Learning how to make tamales may seem complicated, but in reality, this classic recipe from Mexican cuisine is not that difficult, even when we don’t know how many tamales will come from 1 kilo of dough.

The ingredients for tamales are very basic: corn flour, baking powder, lard, water, and salt, even pepper if desired; generally, our most popular homemade tamale recipes are intended for you to prepare around 10 servings, which is equivalent to using 500 grams of flour, with 125 grams of lard or vegetable shortening.

Here we will detail some relevant information on how to make tamales and answer common questions, such as how long tamales take to cook or how much baking powder to add to a kilo of dough for making tamales.

For one kilo of tamale flour (i.e., corn), a quarter of lard is required, that is, 250 grams. However, if you prepare tamales from tortilla dough (Oaxacan tamales can be made this way), you can also use 1 kilo of dough with a quarter of lard.

Baking powder is used to fluff the dough and for every half kilo of flour or half kilo of dough, you will need one tablespoon (soup spoon) in your mixture.

Generally, when you prepare 1 kilo of dough, around 25 to 30 tamales will come out, according to Yamilette González, head chef coordinator at Kiwilimón. This will also depend on factors such as the size of your tamales and how much water you use to prepare the dough, as “the lighter the dough is and the more water it contains, the fluffier they will be, and you will get more tamales.”

The approximate cooking time for tamales made from one kilo of dough is one hour, to a maximum of one and a half hours, this will depend on the size of your steamer, clarifies Yamilette González.

If your questions about tamale dough have been answered and you are ready to prepare your recipe, chef Yamilette González gives you some amazing tips to make them perfect.

You can use chicken broth instead of water, but the best option is to use water and chicken broth concentrate in powder or paste, this way you ensure that your tamales last longer, as using fresh chicken broth might spoil faster if not stored properly.

If you want to make tamales more quickly, you can cook them in the microwave in just 10 minutes. Use a baking dish, arrange them well without stacking, and cover them with cling film, this way they will retain the steam needed for cooking without needing to use water.

Steaming will make the salt that was used to season the dough initially disappear, which is why the head chef of Kiwilimón recommends keeping it slightly salty when seasoning your dough, to compensate for the salt when cooking.

Once you have the dough ready, place a small ball inside a glass of water, and if it floats, then your dough is at the perfect airy point and ready to use. Note, if it does not float, it does not mean your tamales won't turn out; you can simply knead it a bit more to add more air; sometimes this can also happen due to the quality of the flour you use, which is why it is most recommended to buy the flour directly from a mill.