Tamales – Instant Pot

My inspirations:

Hip Pressure Cooking Hot Tamales

Pressure Cooking Today

Muy Bueno Cookbook Recipes

Plus this video of making tamales with a tortilla press.

I used carnitas/pulled pork I made and froze a while back. I used the Pressure Cooking Today ingredients for the filling – chipotle chilis in adobo sauce + cumin + salt + sugar. (I thought I didn’t have any cumin so I subbed Penzey’s chili mix (9000) and then found my cumin, but had already put it in…) I used the masa instructions from Hip Pressure cooking, with lard instead of shortening. Muy Bueno Cookbook also has some great tips.

I didn’t get my masa dough ball to float in cold water on my first time I made this recipe. Also, I had to stop the Instant Pot 3 times because the tamales are interfering with the seal. Important note: even if the pot closes, it might not seal!! I need to be sure to make them smaller/lower/shorter.

I made some roasted tomatillo sauce to go with, recipe from Cookie and Kate. I planned on doing Instant Pot pintos for refried beans but my legs and my brain are tired. Maybe tomorrow!

Print Recipe

Instant Pot Tamales - Pork

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Ingredients

• MASA:
• 3 c masa harina
• 1 c lard
• 2 t baking powder
• 1 t salt
• 1-2 c liquid - broth, water
• FILLING:
• pork carnitas (less than 1 lb)
• 1/2 can chipotles in adobo + additional adobo sauce
• other spices/flavors like cumin, garlic, onion
• WRAPPING
• corn husks
• water to cover

Instructions

1

CORN HUSKS - soak in hot water 1-2 hours, weighing them down to keep them fully submerged

2

MASA - in the stand mixer, beat the lard for 2 minutes

3

add salt and baking powder to lard, keep beating

4

add masa harina, keep beating

5

add the liquid to the mix. See the videos above for the "water" test - a ball of dough should float in water when it's ready.

6

form into balls, slightly larger than a golf ball

7

CARNITAS - chop the chipotle peppers, onion, garlic

8

add 1-2T oil/lard to a skillet

9

fry the peppers, onion, garlic

10

add the carnitas + adobo sauce if needed - this part gives the meat more flavor

11

HOW TO MAKE TAMALES - watch the video linked above where the woman uses a tortilla press

12

using a tortilla press with plastic (I cut the seams on a ziplock bag), flatten the masa ball thicker than a tortilla

13

spread a bit of filling on one half

14

roll it up and put in the center of a corn husk

15

(pull a string off the side to tie it up)

16

roll up the husk then fold in half, then tie with the husk/string

17

HOW TO STEAM IN INSTANT POT - the tamales go in the instant pot with a steamer basket and 2 cups water

18

they need to stand up vertically to cook properly

19

but beware that they are shorter than the lid/seal!

20

high pressure for 22 minutes

21

natural release - turn off the pot after it's done and let the pressure go down naturally

The tamal I ate was really good – although the “adobo” sauce I got is suspiciously like bbq sauce, maybe because it was chipotle peppers which are smoked. Or maybe my carnitas/pulled pork already had bbq sauce in it? This recipe made 14 fat tamales – not 20-30. The next batch, I will definitely make them shorter so they fit in the pot. (I did; that works, when you plan ahead.)

Also, the masa stuck to the husk a little bit, which might indicate the masa was too wet (harrumph, and it never floated in the water test, so I kept adding liquid) or they weren’t cooked all the way through. It tasted really good and cooked so I’m guessing maybe the moisture in the masa. Sure enough, when I made them the next day, I only used 1 cup of water in the recipe and the masa ball floated to indicate it was the right amount of water. Plus, I added 2 minutes cooking time to be sure – no sticking!