Vegetarian Mexican Tamales with Poblano Sauce

These vegetarian tamales are delicious! Made with a creamy butternut squash filling,  topped with a flavorful poblano sauce and served over a bed of seasoned black beans, with pickled red onions. They are gluten-free and easily vegan-adaptable!

Why you’ll love this mexican tamale recipe!

Forgive me if I keep repeating myself, but just in case you missed it, my husband and I are in Santa Barbara this winter, away from the Pacific Northwest and all the cold and snow, and it has been glorious! Ok I’ll stop bragging now, haha!  😉

Seriously, the reason I keep telling you this is that what I love most about this area is the great Mexican food! Near our place, there’s a fantastic Mexican Market, and a few weeks ago, I met a lovely lady selling her tamales in the parking lot. I have to say, they were too good to resist… and were delicious. In fact, they didn’t even make it out of the parking lot; we ate them in the car!

Ever since then, it got me hooked on tamales, so we’ve been making them at home, but in a healthier way. The problem with authentic Mexican tamales (and why they taste so darn good) is that they are usually made with lard, shortening, or seed oils.

This version is intentionally lard-free, lower in fat, filled with farmer’s market butternut squash, poblano peppers, onion, garlic, and a little queso fresco (which you could substitute with vegan cheese). So much flavor happening here! I also share a simple “cheater version” in the recipe notes for easy chile cheese tamales.

Serve the tamales over seasoned black beans, topped with a silky vegan Poblano Sauce. Topped with crunchy radishes, cilantro, pickled onions, microgreens, and a scattering of pepitas, it’s a beautiful, dreamy, healthy Mexican meal!

Tamale Ingredients

• Corn husks– This is what holds the tamales together. Buy them dried, in the Mexican section of your grocery store. They will need to be soaked in boiling water for at least 30 minutes.
• Masa harina – not to be confused with polenta- is corn flour.
• Veggie filling: butternut squash (for the filling), onion, garlic, and poblano peppers (or substitute canned green chilies). See notes for other filling ideas.
• Spices: salt, pepper, cumin, and coriander
• Veggie Broth: cold broth is best, feel free to use chicken broth.
• Oil – we use coconut oil, avocado oil, or olive oil instead of lard or shortening, which is traditional. We skip the seed oils- no canola oil, corn oil or vegetable oil! I personally love the flavor of coconut oil here.
• Cheese: Queso fresco, cotija, pepperjack, mozzarella, or use meltable vegan cheese.
• Poblano sauce- you’ll need cilantro, pumpkin seeds and lime juice in addition to some of the ingredients above.
• Optional Garnishes: Serve over seasoned black beans (see notes), garnish with watermelon radishes, toasted pumpkin seeds, pickled onions, cilantro, scallions, microgreens, crumbled queso fresco.

VAriations

• Easy Chile Cheese Tamales – simply use a mixture of shredded pepper jack cheese and canned chiles (skip the butternut) for the easiest preparation! I do this when I’m in a great hurry! No cutting or sauteeing. See recipe notes.
• Shredded chicken tamales – Make our chicken carnitas and use this as the filling with or without cheese.
• Make Birra Tamales – use leftover beef birria to stuff the tamales- so good!
• Stuff them with our Homemade Mexican Chorizo along with a bit of cheese.

What are common mistakes when making tamales?

• Not whipping the masa dough. Whipping the tamale dough makes them light and fluffy!
• Not chilling the tamale dough! Using cold tamale dough is easier to handle. Some folks will add a little crushed ice to their tamale dough.
• Not fully hydrating the dried corn husks. Using boiling water hydrates them fastest- you want them super soft and pliable.
• Not filling with the rough side out. Husks have a smooth side and a rough side. Fill with the rough side out.
• Not letting the tamales rest. Fifteen minutes of resting time allows them to firm up. Otherwise, they can be super soft, mushy, and ooze out of the husk.

How to make Mexican Tamales (step-by-step)

Tips: There are a few steps to the recipe, so perhaps not a “weeknight dinner”, unless you make a few things ahead, like the cooked butternut squash.

Step 1: Cook the butternut squash ahead. You can place a whole butternut squash in the steamer basket of your Instant Pot with a cup of water, and pressure cook on high for 20 minutes ( for a 2 1/2 lb butternut squash). I like to do this the night before and just cool it in the fridge. You can also roast it in the oven -see recipe notes.

Step 2: Soak the dried corn husks. Soak the corn husks in boiling water for at least 30 minutes. You can also pre-soak them the day before and store them in the fridge (in the bowl of water) until ready to assemble.

Step 3: Make the Tamale Dough. In a stand mixer with paddle attachment (easiest!) or large mixing bowl, mix masa harina flour with salt, cumin, and baking powder, mixing well. Add the broth and oil. Mix well with a wooden spoon until the mixture is light and fluffy and chill until ready to use. The dough is best used when cold.  Tip: You can also make the tamale dough ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Step 4: Make the butternut squash filling. Saute onion, garlic and fresh poblano (or pasilla) chilies. Half of the poblano-onion mixture will go into the filling and the other half will go into a blender for the poblano sauce! Yes, you can make the filling ahead and store it for 3 days.

Scoop out 2 cups of your cooked butternut squash into a medium bowl and mash it. Add half of the cooked onion/pepper mixture and the cheese. You can substitute vegan cheese here! Or totally leave it out and add more butternut.

Mix, taste and season with more salt and pepper if you want. Chill until ready to use. You can do this ahead!

Step 5: Assemble the tamales. Place the corn husk rough side down. Pat the inside dry.

Scoop out 1/4 cup of chilled tamale dough into the corn husk, leaving a 2-inch space at the bottom and the pointed end. Spread it around.

Spread the dough out so it’s roughly 5 inches square. You can use a spoon or wet fingers.

Add 2-3 tablespoons of the filling down the center vertically. You want the tamale dough to be wide enough and tall enough to encase it all.

Roll, and test (unroll a little and make sure the tamale dough meets), then roll up, and fold the pointy end, over the seam side, placing seam side down. Press down lightly on the open end, to seal the tamale dough. You will have enough filling to make 16-ish tamales.

Step 6: Steam the Tamales. You can either do this on the stovetop or an Instant Pot.

Place a steamer basket in the pot or Instant pot and fill with water to the bottom of the basket. Line the basket with the extra corn husks.

Start layering the tamales, open side up, either against one side of the pot or towards the middle. If your pot is too big for the tamales to stand upright, an easy trick is to wad up a sheet of foil into a ball and place it in the middle. Layer tamales around the ball. Or use a metal cup (measuring cup) to lean them against, as I did here.

Instant Pot: pressure cook on high for 35 minutes, and naturally release. Let stand 15 minutes before unwrapping. 

Stovetop: If using a big pot on the stove, bring to a simmer, cover tightly (I like to use a thin dish towel under the lid, gathering the corners up and over the lid, for a better seal.) and steam on low heat 50-60 minutes.

TIP: Let them rest! When the tamales are done steaming, let them sit 15 minutes to firm up (especially when using an instant pot) before unwrapping.

Step 7: Make the poblano sauce. While the tamales are steaming, make the quick sauce– just put everything into a blender and blend until silky smooth!

You will love this Poblano Sauce! So yummy! When ready to serve, warm the sauce gently on the stove – do not boil or simmer; just warm it, so it doesn’t discolor.

Step 8: Serve over seasoned black beans (optional) Warm up some canned black beans (drain first) and season them, see the recipe notes.

Ways to serve Mexican tamales

Serve on their own with hot sauce and sour cream. Or over a bed of blackbeans like you see here. Top with crunchy radishes – these watermelon radishes are so pretty. Pickled onions, microgreens, some extra pumpkin seeds and cilantro or scallions… all good here.

Storing Your Mexican Tamales

Steamed tamales will keep up to 4 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Or place in the freezer for up to 4 months (keep them in the husks). Thaw before reheating.

Making Tamales ahead

If entertaining, both the tamales and poblano sauce can be made a couple of days ahead. You can wrap the tamales and refrigerate, and steam them on the day of serving, or steam them ahead, chill,  and reheat.

How to reheat tamales

Tamales can be reheated in their cornhusks in the microwave (wrap in a damp towel) or warmed in the oven (place in a large baking dish or on a sheet pan, cover tightly with foil) and bake at 375F for 15-20 minutes or until heated through (internal temp of 145F).

You can also unwrap tamales and pan-fry for a little crispy texture.

What to serve with Mexican Tamales

Cilantro Lime Rice

Mexican Slaw with Cilantro and Lime

Quick Pickled Onions

Pickled Jalapeno Peppers

• Mole Black Beans
• Pinto Beans
• Easy Homemade Refried Beans

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