Chef Maggie
Maggie is the cook behind every tamal that leaves our Plano kitchen, and the keeper of the family recipes.
About Maggie
Maggie learned tamales the way most people who make great tamales learned them: standing at a counter next to her mother and grandmother, spreading masa on husks until her arms hurt, being told the masa was too thick, and doing it again. The recipes in her kitchen today came down through the women in her family, generation to generation, and they are cooked the way those women cooked, in the spirit of Like Water for Chocolate: with full attention and with ingredients she trusts.
What started as tamales for family became tamales for friends, then for a Saturday order list, then for a kitchen of her own. She built Maggie’s Tamales & Catering around one rule that has not moved since: fresh, from scratch, every time. The masa is mixed the morning it is used and it is gluten-free. The pork and chicken are slow-cooked in-house. The chiles are toasted that day, and sometimes they are specialty chiles that came up from Mexico in grandpa’s suitcase.
Maggie’s tamales are known around North Dallas for being BIG, meat-first and clean: reviewers write about “lots of chicken breast meat” and “amazing (not too much) masa”. She takes that as the highest compliment, because it means the recipe survived the scale-up.
What she does every day
- Runs a commercial catering kitchen in Plano, TX, with delivery and pickup.
- Plans holiday production so that Thanksgiving and Christmas orders go out on time.
- Writes the Insights articles on this site: headcounts, budgets, reheating, traditions, and what makes a tamal authentic.
What Maggie knows better than anyone
Authentic tamales
Masa, meat, chiles and patience, from recipes that were never written down properly and never needed to be. Read what makes a tamal authentic.
Feeding crowds
From twelve in a conference room to two hundred at a quinceañera. Read how many tamales per person.
Holiday tamales
Production planning for the busiest weeks of the year. Read why tamales mean Christmas in Texas.
Gluten-free masa
Why corn masa is naturally gluten-free, where the risks hide, and how she handles celiac guests. Read are tamales gluten-free?
From a family stove to a Plano kitchen
- The family table
Tamales at every holiday, made by the women in the family over two days, with Maggie at the counter learning by doing.
- Tamales for friends
Friends asked. Friends of friends asked. A Saturday order list grew until the home kitchen could not keep up.
- The Plano kitchen
A dedicated catering and delivery kitchen in Plano, built around one rule: fresh, from scratch, every time.
- Offices, parties and holidays across North Dallas
Tamale Day lunches, quinceañeras, church events and holiday dozens, made by a small team that customers mention by name, for delivery or pickup.
Latest from her kitchen
How many tamales per person? A caterer’s guide for parties and offices
Two for lunch with sides, three when tamales are the whole meal. My headcount-to-dozens chart, plus the cases where the rule changes.
9 min read
Tamales catering in Dallas–Fort Worth: how it works and what to expect
From the first phone call to the empty foil pans: what ordering tamales for a party or office in north Dallas actually looks like.
9 min read
What does catering cost per person in DFW? A realistic budget guide
The honest per-person math for feeding a crowd in north Dallas, what quietly doubles a catering bill, and where you can safely save.
8 min read
How far in advance should you order catering? Lead times by event type
The lead times I find comfortable for offices, parties, quinceañeras, and holiday weeks, and what to do when you are calling late.
9 min read
Buying tamales by the dozen in DFW: bulk orders, delivery, and pricing
A dozen is $60, a half-dozen is $30, and bulk orders for churches, teams, and fundraisers are how my kitchen spends most Saturdays.
9 min read
Tamale Day: how to start a monthly office lunch your team loves
A recurring tamale lunch is the easiest office tradition to start and the hardest to cancel. Here is how I set one up with an office manager.
10 min readWhat customers say about Maggie’s food
What can I say? … the food is delicious! & the service is great. I’ve purchased from them twice already and my team loves Miss Maggie’s food as well. I recommend.Tiffany Iglesias
Google review · Team lunch
By far the most delicious food I’ve had in a long time! It has a little kick to it but it’s perfect!Courtney Rodgers
Google review · Tamales
Want Maggie to feed your people?
Order chicken and pork tamales by the dozen online, for delivery or pickup on the day you choose. Questions? Call or text (469) 888-8398.