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A Mexican clay bowl filled with several wrapped tamales sits on a decorative cloth adorned with yellow and green embroidery, resting on a wooden surface. The tamales, encased in corn husks and tied with thin strips, are perfect for learning how to steam them in an Instant Pot.
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5 from 1 vote

How to Steam Tamales Without a Steamer

Don’t own a tamalera? No problem, let me show you how to steam tamales without a steamer. Your homemade tamales will still be perfectly good and so delicious.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 30 minutes
Course: Main Course, Main Dish
Cuisine: Mexican
Servings: 24 servings
Calories: 207kcal
Author: Nancy Lopez & MexicanMadeMeatless.com

Equipment

  • 1 large pot stock pot or your largest pot
  • 1 vegetable steamer basket

Ingredients

  • 1 batch tamales of your choice I used my vegan birria tamales as an example
  • 2 cups water

Instructions

How to Steam Tamales in a Pot

  • Place vegetable steamer inside the pot and pour in a couple cups of water, or enough that the water level is right below the bottom of the steamer basket.
    A woman pours water into a steaming pot on a wooden table, demonstrating how to steam tamales without a steamer. Nearby, the tamales are arranged on a round wooden platter. A colorful cloth with embroidered designs and tongs are placed to the side.
  • You’re going to also arrange some hydrated corn husks on the basket before arranging the tamales on it.
    Woman's hands are arranging corn husks inside a metal pot with a wire steamer basket to cook tamales. On the side is a wood plate with a stack of uncooked tamales.
  • Make sure to stand up the tamales upright and fit just enough without squeezing them in to tightly.
    Woman's hands are seen arranging tamales in a pot, to steam them without a steamer.
  • You can now cover the tamales with more hydrated corn husks or aluminum foil, then place the lid on the pot — make sure it’s a tight seal. Turn to high heat and allow the water to come to a boil. Once boiling you can turn the heat down to low or medium-low and steam.
    A large pot on the stove steaming tamales.
  • Make sure you keep an eye on them and that the steaming water doesn’t dry out. You can always add more water by pushing one tamal aside, or removing it, then lifting the corn husk on the bottom so you can carefully pour in more water into the bottom of the pot. Make sure you don’t get water on the tamales!
    A woman's hand using tongs picks up a tamale from a pot filled with steaming tamales wrapped in corn husks, demonstrating how to steam tamales in a pot.

How to Steam Tamales in an Instant Pot

  • Place the steaming trivet rack or basket into the pressure cooker. Pour in 1.5 cups of water or enough but that it doesn't reach the steamer rack.
  • Arrange the tamales inside the pressure cooker pot with the open side up and make sure not to crowd them too tightly . My 6qt pot fits around 16 to 18 tamales.
  • Close the lid, move valve to Sealing, Select Pressure Cook at High and set the timer to 35 minutes. Do a quick release to serve immediately or allow to do a slow release and keep warm.

Notes

Please notice that the calorie and nutritional information will depend on what tamales you use. I've used my vegan birria tamales as an example, you can get that recipe here Vegan Birria Tamales. 

Nutrition

Serving: 24tamales | Calories: 207kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 0mg | Sodium: 465mg | Potassium: 192mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 251IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 53mg | Iron: 2mg
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