Instant Pot Tamales

I love my Instant Pot. Actually, we call it the 'Instapot' because that is so much cuter. They really should have swooped in on that name. Either way, we get a lot of use out of our Instapot and it has cut down a lot of our cooking time.

Take for instance this dinner. Tamales. Now ask anyone and they will tell you how incredibly labor intensive tamales are. It's true, they can take FOREVER. But I had my heart set on some fresh tamales and I didn't care that it was already after 5:00 pm or that I had already spent the better part of the day canning asparagus! I wanted tamales so away I flew!

I remembered seeing a recipe while browsing Pinterest (My favorite pastime) for Instant Pot Tamales. And I had indeed! Centsable Shoppin' had a nice recipe starting point for me.

'Instapot' Chicken Verde Tamales

First I needed some chicken!

2 lbs FROZEN chicken breasts
1 Large Can Verde Enchilada Sauce


      1. Both went into the Instant Pot on the chicken setting, 25 minutes.

Then I needed some corn husks!
      2. Rinse the husks and put them in a dish they can soak in. They must all be covered in water.
      3. Put something heavy on them to weigh them down. I laid a small bottle of vinegar on top so they stayed submerged.

While that was cooking I went ahead and started on the masa:

3 Cups Masa
1 Cup Vegetable Oil
1 tsp Baking Powder
2 1/4 Cups Chicken Stock
1 tsp Salt
1/2 Can Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce, minced (optional)

     4. In a separate bowl mix all the ingredients until well combined. You don't want the masa to be doughy, but it shouldn't be runny at all.
     5. When the chicken is finished cooking use the quick release to let out the pressure and then shred the chicken in the juices and transfer it all to a large bowl.
     6. Now it's prep time! Lay out a towel to put the softened husks on. This will help absorb some of the water.
     7. Take a husk and spread the masa on it. Not too much or it won't close properly.
     8. Then add the filling. Again not too much or it won't close.
     9. Fold the husk into thirds. Left, then right, and then fold the bottom up. The top will remain open.
    10. Make all of the tamales and put them in a holding spot like on a plate.
    11. Once they are all made add 1 1/2 water (or extra chicken stock) to the bottom of the Instant Pot.
    12. Place the trivet inside and a sheet of foil on top.
    13. Then add all of your tamales to the top, open end UP!
    14. Cook on Manual (High) for 25 minutes.
    15. When finished cooking, wait 10 minutes and then use the quick release.
    16. Enjoy!

We had extra chicken and verde so we used it as a topping. For those of us that are able to enjoy cheese, it melted nicely on the top as well! The kids all enjoyed these and there were enough left over (we made 17 tamales in all) so we can have a leftover dinner soon and extra lunch materials. Awesome!

Her fork wasn't moving fast enough for her so she started eating hers with her hands!