Pork Tamales Recipe with Mole Coloradito (video included!)

My method for the most fluffy, delicious Pork Tamales Recipe is here! Learn how to make tamales with the softest masa, tender pork, and rich mole coloradito. An essential Mexican recipe to have for the holidays. Watch the video!

This recipe was first published in December 2015. Last updated, December 5, 2022.

---

The holidays haven’t begun until the Red Mole Pork Tamales are steaming on the stove! This step-by-step recipe will walk you through exactly how to make the most luscious pork-and-mole-filled homemade tamales for your family this Christmas.

More To Explore
Bean and Cheese Vegetarian Tamales
Sweet Lime Tamales
How To Throw A Tamalada {Tamales-Making Party}

wait—what are tamales?

Tamales are a dumpling of sorts and a staple of Mexican cooking although they are made all throughout Mexico and Central America and even in parts of South America too, like Venezuela, where they are called Hallacas.

At their most basic they are dough (made with a corn flour called masa harina or ground field corn) wrapped in either dried corn husks or banana leaves and steamed. They can be filled or not, sweet or savory, tiny or enormous.

The ones we are making today are the savory kind made with masa harina dough, filled with pork and mole sauce, and wrapped in corn husks. This is the traditional method of making them (in a steamer). If you’d like to try making them in the Instant Pot, check out Isabel’s Instant Pot Pork Tamales recipe.

what’s in a red mole pork tamales recipe?

Before we dive in to how to make the tamales, let’s look at the elements that make up the tamales. Here’s what you’ll need to have ready before you actually get to assembling them, plus soaked corn husks too:

Pork Ingredients

• Boneless pork butt or shoulder
• White onion
• Garlic
• Kosher salt
• Bay leaves
• Black peppercorns

Mole Coloradito Ingredients

• Dried New Mexico chiles
• White onion
• Garlic
• Tomatoes
• Raisins
• Kosher salt
• Black pepper
• Dried oregano
• Dried thyme
• Canela
• Pumpkin seeds
• Lard
• Bittersweet chocolate

Masa Ingredients

• Masa harina
• Lard
• Baking powder
• Kosher salt
• Broth from cooking pork or chicken broth

tools you’ll need

Make sure you have everything you need before getting started. The last thing you want to do is realize you don’t have the right equipment halfway through.

• 2 large stock pots for cooking the pork and soaking corn husks. The large pot needs to be at least 12 quarts but if you have a bigger one, that’s better.
• Large colander
• A large (12-quart) heat-proof container for holding broth
• Large cast iron skillet or comal or griddle for toasting chiles
• Heavy-duty blender for mole sauce
• Fine mesh sieve
• Large mixing bowl for mixing masa.
• Tamalera or large pot lined with a steamer basket for steaming the tamales.

nice to have

These things aren’t absolutely necessary, but make preparing the tamales easier.

• Masa spreaders
• Stack of kitchen towels
• Stainless steel tongs

How To Make Tamales!

step 1: soak the corn husks

Dried corn husks need at least an hour to soak in boiling water before they become soft enough to use.

Most people put the dried husks in a large bowl and pour very hot water over them. I like to bring a large stock pot of water to a boil, turn off the heat, add the corn husks and submerge them under the water with a heavy plate.

step 2: cook the pork

Cooking the pork is the next step because you will use the leftover broth to make the mole sauce and the masa dough. Combine the pork shoulder with the onions, garlic, bay leaf, black peppercorns and salt in the largest stock pot you have. Fill it with water and bring water to a boil. It may seem like a lot of liquid, but you will need a lot of broth later for the other ingredients.

Simmer the pork until tender and falling apart, about 3 hours. Remove the pork from the pot and let cool. Strain the broth and set aside. Shred the pork.

step 3: make the mole sauce

This recipe makes a lot of mole sauce. Serve any leftover after filling the tamales as a sauce to spoon over the tamales.

Toast the chiles on a hot comal. Stir chiles frequently to keep from burning.

Soak the chiles and raisins in hot water. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add toasted chiles and the raisins. Remove from heat and let soak until softened, at least 30 minutes.

Char the onions and garlic. Place the onions and garlic on the same comal you used to toast the chiles. Keep turning until they are charred on all sides.

Char the tomatoes. Now do the same with the tomatoes.

Blend and strain the chiles and raisin mixture. Drain the chiles and raisins and place in batches in the blender. Add 1/4 cup of the pork cooking liquid to each batch and blend until smooth. Push through a fine mesh strainer.

Blend and strain the onions, garlic, and spices. Now peel the garlic and add to the blender along with the onions, pepitas, canela, herbs and spices. Add 1/4 cup of the pork broth and blend until smooth.

Blend and strain the tomatoes.

Fry the sauce. Melt a couple tablespoons of lard in a large pot or Dutch oven then add the purees and fry in the lard.

step 4: make the masa

Mix the masa harina with baking powder, salt, and warm stock leftover from cooking the pork. Cover with plastic wrap and let dough sit for 15 minutes to rehydrate.

Beat fat (you can use lard, vegetable shortening, or even butter) in the bowl of a stand mixer until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Add handfuls of the rehydrated masa to the fat in the mixer. With the mixer on medium speed, continue beating in the masa until all has been added. Check and see if you need to add more broth to maintain the right consistency of wet mashed potatoes.

step 5: wrap and steam the tamales

The last step is assembling the tamales by filling the soaked corn husks with the masa dough, pork, and mole sauce. Then steam them in the tamalera. Here are the steps:

1. Lay a corn husk on a clean surface and dry with a damp paper towel and place it with the widest side facing toward you.
2. Add about 1/3 cup of masa. Spreading the masa on the bottom half of the corn husk, leaving a border around the edge.
3. Place a few pieces of pork in the middle—don’t over fill.
4. Add a spoonful of mole on top.
5. Then roll the long side of the husk up and fold the small end over the large end.
6. Steam tamales upright until the masa is cooked through and bounces back when you poke it with your finger. This takes anywhere from 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours.

step 6: Serving

The tamales will keep warm in the steamer for 2-3 hours. Cover with a damp towel or a layer of corn husks over the top of the tamales and turn the heat to low. Keep the lid on the pot to prevent from drying out.

You can also keep them warm in a slow cooker. Pour about 2 cups of water in the bottom of a slow cooker, place warm tamales, open-side up on top of the water, cover with a clean kitchen towel then the lid to the slow cooker and set on the warm setting.

If you are reheating the tamales in the slow cooker, you will need to give them about an hour on low heat to rewarm, then you can switch it to the warm setting. Serve with warm mole sauce for spooning over the top.

Any leftovers will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.

more tamales recipes to try!

• Strawberry Tamales with Horchata Sauce
• Pork Tamales with Salsa Verde
• Mexican Chocolate Sweet Tamales with Hot Honey
• Apple Braised Beef Tamales
• Tahini Potato and Kale Vegan Tamales
• Chili Verde Shredded Chicken Tamales
• Chicken Tamales with Pumpkin & Mole Sauce

From Our Family To Yours

We hope you try this recipe out and if you do, let us know how it went! Share a photo and tag us on Instagram using @holajalapeno and #holajalapeno so that we can see your stuff (don’t forget to leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating)! Also, sign up for my weekly newsletter, lots of good stuff there too!

In support of this small business, ¡Hola! Jalapeño earns revenue in a few different ways. Several sponsored posts are published each month. I also earn an affiliate commission on the sales of products I link to— there are a few of those links in this post. I only feature items I genuinely love and personally use on a regular basis. This commission is an arrangement between the retailer and ¡Hola! Jalapeño (readers never pay more for products). This income allows me to run the site. Thank you for reading!