Spending time in the kitchen making meals for my boys brings me the most joy.
Even though my roasted chicken is the dish my sons enjoy the most, I always attempt various recipes in an effort to be creative. The most recent food I tasted was tamales, a typical Mexican delicacy composed of corn-based dough and filled with meat, veggies, or cheese depending on personal preference.
My sons tested it, declared it delicious, and requested that I make it again. Knowing how much boys enjoy food, I decided to make more Tamales this time.
They weren’t able to complete the entire dish, so I believe I misjudged them and made too much. Because I hate to waste away delicious food, I placed the leftovers in the refrigerator. My boys were asking for tamales again after a few days, so I warmed the leftovers I had stored.
How To Reheat Tamales?
Because of its complex texture, it’s imperative to know how to reheat the tamales properly. I have found a few ways to reheat Tamales without them losing their taste, and I’m more than glad to share my knowledge with you. 🙂
Further Reading: What To Serve With Tamales? Our Guide For A Perfect Tamale Party
How to Properly Cook Tamales?
- The first thing you will need is a large pot that has a steaming basket in it.
- Fill the pot with water but be careful that the water doesn’t touch the steaming basket when it begins to boil. You don’t want your tamales to be wet.
- Add a pinch of salt to the boiling water.
- Stack the tamales on the steaming basket standing up, don’t lay them on their side. Place them so the closed side of the tamale is facing the steaming basket, and the opened side is facing the top.
- Turn the stove on to high temperature and put the pot on the stove pan. Once the water has boiled, lower the temperature on the stove and put a lid on the pot.
- Steam the Tamales for approximately 1 to 2 hours, depending on the inside dough. Be sure to open the lid every 20 minutes or less to check the water level and pour some new water if it’s necessary.
- After an hour has passed, take out one tamale on the plate, let it cool off for 5 to 10 minutes, then unwrap it. Check if the dough is firm and warm. If the dough is soft and squashy, re-wrap the Tamale and put it back in the pot, and boil it until it’s firm.
- Check again every 10 to 15 minutes and try again until they are done.
A little tip: I usually use a glass lid so that I can see when Tamales are done, so make sure that you have one too.
Related: Most Recommended Cookware Sets
How To Reheat Tamales?
4 Easy Ways to Reheat Tamales
After you’ve learned the proper way to cook them, it’s time to know how to reheat them if the occasion appears. Even though they’re so tasty, sometimes you can’t eat them all.
Reheating tamales, so they taste as good the next day as they’ve tasted when they were freshly made quite possible. You have several options, you can reheat them in the oven, microwave, electric skillet, stovetop, hot plate, or steamer.
Steam up, baby!
The procedure is pretty much the same as cooking them in the pot, only it’s less time-consuming than cooking.
NOTE: If the leftovers were in the freezer, you have to melt them down before putting them in the steam basket otherwise, they will become all watery, and Tamales will lose their taste.
- Fill the pot with lukewarm water (make sure that you don’t pour too much water, it shouldn’t cross over the steaming pot).
- Heat the water to medium-high temperature.
- Place the tamales in the pot standing up, with their ends facing the bottom of the pot.
- Once the tamales are in the pot, cover them with a lid and heat them for around 15 to 20 minutes.
- Once they are done, use a pair of tongs to remove them from the pot and put them on the plate to cool off for 5 minutes. Copy the cooking method, but use instances of three minutes to check their state.
Make them golden and crispy in the oven
This is a great way to reheat tamales if you want them to be crispier. Also, the oven brings out the delicious taste of tamales even though they are reheated. You’ll need some aluminum foil.
NOTE: Oven reheating works if you are not in a hurry to prepare food.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Wrap the tamales separately in the foil.
- Stack them into the pyrex dish. Make sure that you arrange the Tamales so that they don’t touch each other.
- Cook them for about 20 minutes until they become golden crispy.
Fast and easy option – microwave them!
This is the fastest and easiest way to reheat Tamales, although I don’t recommend it unless you really don’t have the time because the microwave tends to dry out the tamales. Also, you will need a microwave-safe plate such as a glass plate.
- Arrange the Tamales on the plate, leaving a little space between them. To avoid them drying out, place a wet paper towel on the plate. That way, you’ll get a little steam while heating them.
- Heat the Tamales in the microwave for 2 minutes.
- Remove the paper towel from the Tamales and serve them on the plate.
You May Need: A Compact Microwave For A Small Kitchen
Make them crispy quickly – on the stove!
Reheating on the stovetop is maybe the most convenient of all ways above. It’s easy, shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes, and it brings out the flavor of Tamales just right.
- Preheat the frying pan with a teaspoon of oil on medium heat.
- Remove the corn husk from the Tamales and place them into the frying pan.
- Flip the Tamales every 2 minutes until they become golden and crispy on both sides.
You May Need: Buying A Portable Induction Cooktop; Air Fryers – Reviewed in 2022
How to store them later?
Storing cooked Tamales is simple. They can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days with just simply putting them into Ziploc bags or airtight containers.
But if you want to store them longer than a few days I recommend that you put them in the freezer by wrapping them in plastic wrap or foil. That way they can last for several months.
Also Check Out: The Most Recommended Freezer Containers
Wasting good food really leaves me heartbroken!
Why waste food when you can store it, reheat it, and eat it again later? You’ll be happy if your stomach is happy, and what better way for making your stomach happy than through food?
So, I hope that you found this article helpful and that you will try out one or all of these ways of reheating the Tamales, or any other similar food.
Happy Cooking! 🙂