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Chicken Tamales with All the Extras

A Nicaraguan chicken tamale with dough, chicken filling, and assorted garnishes.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 22 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and garlic are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,517 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Chicken Tamales with All the Extras

Time1½ hours

Ingredients

Directions

Make the dough

  1. Stir dough ingredients in a large saucepan with a wooden spoon.

  2. Cook over medium‑low heat for 20 to 25 minutes, until firm but still moist.

  3. Cool to room temperature and wrap in plastic until needed; the dough may be made one day in advance and refrigerated.

Prepare the filling

  1. Stir lemon juice, salt, and garlic together in a medium mixing bowl. Stir in the chicken.

  2. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.

  3. If using packaged corn husks, separate them, place in a large bowl, cover with water, and set aside for several hours or overnight.

Assemble the tamales

  1. Divide the dough into 20 pieces.

  2. Form each piece into a cylinder about 3 inches long and place it in the center of a husk or foil.

  3. Press into the dough a piece of chicken, 2 raisins, and a slice of potato.

  4. On top of the dough place a slice of tomato, some onion slices, and slice each of the chile and pepper.

  5. Top with a sprig of mint.

  6. Fold the ends of each foil or husk wrapper over the filling and garnishes, then fold the sides of the wrapper tightly.

  7. To tie them into waterproof packages, use thin strips torn from several husks or 5‑inch pieces of string; if using foil instead of husks, tying is not necessary.

Steam and serve

  1. Fill the bottom half of a large steamer with water.

  2. Stand all the tamales upright in the top of the steamer and cover them with corn husks.

  3. Cover the pot tightly, bring the water to a boil, adjust heat to maintain a simmer, and let the tamales cook for about 1½ hours.

  4. To check for doneness, open a tamale; the dough should come away solidly from the husk or foil.

  5. As the tamales cook, check the water level occasionally and replenish if necessary.

  6. Unwrap and serve immediately.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1301Calories
64 gProtein
29 gFat
203 gCarbs

Counts 13 of 14 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 13 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Chicken100g cooked165
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Corn1/2 cup kernels (82g)77
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Peppermintnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Potato + garlictop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,517 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Corn + potatotop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together938 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  3. Chicken + garlictop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,850 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).

  4. Chicken + potatotop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,756 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-decenal (green, must).

  5. Lemon + garlictop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,893 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Flour
Forms the structure of the dough once cooked until firm.
Skim milk
Adds moisture and softness to the dough.
Chicken broth
Moistens the dough and adds savory flavor.
Mashed potatoes
Adds body and moisture to the dough, keeping it tender.
Chicken breasts
Provides the main protein filling.
Garlic
Adds aroma and savory flavor to the chicken filling.

The step that matters

Cook the dough until firm but still moist. Cooking the dough over medium-low heat lets the starch in the flour and potato thicken and set, so it holds together when spread and steamed. Undercooked dough stays sticky and will not pull cleanly from the husk, while overcooked dough dries out and turns crumbly.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (corn, flour, milk, chicken, potato, lemon, garlic):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Marjoramfits better
  3. Cuminfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against corn, flour, milk, chicken, potato, lemon, garlic. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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