This Turkey Tamales recipe was born out of leftovers. One year, we had way too much leftover Thanksgiving turkey in the fridge, and tamale season was in full effect. Tamale season is my favorite time of the year. My birthday is in October, and that’s when we start making tamales. In my family, we eat tamales from October until Día de los Reyes on January 6. My leftover turkey tamales were a huge hit. The result was so delicious that I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of making tamales with turkey sooner.
If you prefer more traditional tamales, try my authentic Red Pork Tamales.
Quick Recipe Notes
- Taste Profile: Rich, earthy pibil sauce with bright citrus notes. Smoky, savory, and mild—not spicy.
- Texture: Soft, fluffy masa wrapped around juicy, tender turkey that’s been simmered in flavorful pibil sauce.
- Key Secret: Let the turkey simmer in the pibil sauce before assembling the tamales. It gives the meat time to soak up all those delicious Yucatán flavors.
- Make Ahead: Both the pibil sauce and the cooked tamales freeze beautifully, making this a great holiday meal prep recipe.
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-Maggie
These Turkey Tamales bring together two holiday traditions in one delicious recipe. Thanksgiving is one of the biggest celebrations in the United States, while tamales are a must for Christmas and New Year’s in many Mexican homes.
Wild turkeys are native to North America, including both Mexico and the United States, making this recipe a natural blend of both cultures.
🌽 How to Prepare Corn Husks for Tamales
- Separate them and remove any debris like hair.
- Place them in a deep container and cover them with hot water.
- On top of the husks, place an object that’s heavy enough to submerge under the water.
- Let them sit in the hot water for 30 minutes to overnight (if they are really hard).
- Once they are pliable, they are ready for assembling tamales.
👩🏼🍳 How to Make the Masa
- Mix masa harina, salt, and baking powder.
- Whip up shortening. Slowly add the masa harina and broth.
- Mixing well in batches, until you reach a smooth consistency.
Check out my Masa for Tamales recipe for more tips.
If this is your first time making masa, I strongly recommend buying masa from a Mexican market. Taste it to see what it is supposed to taste like, then try making it on your own.
You might also want to try my recipe for Masa with Oil which does not use lard or shortening.
🌶️ How to Make the Sauce
- For these tamales, I’m using the same homemade pibil sauce I make for my Cochinita Pibil and Pollo Pibil recipes. It is typically made with sour oranges. They can be hard to find in the US. Instead use a mixture of equal parts orange juice and lime juice.
- Add the ingredients to the blender.
- Blend until smooth. Set aside until ready to use.
- You can freeze any leftover sauce. Pibil sauce lasts up to 6 months in the freezer in an airtight container.
What does the sauce for cochinita pibil taste like?
The sauce is very aromatic from all the spices. Earthy from the achiote and chiles. It is not spicy but deep in flavors and slightly sweet from the oranges.
What can I use instead of pibil sauce? Not sure about pibil sauce? Use guajillo sauce or adobo sauce instead. You can even use something more basic like roasted tomatillo salsa verde or this authentic chipotle salsa recipe.
🦃 The Turkey Filling
Dice or shred the cooked turkey into bite-sized pieces, then simmer it in the homemade pibil sauce for about 15 minutes. This gives the turkey plenty of time to soak up all those smoky, citrusy flavors before you assemble the tamales.
- Let the filling cool until it’s easy to handle before assembling the tamales.
No Leftover Turkey?
This recipe also works beautifully with:
- shredded chicken
- leftover pork
- rotisserie chicken
🫔 How To Assemble Turkey Tamales
- Spread masa on a corn husk.
- Using your best judgement, add some of the turkey pibil.
- Fold the sides in.
- Fold the pointy side inward.
- Place folded tamales in a container, standing up with the opening facing up. This is to prevent the filling from falling out.
How much masa equals how many dozens of tamales? As a general rule, one pound of prepared masa makes about one dozen medium tamales.
- Add the water to the steamer.
- Place the Turkey Pibil Tamales open side up.
- Cover with a lid and cook for 1 ½-2 hours.
🙋🏻♀️ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
If the masa sticks to the husk, the tamales probably need a little more cooking time. If they’re fully cooked and still sticking, the masa may need more fat, such as lard or shortening.
Store cooked tamales in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Freeze them in a freezer-safe bag for up to 6 months.
Pibil is a traditional cooking style from Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. Meat is marinated with achiote, citrus juice, garlic, and spices, then traditionally wrapped in banana leaves and slow-cooked until tender.
No. Remove the corn husk and discard. Tamales are eaten with a fork and knife.
🌟 Maggie Tips
- If the masa still sticks after two hours, turn off the heat and leave the tamales inside the covered steamer for another hour. The resting time often finishes the cooking process perfectly.
- You can also cook tamales much faster in an Instant Pot. Be sure to check out my Instant Pot Chicken Tamales and Instant Pot Pork Tamales recipes.
🍴 More Authentic Mexican Tamales
- Pumpkin Tamales
- Jalapeno Cheese Tamales
- Red Chicken Tamales
- Tamales de Elote (Corn Tamales)
- Beef Tamales
- Tamales de Rajas con Queso
- Tamales de Cajeta
- Chicken Salsa Verde Tamales
- Sweet Tamales
- Birria Tamales
- Strawberry Tamales
What to serve with tamales: Mexican pickled onions, frijoles refritos, and more pibil sauce.
If you’re looking for a creative way to use leftover Thanksgiving turkey, these Turkey Tamales deserve a spot on your holiday menu. They’re rich, flavorful, freezer-friendly, and a wonderful way to bring together Mexican and American traditions. Once you try them, you’ll be happy to have extra turkey every Thanksgiving.
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Turkey Tamales
Ingredients
For the Sauce:
- 10 guajillo chiles
- 4 cup water
- 1 cup orange juice
- 1 cup lime juice
- 1 onion rough chopped
- 1 garlic bulb
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
- 1 bar achiote
- ½ cinnamon stick
- 1 cup water
For the Masa:
- ⅔ cups lard (or shortening)
- 2 cups masa harina
- 1½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1¾ cups hot chicken broth (or hot water)
For the Tamales:
- 6 cups cooked turkey diced
- 30 corn husks (you'll need about 30 since some are not always usable)
- water enough to fill the steamer
Instructions
To make the sauce:
- Remove stems and cut lengthwise on all the chiles.
- Remove the seeds and any veins.
- Place in a pot. Cover with 4 cups of water.
- Bring to a boil. Turn heat off.
- Let sit for 5-10 minutes, until pliable.
- Discard the water.
- Add the rehydrated chile and the remaining sauce ingredients.
- Blend until smooth.
- Strain the sauce. Set aside.
- Reserve 1 cup of the sauce for serving in the fridge.
For the Corn Husks:
- Separate the husks.
- Remove any debris like hair or dirt.
- Place in a large container.
- Cover with hot water.
- Add a heavy object over the husks so they can be submerged in water.
- This will take a minimum 30 minutes.
How to Make Masa for Tamales:
- Mix the masa harina, salt, and baking powder in a bowl.
- Whip up the lard (or shortening) until it's smooth.
- Slowly add the masa harina mixture and broth with the lard.
- Alternate between the masa harina and broth until there are no more ingredients.
- Scrape down the walls of the bowl periodically.
- The masa should be smooth and creamy.
For the Filling:
- Add diced turkey and sauce to a large pot.
- Mix to combine.
- Cook for 15 minutes.
- Let cool before assembling tamales.
How to Assemble Tamales:
- Shake off any excess water from the corn husks.
- Smear a thin layer of masa on the husk.
- Use your best judgement on how much filling to add.
- Fold one side of the corn husk in.
- Fold the other side of husk in.
- Fold the pointy top inward.
- Place upright with the open side up while assembling the rest of the tamales.
- Add water to the steamer.
- Arrange the uncooked tamales inside the steamer with the open side up.
- Cover with the lid.
- Cook for 1 ½ to 2 hours.
- Wrap and serve with reserved pibil sauce and pickled onions.
Tamales for the win. A favorite in our house. Nice tasty additions you have in your recipe.
Right? this recipe is delicious. Hope you try it!
My mind Is blown with this recipe! I feel like I’ve been missing out on life not knowing about these! YUM!!
This recipe is amazing! Hope you try it
Fantastic dish, cannot wait to try it. We love turkey but never had it this way. Thanks for sharing this recipe
It’s different and delicious. Hope you try it!
Oh how I love tamales! And this Turkey Pibil Tamales looks really scrumptious!
Tamales are amazing, I love them too!
These look super tasty! Having friends over on the weekend so I might try this!
Hope you and your friends love this recipe as much as I do!
I love adding citrus to my meals! These look so dang good!
Thank you very much. Glad you like it
I love tamales and this recipe with turkey is so flavorful. Really delicious!
I think so too! flavorful is the appropriate word!
I’ve always wanted to make tamales at home and this pibil sauce sounds amazing! I can’t wait to try it.
Hope you try it Emily!
Tamales from leftover turkey! Genius!
Right? We love them too!
These are so tasty – we had never made tamales before, but this will be our go to recipe from now on!
This recipe is amazing. Glad you liked it!