Tamales at Easter: a spring table that feeds the whole family

Easter tamales are the meal that shows up right after church, when three generations walk through the door at once, the kids are already sticky from the egg hunt, and nobody has had anything since a pastry at eight. It is the hardest lunch of the spring to time and the easiest one to solve, because a pot of tamales waits for the family instead of the other way around.

The short answer: For Easter lunch, plan two tamales per adult and one per child when they sit beside a ham, or three per adult when tamales are the main dish. A family of twelve needs about three dozen, which is $180 at $60 per dozen. My kitchen is closed Sunday, so Easter tamales are delivered Saturday and steamed back to fresh in fifteen minutes.

Below is why tamales belong on that table, the exact numbers, and the Saturday delivery plan that makes Easter Sunday a day you actually get to sit down.

Why tamales belong on the Easter table

Easter is the end of Lent, and in a lot of Mexican and Mexican-American homes that matters at the table. Forty days of fish and beans and meatless Fridays, and then Sunday comes and the pork is back. A pork tamal in red salsa on Easter is not just lunch; it is the celebration of the fast being over. My grandmother made a point of it. The first tamal out of the pot on Easter went to whoever had kept Lent most faithfully, and the arguments about who that was were half the fun.

Even in families that do not keep Lent, the tamal fits Easter better than most spring foods. It is hot, it is filling, and it is ready the moment people arrive instead of forty minutes after. The husk keeps it warm through a long grace and a longer photo session on the porch. And it is one of the few foods a four-year-old and an eighty-four-year-old will both eat happily with their hands.

Two tamales carry the day in my kitchen, and they are the only two we make. Pork in red salsa is the Easter classic, slow-cooked pork shoulder in a sauce of dried red chiles with a warm kick. Chicken in green tomatillo salsa, made with chicken breast, is brighter and milder, and it is what the kids and the more cautious grandparents reach for. The menu has both: $30 for a half dozen, $60 for a dozen.

How many Easter tamales for the family

Easter lunch usually sits somewhere between a dinner and a party. People are hungry, but it is midday, there is a ham or a brisket involved more often than not, and half the guests are children who will abandon the table the second the last egg is found. My tamales are big, so a single one is a real portion.

• Tamales as the main dish: three per adult, two per child.
• Tamales beside a ham or brisket: two per adult, one per child.
• Tamales as one of many dishes on a big potluck table: one to two per adult, one per child.
• Leftovers: add a half dozen. Easter Monday lunch is the best-kept secret of ordering tamales.

For a table where tamales are the whole meal, add roughly half again. And if the guest list is more children than adults, which happens at Easter more than any other holiday, the piece I wrote on estimating party food when half the guests are kids will keep you from ordering for forty when twenty of them are six years old.

Next to the ham, or instead of it

In north Texas the Easter table is often a marriage. One side of the family brought the ham and the deviled eggs; the other side brought the tamales and the salsa. I have watched that table more times than I can count and I can tell you how it goes: the ham gets sliced politely, and the tamales get reached for.

If you are keeping the ham, treat the tamales as a rich side and use the two-per-adult numbers above. If you have extra salsa and sour cream, put them in the middle of the table, between the ham and the tamales, because people will figure out on their own that they belong on both. If you are skipping the ham, make the tamales the center, go to three per adult, and add a pot of charro beans, a simple rice, and a bright cabbage or nopal salad with lime to cut the richness. A deviled egg next to a pork tamal is a stranger combination than it sounds and a better one than you would guess.

All of our tamales are made with corn masa, so they are naturally gluten-free for the cousin who has to ask, though my kitchen is not a certified gluten-free facility. If that distinction matters at your table, call or text (469) 888-8398 before you order.

Easter falls on a Sunday, and my kitchen is closed on Sundays

I would rather say this plainly than have you find out on Holy Saturday. My kitchen in Plano runs Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 9 AM to 2 PM, and we are closed Sunday, Monday and Thursday. Easter is always a Sunday. So Easter tamales are delivered or picked up on Saturday, in the husk, and they wait in your fridge overnight.

This is not a compromise. A tamal that rests overnight in its husk loses nothing; if anything the masa settles and the flavor deepens. On Sunday morning, before church or while the ham is in the oven, put them in a steamer or a big pot with an inch of water, lid on, lowest flame, for fifteen to twenty minutes. They come out exactly as they left my kitchen. No steamer? A roasting pan with a rack, a cup of water and a tight foil tent in a moderate oven does the same job for a crowd. I wrote up every method in how to reheat tamales for a crowd.

Because of the Saturday schedule, Easter weekend fills up faster than a normal weekend, and Good Friday is a busy day too for families who eat together that night. Order in our online store as soon as you have a rough headcount, and pick Saturday as your date ahead. Next day orders must be received and confirmed by us before noon the previous day. Only confirmed orders will be delivered as requested. The holiday tamales page covers ordering for the other holidays of the year.

The rest of spring: showers, communions and graduations

Easter opens the season. From late March to the end of May my phone is full of first communions, baby showers, Cinco de Mayo lunches, Mother’s Day, and graduation parties in backyards from Allen to Far North Dallas. The same plan works for all of them, because the same things are true: the crowd arrives hungry and all at once, the weather is finally good enough to eat outside, and the host does not want to be in the kitchen.

A few spring-specific notes from my side of the pot:

• Outdoor tables. Texas spring is lovely until it is windy, and then it is hot. Keep the tamales in the covered pot or a towel-lined cooler and serve from there rather than leaving a platter in the sun. They hold for hours that way.
• First communions and confirmations. Same rhythm as Easter: lunch after church, lots of children, grandparents who traveled. Two per adult, one per child, plus a half dozen.
• Mother’s Day. The point of the day is that she does not cook. I wrote a whole plan for a Mother’s Day brunch built around tamales.
• Graduations. Bigger crowds, longer windows, more teenagers. The graduation party catering guide has the numbers.

For any of these, the parties and celebrations page explains how to size a family order, and we deliver to Allen, McKinney, Fairview, Frisco, The Colony, Plano, Murphy, Carrollton, Addison, Richardson and Far North Dallas, or you can pick up at our Plano kitchen.

Ready to order Easter tamales?

Count the adults, count the kids, decide whether the ham is staying, and take a number off the table above. Then choose your pork-to-chicken split, about even if the table is full of kids, and order in our online store for Holy Saturday, delivery or pickup, paid online. Maggie’s Tamales & Catering makes them from scratch, and they are ready to steam on Sunday morning. Order online now, and spend Sunday on the porch watching the egg hunt instead of over the stove.

Frequently asked questions

How many Easter tamales do I need for a family lunch?

Two per adult and one per child when tamales sit beside a ham or brisket, or three per adult and two per child when they are the main dish, plus a half dozen for leftovers. For twelve adults and six kids next to a ham, that is three dozen, or $180 at $60 per dozen. Mine are big tamales, so these numbers are generous.

Can I get tamales delivered on Easter Sunday?

No, and I would rather tell you now. My kitchen is closed on Sundays, so Easter tamales are delivered or picked up on Saturday and kept in the fridge overnight in their husks. On Sunday morning, steam them for fifteen to twenty minutes and they come out exactly as they left my kitchen. Easter weekend fills early, so order in our online store with Saturday as your date as soon as you have a headcount.

Do tamales go with ham at Easter?

Yes, and in north Texas that pairing is practically a tradition. Treat the tamales as a rich side at two per adult, and if you have extra salsa and sour cream, set them in the middle of the table so they travel between the ham and the tamales. If you are skipping the ham, make tamales the main at three per adult with beans, rice and a lime-dressed cabbage salad.

Should I order pork or chicken tamales for Easter?

Both. Pork in red salsa is the Easter classic, especially for families ending Lent, and it goes first every time. Chicken in green tomatillo salsa is milder and brighter, and it is what children and cautious grandparents choose. With so many kids at an Easter table I usually suggest closer to an even split than the two-thirds-pork mix I suggest at Christmas.

How do I reheat tamales for a big Easter crowd without a steamer?

Stand the tamales in a deep roasting pan on a rack or a layer of crumpled foil, pour in a cup of water, tent tightly with foil, and put the pan in a moderate oven for about twenty-five minutes. The trapped steam does the work. A large pot with an inch of water and a lid on the lowest flame works just as well for a few dozen.

Are tamales a good choice for an outdoor spring party?

They are one of the best. A tamal in its husk stays hot and moist for hours in a covered pot or a towel-lined cooler, needs no plate or fork, and does not wilt in the sun the way a salad or a sandwich tray does. Serve from the pot rather than a platter on the table, and keep the salsas in the shade.