Vegan Tamales

Learn how to make these flavorful vegan tamales that are so easy to prepare. Masa Harina dough, stuffed with rich savory lentils, vegan cheese, and steamed until soft and moist.

5 from 3 votes

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Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Latin

Keyword: vegan tamales

Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 24

Servings: servings

Calories: 171kcal

Equipment

1 large pot

Ingredients

16 corn husks

The Filling

1/2 cup brown lentils
2 cups vegetable broth
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cloves garlic minced
1 green onion chopped
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
1 cup vegan shredded cheese

The Dough

2 cups Masa Harina
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/2 cup vegan butter (I used Earth Balance Buttery Spread)
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1/4 cup corn kernel

Toppings

Vegan sour cream
salsa
cilantro

Instructions

To Prepare The Filling

Place corn husks in a bowl of warm water and soak for 30 minutes. Add weights to keep the husks beneath the water.
Sort lentils removing debris, rinse under cold water, drain and add to a medium saucepan. Add vegetable broth, bay leaves and bring to a boil.
Cover saucepan and reduce to simmer lentils for about 20 minutes.
Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, garlic, green onion, basil, chili powder, maple syrup, salt, bring to a simmer and allow to cook for another 20 minutes or until lentils are cooked and the sauce is thick and liquid evaporated.
Remove from heat and set aside, in the meantime, prepare the dough.

Prepare The Dough

Add masa harina, nutritional yeast flakes, cumin, baking powder, salt, in a large bowl or a food processor. Mix to fully combine or process if using a food processor.
Add vegan butter; if using your hand, mix until it resembles breadcrumbs or process in the food processor until the dry mix looks crumbly.
Add vegetable broth, and form into a dough using your hands, make sure the dough is moist and slightly sticky, if using a food processor, mix for about a minute until a smooth dough is formed, stir in the corn kernels.

Assemble The Tamales

Take a cornhusk, drain it and tear into 15 thin strips and set aside for wrapping the tamales. Remove a corn husk from the water, shake off excess water, lay the corn husk on a cutting board, with the shiny side facing up and the wider end at the top.
Add a large heaping tablespoon of dough to the center, flatten the dough to form a round disk using the back of a spoon or hand.
Add a spoonful of lentils, topped with vegan shredded cheese. Fold both ends of the corn husks up towards the center, this will cause the dough to cover the filling. Fold tamales into a cone with a tapered end, at the base fold it upwards, taking the strip of the cornhusk and tie the folded end into a knot. Repeat until all the tamales are done.
Add a steamer basket to a large pot, add enough water just below the base of the steamer, make sure water will not be touching the tamales Bring water to a boil.
Add tamales to the steamer basket, cover and steam tamales for about 40 minutes.
Remove steamer basket, tamales get firmer as they cool, remove corn husks and serve tamales topped with vegan sour cream and salsa.

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