Tamales de pollo en salsa verde Are just one of 2 of the tamales I made for week 8 of our travel in my kitchen series! I could not decide between the 2 so I made both! And then just some cheese and chicken for my kiddos. Which they loved!
This will take all day, so prepare for your feet to hurt, then have some of the best food you’ve ever had in your life. This is so so worth it.
From my research and your comments, lots of Mexican families make these for Christmas and everyone in the house helps! It’s a whole family event and lots of memories come from being in the kitchen together as a family making tamales! I love this so so much and will definitely be adding this tradition on for my kids to be involved in as well!
Definitely check out and support your local Mexican grocery store when shopping for ingredients! You’ll find corn husks there and mine were in the fresh produce section. I also got the Peppers, Tomatillos, Lard and the Maseca there!
Chicken breast: I just used 3lbs of chicken breast!
The corn husks need to soak for at least 6 hours in hot water but preferably over night so they get nice and soft and pliable. Rinse them first under water and get rid of any moldy ones. The ones too small for a tamale can be used when steaming. They usually put a preservative in there, so if they smell sour, that’s probably why. once they’re in the container with hot water, put something heavy on them to hold them down into the water. I used my mortar and pestle!
The peppers: You need serrano peppers, jalapeño pepper, poblano pepper and Anaheim peppers. The Anaheim and Poblano peppers will be roasted, I actually did this in my air fryer! 400 degrees for 12 minutes flipping half way through and they were perfect! You also need Tomatillos.
The air fryer worked so well!
Here they are before i deseeded and peeled!
SHREDDED CHICKEN The chicken gets boiled in water with onion, garlic, cilantro, bay leaves and chicken bouillon powder. I use my meat shredder to shred perfectly! You can find it HERE if you’d like one! I use it every time I make shredded meat! So of course I used it to shred the chicken!
You’re going to boil the tomatillos, jalapeño and Serrano peppers until they are soft, about 5-10 minutes then add all the rest of the ingredients with the broth from the boiled tomatillos and blend until smooth! Make sure you use a blender that has a place for steam to escape. Blending hot things in a blender that doesn’t can cause it to explode and cause injury.
Next in a skillet we will add oil and the diced onion and sauté
Then we add the shredded chicken and fry for a few minutes
Now we all the Salsa Verde and simmer for 5 minutes
Set this aside and let’s get started on the Masa!
Lard: You can use lard or vegetable shortening if you’d like. I used lard and I whipped this until it was fluffy! Added in baking powder and now it’s ready for the remaining ingredients.
I seasoned the flour and then mixed 1 cup maseca and 1 cup chicken broth at a time until I used all of each then I mixed this with my hands for 10 minutes but you can use a stand mixer with the flat beater attachment! I need a new one, so I just used my hands and make sure there are no clumps.
Make sure to dry the corn husks when they come out of the water. On the soft side, start to spread the masa on. you don’t want it too thin or it won’t hold the filling in. layer a good amount so you can’t see the corn husk through it.
I am using the demo from the other flavor I made, but the process is the same.
Add the filling! I added probably 2 tablespoons.
Fold one side over
Then the other side to close it.
Then fold the bottom up! And you have your first tamale! Repeat until you’re done.
Steam pot. if you don’t have a Tamalera or a steaming pot, this is what I did, I did a large piece of foil on the bottom, making a snake shape and placing it inside in a swirl. or you can do foil balls
Then I shaped another piece into circle and poked holes in it.
Add a few corn husks on the bottom and add a couple inches of water, only a couples inches, you don’t want it to touch the foil plate that we made.
Pile them in standing up and add more husks around the edges.
Layer a couple more on top
Then cover with a lid wrapped in a towel to soak up the condensation so it doesn’t drip on the tamales. Allow to steam 2 hours checking the water level and adding more when needed every 30 minutes.
2 hours later and they should be done. They are done when the tamale pulls from the corn husks easily. COOL FOR 15 MINUTES!! This is so the masa sets and won’t be too wet and come apart when opening them.
AND LOOK!! We did it! Tamales! This was my first time ever making these and eating them and I understand the hype now because WOW they are soooo yummy!!
Check out some of the other countries I have done recently!
Let’s Get into the recipe!
Below is the video I did for week 8!
For some reason I didn’t take a close picture of the Tamales de pollo en salsa verde
Tamales de pollo en salsa verde (Mexico)
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- In a large bowl or container, add the rinsed corn husks and fill with hot water, place something heavy to press them down into the water and allow to soak for 6-24 hours. (some people only do 1-3 hours with boiling water)
- In a large pot add your chicken breasts and fill with water to cover and add the onion, garlic, bay leaves, cilantro and chicken bouillon powder. Bring to boil then reduce to low and simmer for 30 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked. Take the chicken out and shred it, and reserve about 3 cups of the broth.
- In an air fryer, add your Pablano and anaheim peppers and airfry at 400 for 12 minutes flipping half way through to get them nice and soft and charred, when they are done, take them out and peel the outer later off and remove the seeds from the inside. Also remove the stems.
- While those are roasting, Boil a small pot of water and add the tomatillos, Serrano peppers and jalapeño and boil for 5 minutes. Remove them from the water and add them to a blender along with the cleaned roasted peppers, onion, garlic, seasonings, and 1/2 cup of reserved water from boiling the tomatillos. Blend until smooth.
- To a skillet add a drizzle of oil. Add in the diced white onion, sauté for a few minutes and then add the shredded chicken and pan fry for a few minutes. Now pour in the green sauce and simmer for just a couple of minutes. remove and allow to cool.
- in a stand mixer using a flat beater, or using a hand mixer in a large bowl, whip the lard until it is fluffy, Add the baking powder and whip again for a minute. Next, you can continue in the stand mixer or you can use your hands, Add in 1 cup of the maseca and 1 cup of chicken broth, the bouillon and salt, and mix. add another cup of each broth and maseca and mix again and repeat with the remaining of each. Mix for 10 minutes and allow the masa to rest for 10 minutes.
- Dry the corn husks and start spreading masa on the soft side of each one about half way up, (I used a plastic bowl scrapper) With enough masa that you can't see the corn husk, add your filling to the center, then fold one side over, fold the other side over the first side like a trifold, then fold the bottom of the corn husk up. You can look up a video if it's helpful! I recommend doing so.
- In a steamer pot (Tamalera) Add the steam attachment inside, add a layer of corn husks then add the tamales standing up. layer corn husks around the sides and the top. Add a couple inches of water to the bottom and cover with a lid that has a kitchen towel wrapped around it to help prevent water from dripping on to the tamales. Steam for 2 hours checking the water level and adding more water if needed every 30 minutes. Take them out and rest for 15 minutes for the masa to set. Check out my notes above to do it without a steam attachment.
- Add the steam rack, cover bottom with water making sure none of the water touches the rack, layer 2 corn husks on the bottom, and add the tamales in standing up. cover and pressure cook for 45 minutes. Take them out and rest for 15 minutes for the masa to set.
- Make sure to rest the tamales for 15 minutes for the masa to set or they won't remove well from the corn husks. Enjoy!
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