I’ve been in love with Mexican food for a long time and have been cooking more and more of it these days. I knew that tamales would be perfect for the Instant Pot. Many tamales are full of oil, but these keep their moisture by using pumpkin, and it gives them a great flavor, too. You can easily double this recipe if you want.
Prep Time20 minutesmins
Cook Time25 minutesmins
Additional Time15 minutesmins
Total Time1 hourhr
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Mexican
Keyword: instant pot tamales, no oil tamales, pumpkin tamales, sos tamales
12corn huskssoaked in warm water for at least 2 hours then drained
Instructions
Add the pumpkin, oregano, cumin, chipotle, baking powder and salt to your mixer (or mixing bowl). Mix until everything is incorporated.
Put the masa in a medium-size mixing bowl, add the water and mix well.
Add the masa mixture to the pumpkin mixture in golf-ball-sized balls while the mixer is running. This will create a fluffier mixture and the texture should be like a soft play dough.
Add 1½ cups water to the bottom of your Instant Pot and put a steamer or mesh insert in next.
Set up a workstation with a cutting board, the tamale batter and the soaked corn husks.
Put ⅓ cup (80 g) tamale batter in the top half of the corn husk and spread into a thick rectangle that goes to the top (or wide part) of the husk. I do this with a spatula so that I can scrape the dough into the shape I want.
Fold the pointed end up to the top, fold one side over the other and tightly roll it into a flat tube.
Place with the open side up in the steamer and repeat until all the batter is used.
Add at least 1 cup of water to the bottom of your Instant Pot insert. (You may need to use more water if you are using an 8 quart or larger electric pressure cooker)
Put the steamer of tamales into your Instant Pot insert.
Cook on high pressure for 25 minutes and let the pressure release naturally.
Serve topped with your favorite salsa and other toppings.