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Tamalada planner

Enter how many people are coming and how big you make them. You get dozens to make, masa, lard, filling, husks, steamer loads, a shopping list you can print and a schedule for the day.

Your plan (example: 12 guests, 4 each)

Tamalada for 12, 4 each, standard size.

Make
4 dozen

48 tamales for 12 people at 4 each. Rounded up to whole dozens.

Shopping list
ItemAmount
Fresh masa4 to 6 lb
Or masa harina8 to 10 cups
Lard with fresh masa1.8 to 3.2 cups
Lard with masa harina2.4 to 2.7 cups
Broth (fresh masa / masa harina)2.6 to 3.2 / 6.8 to 7 cups
Cooked filling4.4 to 5.6 cups
Raw pork shoulder or butt5 to 6.4 lb
Red chile sauce5.2 cups
Corn husks, spares included53 to 80
Steamer loads of up to 242 x 45 to 50 min

Pick one masa line, fresh or harina, with its own lard line. Steaming one load after another takes 1 h 30 min to 1 h 40 min in all. A second pot cuts that. Where the recipes disagree the range shows both ends, and part of the high end is my own allowance, see below.

Schedule

  1. A day or so before. Cook the red chile pork filling. The 5280 guide makes its filling about a day ahead.
  2. An hour before guests arrive. Soak the corn husks for about an hour (5280).
  3. When guests arrive. Mix the masa: beat the lard until smooth, then work in the masa and the broth (Mama Maggie's, Sur La Table). Spread and fill. 5280 uses about 2 tablespoons of masa and 1 1/2 tablespoons of filling per tamale.
  4. Steaming. 2 loads of up to 24 tamales, 45 to 50 minutes each, 1 h 30 min to 1 h 40 min in all if the loads run one after another. 5280 simmers a full 20-quart steamer (about 62 tamales) for 2 1/2 to 3 hours; go by the doneness test. Open one to check: it is done when the masa is firm and does not stick to the husk.
  5. Before everyone leaves. Pack the extras. 5280 sends each guest home with at least half a dozen.

Want the numbers behind the masa line? How much masa per dozen tamales compares six recipes. Not sure about 4 each? How many tamales per person has the sources and a table by guest count. Planning the pot? See how long to steam tamales. Buying husks? See how many corn husks for tamales.

Where the amounts come from

I read each recipe page on 2026-10-10 and worked out amounts per dozen standard tamales. Fresh masa runs about 1 lb per dozen: Sur La Table uses 3 lb for about 3 dozen, and 5280 uses 5 lb for 5 dozen. Hola Jalapeno uses 2 lb for 20, which is 1.2 lb per dozen.

For masa harina, Mama Maggie's uses 2 cups for 12 and 8 cups for 50, and the Food Network Kitchen pork tamales use 4 cups for 24. That is about 2 cups per dozen. Hola Jalapeno prints 8 cups for 20, which is 4.8 per dozen, so I left it out of the range.

The pork figure is 2 1/2 lb of boneless shoulder for 24 tamales in the Food Network recipe and 7 to 8 lb of butt or shoulder for 5 dozen at 5280. The filling volume and sauce are 5280's 1 1/2 tablespoons of filling per tamale and 6 1/2 cups of red chile sauce for 5 dozen. Steaming is 45 to 50 minutes in the Food Network Kitchen recipe. The Trevino chicken tamales say 30 minutes and give the doneness test used here: open one, and the tamale should be firm with the masa not sticking to the husk. 5280 simmers its tamales for 2 1/2 to 3 hours and says a 20-quart steamer holds about 62, so a full pot takes much longer than the times above. Go by the doneness test.

What I added myself

The high ends are mine: 1.5 lb of fresh masa and 2.5 cups of masa harina per dozen leave room for a generous spread. Lard with fresh masa is 0.44 cup per dozen from Sur La Table up to 0.8 from 5280, where I counted 2 lb of lard as 4 cups. Husks are 1 per tamale (the Food Network recipe lists 24 for 24) up to 1.5, plus 10% spares for ones that split. The filling high end (1.4 cups) and the fresh-masa broth high end (0.8 cup) are my allowances too. Pork shoulder is my substitute where 5280 says butt.

Mini tamales use half and large ones 1.5 times the standard amounts. Steaming for mini (30 to 40 minutes) and large (50 to 60) is my guess from the sourced times, so use the doneness test. 4 per person comes from Hola Jalapeno, who plans that for each filling you make. Two to three with sides is my own pick. How many tamales fit in your pot depends on the pot, so you enter it.

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