Tamales de Elote 🫔🌽 are soft, sweet Mexican tamales made with corn, masa harina, butter, and sugar. This easy version uses canned corn instead of fresh, so you can make sweet corn tamales any time of year.
They are fluffy, buttery, and delicious served warm with crema mexicana and queso cotija.
If you love tamales, also try my Red Pork Tamales.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe ❤️
- No fresh corn needed. Canned corn makes these sweet corn tamales easy to make year-round.
- Easy to assemble. There is no separate filling and no need to spread masa over the husks.
- Soft and fluffy. The corn, butter, and masa harina give these tamales a tender texture.
- Perfect for dessert. They are lightly sweet and delicious with crema mexicana, cotija cheese, or a drizzle of sweetened condensed milk.
- Easy to customize. Add chopped pecans, almonds, or shredded coconut for a different twist.
-Maggie
🌽 Ingredients
- Canned corn
- Baking Powder
- Butter
- Vanilla
- Masa Harina
- Sugar
- Cinnamon
- Salt
- Corn Husks
Fresh corn gives these tamales a slightly different flavor, but canned corn makes this recipe convenient year-round.
Instructions
🥣 How to Make the Filling
- Drain the canned corn.
- Add to a blender and blend until smooth.
Do not add water. Canned corn is already cooked and already has plenty of water in it. Look for canned corn that has salt.
These are sweet tamales just like tamales dulces and tamales de fresa. Perfect for dessert!
- In a bowl, add rest of the ingredients.
- Add half of the corn mixture and mix well.
- Then add the rest of the corn mixture and mix again.
Customize this by adding ½ cup chopped pecans or chopped almonds. Another great addition is ½ cup of shredded coconut.
🌽 Preparing the Corn Husks
- Remove the silk. Soak the corn husks.
- About 20 minutes in hot water.
These particular corn husks were recently dried and did not require the full 20 minutes of soaking. If you are working with older corn husks that are very dry, they will need longer than 20 minutes in hot water, up to an hour. Rinse and repeat until they are pliable and foldable.
🥄 Assembling Tamales
- Drain and shake off any excess water from the corn husks.
- Using your best judgment, add the corn mixture right to the center of the husk. (usually about 2 tablespoons)
- Fold one side in. Fold the other side in.
- Fold over the pointy top inward, toward the center.
No smearing masa for tamales. No separate filling.
Simply add the mixture and fold. You’ll see the corn mixture almost conform to the corn husks.
♨️ Steaming Tamales
- Set the uncooked tamales in a container while assembling.
- Make sure the open side is up so the filling doesn’t fall out.
- Add water to a stock pot.
- Line the stockpot with leftover corn husks.
- Place the tamales upright.
- Steam for 1 to 1 ½ hour.
- Leave the tamales inside with the lid on.
- Let them rest for 15 minutes before testing.
Feel free to place more corn husks or a kitchen towel on top. Optional.
I was able to get 15 large tamales out of this recipe. For smaller tamales, you can get up to 20, maybe more.
- Remove a tamal. Preferably one that is small and peel the husk open.
- The tamales are ready when the tamal pulls away from the corn husk easily.
👩🏼🍳 Pro Tip
Why are my tamales not ready after 1 ½ hour? Turn off the stove. Lid on. Leave the tamales inside. Sometimes, they just need time to sit in a hot pot. You can’t rush tamales!
🙋🏻♀️ Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Canned corn makes these sweet corn tamales easy to prepare when fresh corn is not in season. Drain the corn well and blend it without adding water.
Use canned sweet kernel corn. Drain it before blending. There is no need to cook the corn first because canned corn is already cooked.
No. This is important. Canned corn already contains plenty of liquid, so adding water can make the tamale mixture too wet.
Yes. Tamales de Elote are traditionally sweet corn tamales. This recipe uses sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon for a lightly sweet flavor.
They are ready when the tamal pulls away from the corn husk easily. If they need more time after 1½ hours of steaming, turn off the heat, keep the lid on, and let them rest in the hot steamer before testing again.
🫙 Storing Instructions
- Place in an airtight, sealable container. Remove as much air as possible, if using a bag. Keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. In the freezer, in an airtight sealable bag, they last up to 5 months.
🔥 Reheating Instructions
- If frozen, thaw in the fridge overnight. Or steam frozen for 30 minutes in a steamer pot, or until hot. If thawed, reheat on high in the microwave for 2 to 2 ½ minutes.
🫔 More Tamales Recipes
- Breakfast Tamales
- Green Chicken Tamales
- Tamales de Rajas con Queso
- Instant Pot Chicken Tamales
- Beef Tamales
- Chicken Mole Tamales
- Instant Pot Pork Tamales
- Birria Tamales
These easy Tamales de Elote are a great way to enjoy sweet corn tamales without waiting for fresh corn to be in season. They are soft, buttery, lightly sweet, and simple to make.
Sweet Corn Tamales (Easy Tamales de Elote)
Ingredients
- 20-25 corn husks (depending on size of tamales)
- 4 cans sweet kernel corn 15.25 ounce cans
- 2 cups masa harina (for tamales)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 ½ stick butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Toppings:
- queso cotija or queso fresco (optional)
- crema mexicana, sour cream, or sweetened condensed milk (optional)
Instructions
Prep the Corn Husks
- Remove the silk from the corn husks.
- Cover with hot water.
- Place a heavy object over them so they are fully submerged in the hot water.
- Leave them in the hot water for about 20 minutes. Or longer if they are very dry husks.
- Once they are foldable, drain and discard the water.
- Shake off any excess water and set aside until ready to assemble.
Make the Filling
- Drain the cans.
- Add the corn to the blender. Do not add water.
- Blend until smooth.
- In a large bowl, add the masa harina, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, butter, and vanilla.
- Add half of the corn mixture.
- Mix well. Then add the remaining corn mixture.
- Mix again. Set aside until ready to assemble.
Assembling Tamales
- Take a soaked corn husk and add some of the corn filling to the center. Usually about 2 tablespoons.
- Use your best judgement. If it's a smaller husk, add less corn filling.
- Do not add some to the pointy top.
- There is not smearing with these tamales.
- Simply fold one side of the husk over, fold the other side inward.
- Lastly fold the pointy top toward the center of the tamal.
- In a large baking dish or large bowl, set the uncooked tamales upright with the open side up.
- Repeat until there are no more ingredients.
Preparing the Steamer Pot
- Add water to a steamer pot.
- Line the bottom of the steamer pot with leftover corn husks.
- Place the uncooked tamales around the bottom of the pot.
- Cover with the lid.
Steaming
- Cook for 1 ½ hours.
- Turn off the stove.
- Leave the tamales inside with the lid on.
- Let them rest for 15 minutes before testing.
- Remove a tamal and peel the corn husk.
- They are ready when the husk remove easily from the tamal.
How to Serve
- Let them cool slightly before serving.
- Top with queso fresco or cotija.
- Drizzle with crema mexicana or sweetened condensed milk. Enjoy!
Made these my family loved them they didn’t last long at all
That’s so great! I find these to be one of the easiest tamales to make. I’ve been making them for years, and they’re always a big hit. Happy to hear your family loved them! 🙂
Do you have a recipe for corn tamales using fresh corn and leaving out the sugar and cinnamon. I do not like sweet tamales. Thank you for your help.
I don’t unfortunately. This tamales recipe is for REALLY easy using canned corn. I still plan to write the original recipe. One of these days 🙂
Fantastic! Quick annd easy and a definite keeper!
That’s so great to hear! I love how easy this recipe is. The traditional version for tamales de elote involves whole corn, and it can get messy. Thank you for trying this recipe.