How much lard for tamales
Most masa harina recipes use 0.4 to 0.5 cup of fat per dozen tamales. With fresh masa the usual figure is 4 to 5 1/3 oz of lard per pound. I opened recipes on 2026-10-15 and divided each fat amount by its yield. Whether shortening, butter or oil can take lard's place is further down. The all-in masa numbers are on how much masa per dozen tamales.
Cups of fat per dozen, masa harina recipes
| Recipe | Masa | Fat as printed | Tamales | Cups per dozen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food Network Kitchen, rajas con queso | 6 cups masa harina | 1 1/2 cups lard | 35 to 45 | 0.40 to 0.51 |
| Mexican Made Meatless, cheese and jalapeno | 4 cups masa harina (1 lb) | 1 cup (7 oz) shortening | 24 to 28 | 0.43 to 0.50 |
| Pinch and Swirl, jack and green chile | 4 cups masa harina | 1 1/4 cups butter | 32 | 0.47 |
| Hola Jalapeno, cheese and jalapeno | 6 cups masa harina | 1 cup shortening (coconut oil or butter allowed) | 24 | 0.50 |
| America's Test Kitchen, tamales | 1 cup plus 2 tbsp masa harina | 6 tbsp lard plus 6 tbsp butter (3/4 cup) | 18 | 0.50 |
Per-dozen values are my own division of the printed fat by the printed yield. The planner uses 0.6 to 0.67 cup per dozen for masa harina and 0.44 to 0.8 for fresh masa, taken from the recipes on its own source list. These five come out lower, so read the planner's figure as the generous end.
Ounces of fat by pounds of fresh masa
Joe Pastry's fresh masa dough takes 4 oz of lard or shortening per 1 lb of masa, a quarter by weight. Zarela Martinez's basic dough is 1 lb of lard for 3 lb of masa, a third. Her page does not print a tamale count. Joe Pastry's comments put his 1 lb batch at about sixteen tamales.
| Fresh masa, lb | Fat, oz | Fat, lb |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 8 to 10.7 | 0.5 to 0.7 |
| 3 | 12 to 16 | 0.8 to 1 |
| 5 | 20 to 26.7 | 1.3 to 1.7 |
| 10 | 40 to 53.3 | 2.5 to 3.3 |
| 15 | 60 to 80 | 3.8 to 5 |
| 20 | 80 to 106.7 | 5 to 6.7 |
Substitutes for lard
Shortening. Tasting Table says no measurement change is needed, so use the same amount. Hola Jalapeno and Mexican Made Meatless both call for shortening, and Salt and Wind allows shortening, lard, butter or coconut oil at 8 oz of fat for 3 cups of masa harina. America's Test Kitchen disagrees: its testers found shortening and vegetable oil gave an "unpleasant, artificial flavor" and settled on lard plus butter.
Butter. Joe Pastry says butter is not traditional but works, with a somewhat heavier dough and excellent flavor. America's Test Kitchen says an all-butter batch tastes distinctly buttery.
Oil. Mexican Made Meatless says to use 2/3 cup of oil in place of 1 cup of shortening. Oil cannot be whipped the way chilled fat can. Joe Pastry whips chilled fat until fluffy to make the masa light, and says melted lard stirred into dry masa gives a denser result.
Chicken fat. Joe Pastry finds it too liquid on its own and suggests replacing about a third of the fat with it.
Worked example: 20 guests, 4 each
That is 84 tamales, or 7 dozen. At 0.4 to 0.5 cup per dozen with masa harina, that is 2.8 to 3.5 cups of fat. With fresh masa, the planner's 7 to 10.5 lb works out to as much as 56 oz of lard at the one-third ratio. Open the planner with these numbers and change them to yours.
More amounts: how much cheese for tamales, how much pork for tamales and how many tamales per person. Or go back to the tamalada planner.