Jackfruit Tamales Recipe (Made with Mushrooms)

A tamale, filled with tender jackfruit and topped with salsa verde, rests on a corn husk, garnished with cilantro and a green chili pepper.

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Jackfruit Tamales Recipe (Made with Mushrooms)

These are vegan tamales and I swear they’re so close to the chicken tamales verdes version. Except these are made with vegan tamales masa, homemade salsa verde and filled with jackfruit and mushrooms.

Prep Time1 30

Cook Time1 30

Total Time3

Course: Main Course, Main Dish

Cuisine: Mexican, Vegan Mexican Recipe

Servings: servings

Calories: 202kcal

Author: Nancy Lopez & MexicanMadeMeatless.com

Ingredients

Masa Ingredients

7 oz shortening at room temp this is 1 cup*
1.1 lbs masa harina for tamales I use Maseca brand
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons salt
3 to 5 cups low sodium vegetable broth at room temp

Salsa Verde Ingredients

1.5 Tablespoons olive oil
1.5 lbs. tomatillos peeled and rinsed
2 fresh jalapenos stem removed
2 fresh serrano peppers stem removed
½ medium onion quartered
4 whole garlic cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vegetable bouillon powder optional but adds great taste
1 handfull fresh cilantro
¾ cups water

Filling Ingredients

1 lb. oyster mushrooms pulled apart
30 oz jackfruit in water (this was 2 small cans)
1 small white onion
3 whole garlic cloves
½ teaspoon salt or to taste

Instructions

Prepare The Corn Husks

Sort through them and remove any debris or badly damaged husks. Soak with warm water in the sink or in a very large pot. Right before making the masa, drain them and place in a colander or pat dry with a clean kitchen towel or paper towels.

Salsa Verde Instructions

Heat the oil in a large frying pan then add the chiles, onion, and garlic cloves and cook until everything has softened and browned a bit. Turning occasionally.
Place the cooked veggies in a blender cup (or food processor) with the water, salt, and vegetable bouillon powder and blend until perfectly smooth. Lastly add the cilantro and blend for 3 -4 minutes or until well incorporated. Taste for salt.

Jackfruit Filling Instructions

In a large sauté pan, cook the onion and garlic until soft and translucent. Add the mushrooms and cook until they begin to release their liquid. Stir now and then. Mix in the shredded jackfruit pieces and sprinkle in the salt. Cook for about 8 minutes.
Pour in 2 cups of the salsa verde and cook for 10 minutes or until salsa thickens. Taste for salt and adjust if desired.

Masa Instructions

Drain the corn husks and pat dry to remove excess water. Set aside. Use a stand mixer or handheld electric mixer for this step.
In a large bowl and on medium speed, whip the shortening until creamy. Add half the masa harina, baking powder, and salt and whip until well combined. Gradually begin adding broth and remaining masa corn flour until you have a creamy, smooth and airy masa dough. You'll need to increase to high speed to properly whip everything together.
Do the masa float test by placing a small piece of masa into a glass with water. It should float back to the top. If not keep whipping until it does.

Assemble The Tamales

Take a drained corn husk and place it on your work surface. The shiny smooth side should be face up and the wide end should be on top and skinny tip down, like a reverse triangle.
Now spread some corn masa on the corn husk. Don't go all the way to the side edges and make sure it's an even thin layer across. Place 2 heaping tablespoons of the filling in the center.
Grab one side of the husk and fold it towards the center, repeat with other side to bring both sides of the husks to the center, then fold up the long pointy bottom of the husk up towards the center. For a step-by-step guide you can watch this video.
Keep making the tamales until all of the filling and masa has been used up. If you'd like you can rip some corn husk strips to wrap and hold together the tamales.

Cook The Tamales

Pour enough water into your tamalera pot to the indicated line. Put the steaming rack in place then arrange one layer of softened corn husks on the bottom. Next arrange the tamales inside the steamer pot with the open end up. Try not to pack them in too tightly, leaving a some empty spaces between them so they have some room to expand.
Cover the pot with aluminum foil, make a whole in the center of the foil then cover the pot with the lid. (You could also use another layer of corn husks instead of the aluminum foil.)
Set the stove temperature to medium-high heat and allow it to come to a boil. Lower the heat to low heat and steam for 60 minutes before checking the tamales for doneness by removing one and letting it sit for 10 minutes. If the masa peels away easily from the corn husk then they are ready, if not they need to steam longer.
Add more hot water to the steamer pot if needed to finish cooking the tamales. Pour it into the side of the pot and try to avoid getting the tamales wet.
Serve

Notes

Makes 25 to 30 small tamales.

If you want to split the work in 2 days you can make the salsa and filling the first day then the next day soak the husks, make the masa and assemble and steam the tamales the next day. You could also make the tamales and steam the next day if desired.

You can make the tamales masa dough with oil instead, check out my recipe.

If you don't own a tamalera pot to steam your tamales in, go read this article with other ways you can cook your tamales. How to Steam Tamales Without a Steamer.

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