable or any other neutral-tasting oil)
- 3 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, add the masa, salt and baking powder. Combine with a whisk.
- Add oil and mix together with your hands, working the dough through your fingers until everything is well combined and incorporated. The dough should feel like wet sand and should lightly hold its shape when pressed together.
- Add stock and mix for about 3-5 minutes until the dough is fairly wet and well saturated. The dough should be soft and spreadable like thick hummus. If the dough is too dry, add more broth. If it's too wet, add more masa. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside until ready to assemble the tamales.
- Rinse and soak corn husks in hot water for an hour. Drain the corn husks and lay them flat onto a baking sheet lined with paper towels.
- Grab a corn husk and identify which is the smooth side and which is the side with ridges. Place the smooth side face up on your cutting board. Using a large spoon, grab a heaping spoonful of masa and place it in the middle of the corn husk. Using the back of the spoon, spread the masa in a thin layer to create rectangle shape, leaving the top 1/3 of the corn husk empty.
- Place a heaping tablespoon of the filling into the center of the corn husk. Don't put too much filling or it will overflow when you close it.
- Fold together the long edges of the corn husk like a book, and then fold it once more. Fold the pointy edge over so that only one side of the corn husk is open and exposed, and lay it on a flat surface.
- Put 2 cups water in the bottom of the Instant Pot with the trivet. Lay a few corn husks flat over the trivet to create a more solid base for the tamales.
- Place the tamales in the Instant Pot on the rack with the open end of each facing up, making sure to lean them against the side of the pot so they don't fall down.
- Cover the Instant Pot with the lid, seal the steam release valve, and pressure cook on high for 30 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes, then open the steam release valve to release any remaining pressure.
- Transfer the tamales to a serving platter and let them cool for 10-15 minutes.
- Unwrap and serve with additional red chile sauce, cilantro and cojito cheese, if you like.
