Why tamales mean Christmas in Texas, and how to order yours early

In Texas, tamales are Christmas. Ask almost any family from San Antonio to Richardson what is on the table on Nochebuena and you will hear the same answer: a big pot of tamales, a bowl of red salsa, and everybody reaching for one more. The tradition is older than any of us, it is built around a whole day of cooking together, and it is the reason my kitchen phone starts ringing the moment the weather turns cool. If you want Christmas tamales delivered to your door, order early. I will explain why, and how, below.

The short answer: tamales mean Christmas in Texas because they were feast food in Mexico long before the church calendar arrived, and because making them takes the whole family, which is exactly who is in the house on Nochebuena. Plan three per person for Christmas Eve plus a dozen for the fridge, and order as early as you can; December fills first.

I have been steaming tamales for Christmas since I was tall enough to reach the stove. My grandmother ran the tamalada in her house like a general. My mother ran it in ours. Now I run it in a commercial kitchen in Plano, but the smell of masa and chile on a cold December morning still puts me right back at that table with my aunts.

Where Texas got its Christmas tamales tradition

Corn was sacred long before there was a Christmas in Mexico. Tamales were feast food in Mesoamerica, the dish you made for ceremonies and celebrations, because they took many hands and fed many mouths. When Spanish missionaries arrived, the old feast days and the new church calendar folded into each other, and the tamal came along for the ride.

That is why tamales show up on so many winter feast days in Mexican and Mexican-American homes. Las Posadas, the nine nights of processions before Christmas Eve. Nochebuena itself, when families eat late and open gifts at midnight. Día de la Candelaria in early February, when whoever found the little figurine in their slice of rosca de reyes owes everyone a batch of tamales. The whole season runs on masa.

In Texas the tradition took on a life of its own. Tejano families have been making Christmas tamales for generations, and the rest of the state caught on. Today I deliver Christmas tamales to families with roots in Monterrey and to families whose grandparents came from Ohio. Once you have had a real pork tamal in red salsa on a cold night, you do not go back to ham.

If you want the longer story, I wrote about the history of the tamal, from Aztec feasts to Texas kitchens.

Why a tamalada takes a village

The practical reason tamales became the Christmas dish is simple: they are a lot of work for one person and a lot of fun for ten. A tamalada is the family assembly line that makes them. Someone soaks and cleans the husks. Someone spreads masa with the back of a spoon. Someone spoons on the filling. Someone folds, someone stacks, and somebody older than everyone else stands over the pot and decides when they are done.

Along the way you get three generations in one kitchen, a radio playing, kids stealing bits of masa, and the kind of gossip that only comes out when everyone’s hands are busy. It is a reunion disguised as a cooking project. Christmas is the one time of year the whole family is in the same house, so Christmas is when the tamalada happens.

Plenty of families I cook for still hold a tamalada every year. Plenty more would love to but do not have the two days, the counter space, or the grandmother who knows how the masa is supposed to feel. That is where I come in. If you want the gathering without the labor, I wrote a guide to hosting a tamalada without spending two days in the kitchen. The short version: keep the salsa-making and the folding lesson for the kids, and let my kitchen handle the hundred tamales.

What goes into a Texas Christmas tamal

Every region of Mexico wraps a tamal differently. Oaxaca uses banana leaves. The Yucatán bakes them in pits. Texas, like most of northern Mexico, uses corn husks, a masa rich with lard, and fillings that lean toward pork and dried red chile. That is the tamal most Texans grew up on, and it is the tamal I make.

Two tamales carry Christmas in my kitchen, and they are the only two we make:

• Pork in red salsa. Slow-cooked pork shoulder, shredded and simmered in a sauce of dried red chiles, garlic, and a few things my grandmother would not let me print. Deep, warm, a little kick at the end. This is the Nochebuena tamal.
• Chicken in green salsa. Chicken breast in a tomatillo salsa that is brighter and a touch tangy. Guests who want something lighter, or who are nervous about heat, reach for these first.

The masa is made from scratch every time, from corn, so it is naturally gluten-free. I buy the finest meats and chiles I can find in Texas, and when a particular dried chile cannot be found here, it comes up from Mexico in my grandpa’s suitcase. I am not joking. Ours are big tamales, packed with meat, and one is a full meal for most people. You can see exactly what is on the tamale menu with prices.

How many tamales for a Christmas crowd

At Christmas, people eat more tamales than at any other event, and they take some home. Two to three per person is a normal party portion, but for Christmas Eve I plan on three, plus a dozen for the fridge, because tamales for breakfast on Christmas morning is a tradition of its own. Our tamales come by the half dozen at $30 or the dozen at $60, so the math is easy.

Mix the two. For a typical family I suggest two thirds pork and one third chicken, and the pork always goes first. If you have relatives who cannot handle heat, tip the balance toward chicken. And if you are feeding a bigger crowd than this table, or an office holiday party, the tamales-per-person guide covers the larger numbers.

Why you should order early, and how to do it

Here is the honest situation. Every tamal that leaves my kitchen is made from scratch, by hand, and I do not buy from anyone. That means there is a ceiling on how many I can make in the days before Christmas, and every December that ceiling is reached earlier than the December before.

The families who order early get exactly what they want, on the day they want it. The families who wait until the week of Christmas sometimes find the days they wanted already taken. That is also why we now offer frozen tamales for the holidays: buy them ahead, keep them in the freezer, and steam them on Christmas Eve without worrying about the rush.

Ordering is simple:

1. Open our online store and choose chicken in green salsa or pork in red salsa, by the half dozen ($30) or the dozen ($60). Lean the mix toward pork or chicken the way your family eats.
2. Pick delivery or pickup, and today or a date ahead. Next day orders must be received and confirmed by us before noon the previous day. Only confirmed orders will be delivered as requested.
3. Pay online. The delivery fee is shown at checkout, and for pickup the address and pickup time come with your order confirmation.

The kitchen is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 9 AM to 2 PM, and closed Sunday, Monday and Thursday. We are a commercial kitchen, not a restaurant, so there is no dine-in and no walk-in counter. We deliver to Allen, McKinney, Fairview, Frisco, The Colony, Plano, Murphy, Carrollton, Addison, Richardson and Far North Dallas, or you pick up at our Plano kitchen. The how to order page walks through both routes, and the holiday tamales page has more for big family orders.

Keeping them hot from delivery to dinner

Fresh tamales stay warm for a good while in a closed container, but Christmas Eve dinners run long, and cousins show up late. A few tricks from my own table:

• Keep them in the closed container until you are ready to serve. Steam is your friend.
• If dinner is hours away, refrigerate them in the husk and re-steam for twelve to fifteen minutes before serving. A steamer basket over an inch of simmering water is all it takes. The full method, including oven and air fryer, is in my guide to reheating tamales so they taste fresh.
• Freeze the extras the same night, in the husk, in a sealed bag. They keep beautifully and re-steam from frozen. I wrote up how to freeze and store tamales without losing flavor.
• Never microwave a tamal naked on a plate. Wrap it in a damp paper towel if the microwave is your only option.

Christmas Eve traditions worth borrowing

You do not need to be Mexican to host a Mexican Christmas Eve, and the trappings are easy. A pot of champurrado, the thick chocolate corn drink, on the stove. A pitcher of ponche navideño with tejocotes and cinnamon if you can find them, or hot cider if you cannot. A bowl of extra red salsa and a bowl of green on the table so everyone can dress their tamal their way. Crema, chopped cilantro, and a squeeze of lime for the people who like it bright.

Then the part that matters: everyone unwrapping their own tamal, the husks piling up in the middle of the table, and somebody complaining they ate too many. That is the tradition. The tamales are just how we get there.

Frequently asked questions

Why do people eat tamales at Christmas in Texas?

Tamales have been feast food in Mexico for centuries, tied to celebrations and to the winter church calendar, from Las Posadas to Nochebuena. Making them takes many hands, and Christmas is when the whole family is together, so the two grew up side by side. Texas inherited the tradition from Tejano and Mexican families, and today families of every background order Christmas tamales as their Christmas Eve meal.

How far in advance should I order Christmas tamales?

As early as you can. Every tamal is made from scratch, so my kitchen has a hard limit on how many I can make in the days before Christmas, and the holiday weeks fill up early. In our online store you can pick a date ahead, so the families who order early get their first choice of day. If you want tamales on hand before the rush, our frozen tamales keep in the freezer until Christmas Eve. Questions? Call or text (469) 888-8398.

How many tamales should I order per person for Christmas Eve?

Plan on three per person for a Christmas Eve dinner, since our tamales are large and people eat more at the holidays, and add a dozen for the fridge. Tamales for breakfast on Christmas morning is half the fun. For eight people, that means two dozen. For twenty, five dozen. If you are also serving a ham or a big spread of sides, two per person is enough.

Do you deliver Christmas tamales, or do I have to come get them?

Both work: you choose delivery or pickup in our online store when you order, and you pay online. Pickup is at our commercial kitchen in Plano, and the address and pickup time come with your order confirmation. There is no dine-in and no walk-in counter. The delivery fee is shown at checkout, and next day orders must be received and confirmed by us before noon the previous day.

Can I freeze leftover Christmas tamales?

Yes, and you should. Leave them in the husk, let them cool, seal them in a freezer bag with the air pressed out, and freeze the same night. They keep well for a couple of months. To reheat, steam them straight from frozen for about twenty minutes, or thaw overnight in the refrigerator and steam for twelve to fifteen. They taste nearly as good as the day you got them.