Every holiday season, Texans’ favorite gift wrap is a steamy corn husk. A chill is in the air and a craving for masa-wrapped treasures suddenly surfaces. Tamales are historically synonymous with Christmastime, but those who’ve left the state for less delicious pastures have a harder time indulging in the tradition.
Many Tex-Mex restaurants around the state—and plenty of industrious online-only operations—are gearing up for their busy season, and each has its specialty filling, whether it’s classic spicy pork or sweet strawberry. So order ASAP to have as many as fifteen dozen or as few as half a dozen tamales, precooked and frozen, at your door by Christmas Day—even if you’re across the pond.
If you’re not lucky enough to have an abuela who has spent decades perfecting a family recipe, here are ten retailers who are close enough in a pinch.
Becerra’s Tex-Mex Tamales, Dallas
This hidden gem, which opened in 2011, has a stall at St. Michael’s Farmers Market, which runs April through Labor Day in Dallas’s Klyde Warren Park. In the offseason, you can easily find it online. “We’ve been a quiet competitor in the tamale landscape,” said owner Victor Valdez. After more than a decade of in-person success, Becerra’s is shipping for the first time this holiday season to customers in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, and California. Five employees crank out 20,000 tamales a week with fillings such as mesquite-smoked brisket and chicken verde for $20 per half dozen. “There’s meat all the way through the tamales from first bite to last,” Valdez said. Christmas orders must be placed by December 13. 214-454-8952
Chilito’s Express, Boerne
For the past fifteen years, Al Maldonado hasn’t gotten much sleep around tamale season. “I have tamales coming out of my ears,” said the founder of the Boerne-based restaurant. Chilito’s ships packages of two dozen Texas-style tamales for $47 or five dozen for $100 nationwide through Amazon. You can order up until Christmas Eve, but beware of possible shipping delays. The tamales are fully cooked, frozen, wrapped in foil, and stored in a styrofoam container with an ice pack before they’re shipped out with heating instructions. Maldonado, who grew up in Peru, also sells bottles of his family’s secret-recipe green sauce. 210-410-9664
Delicious Tamales, San Antonio
Valerie Gonzalez started her family’s company with a $500 investment in 1980. Today, Delicious Tamales sells 3.4 million every year at six locations across San Antonio and two in Austin, as well as online. Employees hand-grind the corn to bring out the true masa flavor. Herlinda Lopez-Wood, Gonzalez’s daughter, told Texas Monthly that Delicious Tamales has customers in Alaska and Hawaii; when “shipping cost outweighs the price of tamales, they are still willing to pay it,” she said. Order the popular spicy pork, jalapeño bean, or chicken for around $12 per dozen by December 16, and make it a whole meal with an addition of picadillo or carne asada. 800-826-2531
Granny’s Tamales, Humble
Take your pick of thirteen varieties, ranging from mild chicken to sweet corn, for $16 a dozen at Granny’s Tamales. Juanita Gonzalez, the “original Granny,” developed her recipe in 1990, which inspired her son, Daniel, and his wife, Tina, to open three restaurants just north of Houston in her honor. The family’s Humble beginnings have earned them fans from around the world, and every order comes with homemade red and green salsas. The company can ship anywhere nationwide up until Christmas. Even though Granny’s Tamales have made it all the way to Iraq, international shipping is provided only by special request. 281-446-0363
Hot Damn, Tamales!, Fort Worth
Ione Stavron started her family tamale shop with her sweet and savory recipes in 1997. Nearly thirty years later, she’s outgrown her Fort Worth storefront and now has a factory churning out her black bean tamales for customers around the country. “It’s hectic here, which means it’s tamale season,” Stavron said in a recent interview with Texas Monthly. Hot Damn, Tamales! ships half-dozen packs nationwide for $14 to $15 up until three days before Christmas. The tamales, which are made with vegetable shortening instead of lard, have customers longing for their next bite. “We get calls starting at 7 a.m. from the East Coast and until midnight from the West Coast,” Stavron said. 817-523-1836
Mi Ranchito, Austin
This South Austin staple has four tamaleras making thousands of tamales by hand every morning it’s open, no matter the time of the year. Customers nationwide can get plump tamales, such as savory chicken in tomatillo and pork in guajillo, for $25.99 a dozen online, and must order by December 16 in time for Christmas. If you want to try the strawberry or sweet potato varieties, you’ll have to be quick since they are the company’s best-sellers. Like many tamale shop owners, Leticia and Celio Najera were inspired by a grandmother’s recipe. 512-292-8107
Pedro’s Tamales, Lubbock
Pete Hale started Pedro’s Tamales as a small kitchen in the back of a downtown Lubbock warehouse in 1977 when he realized he couldn’t get his hands on solid tamales year-round. Pedro’s now makes more than 40,000 tamales daily with a team of thirteen using Hale’s recipe. When state Senator John T. Montford was governor for the day in 1993, he named Pedro’s Tamales the official tamale of Texas. Fans as far away as Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico can get an order of four dozen spicy beef, pork, and jalapeño-popper tamales for $44. Place an order by December 19 to get them in time for Christmas. 806-745-9531
Pennie’s Tex-Mex Take Out, Galveston
Pennie’s tamales are an island staple, and a crew of five people makes 200 dozen tamales a day. Israel “Pennie” Ochoa and his wife, Connie, started the family-owned business in 1978, and now their kids and grandkids work the walk-up counter. Customers can get an order of four dozen beef and pork (mild or spicy) or chicken tamales for $91.96 but must do so by December 15 for delivery by Christmas. Each order comes with a side of Pennie’s barbecue sauce for “a Tex-Mex experience you can’t find anywhere else,” said Ariel Arredondo, the Ochoas’ granddaughter-in-law. 409-765-5719
Texas Lone Star Tamales, Fort Worth
This online-only business has been shipping its third-generation-recipe tamales nationwide since 2006. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is a frequent customer, according to owner Lee Harper. For the holiday season, the company offers Christmas party packs, ranging from four dozen to fifteen dozen, with adventurous stuffings like filet mignon, pumpkin, and apple. The vacuum-sealed packaging allows them to stay fresh in the fridge for ninety days or up to a year in the freezer. 888-825-4113
Texas Tamale Company, Houston
The founders of Texas Tamale Company started their business as a street cart in 1985. Now the Houston staple can be found at grocery stores nationwide. If you can’t find them in your freezer aisle, you can feed your holiday party with a $100 order of four dozen black bean, pork, or Hatch chile tamales (must be placed by December 23). Those feeling extra homesick can add beef chili, queso, and mild green salsa to their order. 713-795-5500
