Bean and cheese tamales

Easy vegetarian tamales made with refried beans and melty cheese.

Prep Time1 40

Active Time1

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Latin American, Mexican

Keyword: holiday, special occasion, vegetarian

Yield: tamales

Calories: 126kcal

Place the corn husks in a large bowl and cover with warm water. Soak for a minimum of 30 minutes. You may need to weigh them down with a stone or something heavy to keep them submerged in the water.
Separate the cheese into bite sized strings (queso chihuahua has a a similar texture to string cheese). These can be messy and even, we just want bite-sized pieces.

In a stand mixer, beat the shortening until it's smooth and creamy.
Add the masa harina, salt and baking powder. Beat quickly just to combine everything.
Add the warm water a little bit at a time, mixing for 20-30 seconds before adding more water. Continue to add water and beat until the texture is sticky but not completely wet. It should be solid enough to break off pieces and roll into a ball, but it should be sticky to the touch.

Drain the water from the corn husks.
Take one husk and lay it flat on your cutting board.
Take a generous spoonful of the masa dough and spread it over the corn husk, leaving about 1/2 inch around all sides. The masa should form a rough rectangle within the corn husk.
Spread 1.5 tbsp of refried beans in the center of the masa dough. Layer 3-4 pieces of string cheese on top of the refried beans.
Fold one edge of the masa dough to about the center of the rectangle. Fold the other side up the meet the first side in the middle. You can use your finger to smooth the spot where the edges join. Then fold one side of the corn husk over the other and roll it to form a neat package.
If needed, tie with a thin strip of corn husk.
Continue with all 12 tamales.

In a large steamer pot, boil a few inches of water. The water should not be touching the bottom of the steamer basket.
Place the tamales vertically in the steamer basket.
Cover and steam for 40 minutes.
To check if the tamales are done, remove one tamal and gently unwrap. If the masa pulls away from the husk without sticking the tamales are done.
If the masa sticks, rewrap it and steam for 10 more minutes at a time until done.
Remove the tamales from the steamer basket and serve with salsa.