Tamales for Christmas Eve: how to order, how many, and when

Christmas Eve tamales are the one order I refuse to get wrong. Nochebuena is the night my own family eats late, argues about the music, and reaches into the pot until somebody hides it, and every December I get to do that for other families all across north Dallas. If you are planning that table for the first time, or you have inherited it from a grandmother who made it look easy, this is everything I tell people on the phone.

The short answer: Plan three tamales per adult for Christmas Eve, two per child, and add one extra dozen for Christmas morning. Order in November if you can and by early December at the latest, because the week before Christmas fills first. Ask for a mix of pork in red salsa and chicken in green salsa, and keep them in the husk in a covered pot until the last cousin arrives.

That paragraph is the whole plan. The rest of this article is the why, the numbers, and the small decisions that make the night feel effortless instead of frantic.

When to order Christmas Eve tamales

Earlier than feels reasonable. Every tamal that leaves my kitchen is made by hand the same week it is delivered, from masa we grind and chiles we simmer that morning. Fresh tamales do not come out of a freezer full of October batches. That means the number of fresh dozens I can make in the days before Christmas has a ceiling, and the families who call first are the ones who get exactly the day and the fillings they want.

Here is how the calendar usually goes in my kitchen. Thanksgiving week is busy but manageable. The first week of December is when the Christmas Eve orders start arriving in real numbers. By the middle of December, the delivery days just before Christmas are mostly spoken for, and after that I am matching new orders to whatever room is left. I hate telling a family no, and I hate it more when it is a family that has ordered from me before and simply waited too long.

So the rule is simple: if you know you want tamales on Nochebuena, order as soon as you know your headcount, in our online store, for the date you want, delivery or pickup, paid online. Next day orders must be received and confirmed by us before noon the previous day, but for Christmas Eve, far earlier is better. If you would rather stock up ahead, our frozen tamales are made for that. I wrote a longer piece on when to order Christmas tamales if you want the week-by-week version, and the holiday tamales page covers the whole season.

How many tamales for Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is not an office lunch. People arrive hungry, they stay for hours, they go back for seconds after the gifts, and somebody always wants to take a plate home. My tamales are big, packed with meat, and one is a meal for most people on an ordinary day. On Nochebuena, I plan three per adult anyway, because there are no ordinary appetites at that table.

Children under ten eat about two, teenagers eat like adults, and a grandmother who says she is “not hungry” eats two and a half. Then add a full dozen on top for Christmas morning, when tamales fried in a little butter next to eggs is a tradition of its own. Our tamales are $5 each at any quantity, so a dozen is $60 and the math stays simple.

If the tamales are sharing the table with a ham or a pot of menudo waiting for the morning, drop to two per adult and keep the extra dozen. If the tamales are the meal, stay at three. When you are feeding a much bigger family or two households at once, the Christmas dinner headcount guide walks through the larger numbers, and the menu shows the half-dozen and dozen prices side by side.

Pork, chicken, or both for Nochebuena

Both, and lean toward pork. For a traditional Texas Christmas Eve the pork tamal in red salsa is the one people picture: slow-cooked pork shoulder, a sauce built from dried red chiles, a warm kick at the end. It is what your guests’ grandmothers made, or close enough that they will say so. The chicken tamal in green tomatillo salsa is brighter and a little tangy, made with chicken breast, and it is the one reached for by the aunt who does not do heat and the kids who like “the green ones.”

For most families I send about two thirds pork and one third chicken. If you have a table full of people who grew up on red chile, go three quarters pork. If you have small children, a pregnant sister, or anyone on the milder side, split it evenly. The pork always runs out first either way, so when in doubt add the extra dozen in red.

Every tamal is made with our own gluten-free corn masa, which matters at Christmas because there is always one cousin who has to ask. I am not a certified gluten-free facility, so if that distinction matters for someone at your table, call or text me before you order and I will explain exactly what it means.

What shows up at your door, and when

I run a catering and delivery kitchen in Plano, not a restaurant, so there is no line to stand in. You order in the online store and choose delivery, or pickup at the kitchen with the address and pickup time in your order confirmation. The tamales come in the husk, pork or chicken; mark the containers when they arrive so nobody has to open six husks to find a chicken one.

Think about how you plan to serve. If the tamales are going straight onto a buffet, set out bowls of salsa, crema and serving spoons from your own kitchen. If they are going into your own pot to wait for a late dinner, keep the husks closed until then. Either way, a Christmas Eve order is one of the few things that night that does not need your attention.

My kitchen hours are Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 9 AM to 2 PM, and Christmas week is planned around those days. When Christmas Eve lands on a day we are closed, your tamales come the day before and wait in the fridge; they lose nothing overnight and reheat beautifully. We deliver across Allen, McKinney, Fairview, Frisco, The Colony, Plano, Murphy, Carrollton, Addison, Richardson and Far North Dallas, and the service area page lists each city with its own details.

Keeping tamales hot until the last cousin arrives

Nochebuena dinner is never served on time. Somebody is stuck on Central Expressway, somebody is finishing the buñuelos, and the tamales that arrived at four have to be perfect at nine. The good news is that a tamal in its husk is the most patient food I know. Here is how I keep them.

1. Leave them in the husk. The husk is the insulation. Peel one only when it is on a plate.
2. Use a covered pot with a little water. A steamer basket or a tamale pot with an inch of water on the lowest flame keeps a full batch hot for hours without drying it out. Check the water level every hour or so.
3. No steamer? Use a cooler. A clean cooler, lined with a towel, holds hot tamales in their foil for three to four hours with no power at all. This is my trick for houses where every burner is already taken.
4. Reheat the stragglers in the oven. Wrap in foil with a splash of water at a moderate temperature for twenty minutes, or steam them again for fifteen. Skip the microwave unless it is one tamal and you cover it with a damp paper towel.

For a bigger family, the guide to reheating tamales for a crowd covers ovens, roasters and what to do without a steamer. The short version: heat, moisture, and a lid.

What goes next to the tamales

On my own table the tamales carry the night and everything else is a supporting cast. A big bowl of red salsa and one of green, crema, and pickled jalapeños are the non-negotiables. Then a simple rice, a pot of charro beans, and a cabbage or nopal salad with lime to cut the richness. Champurrado or Mexican hot chocolate for the kids, and something colder for the adults.

If your family leans Anglo-Texan, tamales next to a spiral ham is a real tradition in this part of the state, and I will not argue with it. A tamal or two per person alongside the ham, plus the salsas, is plenty. And if you have never had tamales at Christmas and want the background before you commit, I wrote about why tamales mean Christmas in Texas, from the tamalada to Nochebuena itself.

One last habit worth borrowing: put the extra dozen in the fridge before dinner starts, not after. Otherwise there is no extra dozen.

Ready to order tamales for Christmas Eve?

Count the adults, count the kids, decide whether tamales are the meal or a side, and pick the date. Then order the dozens in our online store, pork and chicken in the split above, delivery or pickup, and pay online; if you want my suggestion for the split, call or text (469) 888-8398. Maggie’s Tamales & Catering delivers Christmas Eve tamales across north Dallas, made from scratch the week you eat them. Order online now, while the December calendar still has your day open, and the only thing left to argue about is the music.

Frequently asked questions

How many Christmas Eve tamales do I need per person?

Plan three per adult and two per child when tamales are the main dish, and one to two per person when they sit next to a ham or another main. Then add one extra dozen for Christmas morning, because reheated tamales with eggs is a tradition in most houses. For ten adults that means three dozen, or $180 at $60 per dozen.

How far ahead should I order tamales for Christmas Eve?

Order in November if you can, and by early December at the latest. Every tamal is made by hand the week it is delivered, so the days right before Christmas have a ceiling, and the last delivery days are usually spoken for by mid-December. Order in the online store for your date, and remember that next day orders must be received and confirmed by us before noon the previous day.

Can I get tamales delivered on Christmas Eve itself?

Often, yes, depending on which day of the week it falls on and how early you order. My kitchen runs Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 9 AM to 2 PM, and Christmas week is scheduled around those days. If Christmas Eve is a closed day, the tamales arrive the day before and keep perfectly in the fridge overnight, then steam back to fresh in fifteen minutes.

Should I order pork or chicken tamales for Nochebuena?

Both. For a traditional table I send about two thirds pork in red salsa and one third chicken in green salsa. Pork is the classic Christmas tamal with a warm kick; chicken in tomatillo salsa is milder and brighter, and it is what children and heat-shy relatives reach for. Whatever the split, the pork disappears first, so add any extra dozen in red.

How do I keep tamales hot for a late Christmas Eve dinner?

Leave them in the husk and keep them in a covered pot with an inch of water on the lowest flame, checking the water every hour. If every burner is busy, a towel-lined cooler holds foil-wrapped tamales hot for three to four hours. To reheat later, steam for fifteen minutes or wrap in foil with a splash of water in a moderate oven for twenty.

Are your Christmas tamales gluten-free?

The tamales are made with corn masa and no wheat, so they are naturally gluten-free. My kitchen is not a certified gluten-free facility, so if someone at your table has celiac disease, call or text before you order and I will explain exactly what that means so you can decide.