Tamale Bites Recipe
Easy “cheater” tamales that are perfect for sharing. This zesty Tamale Bites Recipe is a sure-hit for all your game-day gatherings and holiday parties!
Time, my ultimate love-language.
Some women want gifts or sweet talk. Those things are nice, but all I really crave is ample time with the people I love.
Time is what I consider my greatest asset. I give it freely to loved ones,ย yetย become stingy with my time when it’s under attack. If someone isn’t valuing my time, wastingย my time even, it makes me crabby. Just being honest.
Faith, Family, Friends, Workouts, Travel, Cooking/Blogging… These things envelop my time. If a taskย doesn’t fit under these parameters,ย it usually falls to the wayside. If itย fits under these parameters,ย butย is “busy work” (meaning I think it’s a waste of time) it stillย usually falls to the wayside.
To only spend time on valuable people and efforts is my constant goal. Sometimes I feel like the bad guy when I have to say no to a person or opportunity, but you have to protect your assets.
I like toย considerย myselfย charmingly efficient rather than difficult. *wink*
Yesterday is a canceled check; tomorrow is a promissory note; today is the only cash you have – so spend it wisely. ~Kay Lyons
Today’s Tamale Bites Recipe is a time saver on twoย levels. Do you know how excited that makes a person like me?
1) Compared toย traditional tamales, this recipe cuts the time in half! The prep work is much quicker and so is the cooking time.
2) This recipe starts with cooked shredded meat. That generally mean leftovers from another meal, such as a beef roast, pulled pork, grilled chicken, or even take-out! So when you prepare one meal during the week, you are actually getting a head-start on the Tamale Bites Recipe as an appetizers for your weekend gathering. Isn’t that EXCITING!?!
For further appeal, these cute little tamale bites are slightly spicy, hearty, and perfect for cool weather. Every time I take my Tamale Bites Recipe to an event and they disappeared in no time.
Make sure to add this Tamale Bites Recipe to your Halloween party or game-day menu this year. They will save you time so you can spend it on the people you love.
Tamale Bites Recipe
Ingredients
For the Filling:
- 1 poundย cooked, shredded beef or pork or chicken
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/3 cup chopped onion
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons masa (corn flour)
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 1/2 teaspoonsย ground cumin
- 1 tablespoonย fresh thyme leaves + extra for garnish
- 1-2 canned chipotle pepper chopped
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoonย fresh lime juice
- Salt and pepper
For the Masa Shell:
- 2 cups masa (corn flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoonย ground cumin
- 1 1/3 cups beef stock
- 2/3 cup vegetable shortening melted
- Crumbled Queso Fresco to garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.ย Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Saute the onion and garlic with 1 tablespoon butter for 2-4 minutes. Add the shredded meat, masa, tomato paste, cumin, thyme, and chopped chipotle peppers. Stir well and add 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil and lower the heat to simmer. Simmer until all the liquid in rendered out--approximately 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, mix 2 cups of masa with the baking powder, salt, and cumin. Add the beef stock and mix to a crumbly consistency. Pour in the melted shortening and mix by hand until smooth.
- Spray mini muffin tins with nonstick cooking spray. Scoopย the masa mixture into small 2 teaspoon balls using a small cookie scoop and place in the muffin tins. Use a round teaspoon (or pestel) to press a deep indention in the center of the masa balls. Once the beef mixture has rendered out the liquid, stir in the sour cream and lime juice. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Fill each masa shell with the meatย mixture. Bake for 20 minutes.ย Allow the tamale bites to cool 5-10 minutes before extracting them from the muffin tins. Use a small sharp knife to loosen the tamale bites from the muffin tin. Then lift one side with the tip of the knife and gently lift each tamale bite out with your fingers.ย Garnish with crumbled queso fresco and thyme leaves. Serve warm.
I am in the middle of making these and realize the recipe doesn’t say when to add the sour cream and lime juice to the filling mixture. After the added water is cooked out? Am doing a double batch with chicken and another double batch with beef for a big event tonight. Usually I test run a new recipe before the event day! This will teach me! :)
ย Never Mind! Now I see it! Perhaps I should have gotten a bit more sleep last night or have more coffee! ย Sorry!
This one’s my all time favorite!
I’ve never been a goodย Tamale ย maker but I love this “cheater” version!ย
these look addicting!! definitely a great game day snack
I wish I had more time with my family. I love far away so it’s sad how I just sorta get used to not seeing people. If we were able to all get together I think these little bites would be perfect. So simple and totally packed full of flavor.ย
Love this idea! Like an open face tamale!
Has anyone made these ahead of time? Can you make the tamale bites 2 days before and then bake them or should you bake them and then reheat?
Hi Laura, You can make them ahead and bake them when you need them. Just make sure to wrap them really well before refrigerating so they don’t dry out. :)
Wow, you have a ton of comments but I couldn’t find any from people who have actually made these!
I MADE THESE! Yesterday. And they were AMAZING. So easy, so delicious. My only change was to use melted butter instead of shortening, and it was delicious. One batch I made half butter/half olive oil, and it was delicious too (tasted the same, actually). I also used a vegetarian “beef” broth because I made several fillings and some of my guests were vegetarians. The masa was the best part. So delicious I had to stop myself from eating it raw. I made bigger ones (regular cupcake size) and they took about half an hour, I just waited until I could smell them. I did a shredded beef using your recipe and I can’t believe how good it is—I’m not usually a fan of beef unless it’s a t-bone.
All in all, EXCELLENT recipe. I will be making these well into the future. Also, I had some leftover masa and I fried it up in a skillet this morning and ate it with eggs! Amazing!
What a wonderful idea and recipe. Beautiful photos. I hope you have an extra bedroom, because I'm coming to live with you. I'll even do dishes. :-)
These look amazing! I love Mexican food but hate the fatty recipes. I could totally chow down on a few of these. Bookmarking it!
I have to tell you as a Mexican girl who also feels like there is never enough time this tamalitos look perfect! When I make tamales it is usually a 2 or even 3 day process for me alone to make them. But I always say that the effort is so worth it. With your recipe and technique I could still have the same taste presented cuter and prepared in a lot less time. This is such a brilliant idea!
THanks for posting a YBR badge and for joining us. I do hope to see you on next month's YBR as well. Have a great week.
What a great idea! I love this version!