Substitute For Lard In Tamales For A Healthy Lifestyle

Last Updated on May 19, 2022 by

Are you looking for a substitute for lard in tamales to enjoy them in a healthy way? Any time of the year is a good time to enjoy a delicious tamal, especially in the morning when it feels cold and you want warmth. Although there certainly are favorites, there are a myriad of ways to make a tamal. The corn masa is steamed within a corn or banana leaf and flavored with either vegetables, meat, sweets, or a combination of these.

However, the tamal is usually not the healthiest of foods to prepare. A single one can contain more than 600 calories. But there are always options available to continue to enjoy these delicacies without having to break your diet.

Lard, or pig fat, is an essential ingredient in most tamales as it gives them the characteristic flavor that we love so much. But despite having some health benefits, it´s a good idea to substitute it with something, more often than not. Especially if you’ve eaten tamales for a long time, it may come as a surprise that there are many ways to replace the lard ingredient without losing too much of its characteristic touch.

You can get pretty creative actually. You can use vegetable lard to substitute the pig-based kind, as well as coconut oil which has many wonderful properties that your body is sure to appreciate.

Jump to Recipe

How To Make Vegetarian Lard For Healthy Tamales

Equipment

• Grater
• Frying pan
• Stirring utensil

Ingredients

• Full onion
• An apple
• Coconut oil
• Spices

Step by Step Instructions On How To Make Vegetarian Lard

Step 1: Cut the fresh ingredients

Cut up the onion into small pieces and peel and then grate the apple.

Step 2: Heat the frying pan

Heat the frying pan and add a little bit of coconut oil.

Step 3: Cook the fresh ingredients

Once it´s hot, fry the onion until they´re golden brown, but make sure not to toast it, at which point you then add the grated apple pieces and the spices and fry it all together for about 5 min, making sure to stir it constantly.

Tamale Masa Recipe With Oil

Here´s a whole tamale masa recipe with oil. It´s a way of preparing tamales with coconut oil. Although the texture may be pretty different from the usual tamal and the flavor changes, the truth is that it is a delicious and healthy way of partaking in the tamal experience!

Equipment

• Equipment
• Large and wide stockpot
• Large bowl
• Generous mixing bowl
• Cloth
• Whisk
• Saucepan
• Spoon

Ingredients

• 4 cups of corn masa flour
• 30 corn husks
• 3/4 cup of coconut oil
• 3 and a half cups of warm vegetable broth (store-bought is fine)
• A teaspoon each of salt, cumin, and chili powder
• Half a tsp. each of onion and garlic powder, and paprika(ideally smoked) 
• Hot water

Step 1: Soak corn husks in water

Fill the large bowl with hot water and ease in the corn husks to soak for about half an hour.

Step 2: Dry the corn husks

Afterward, take the corn husks out to dry making sure that you drain them and pat them dry with a cloth.

Step 3: Heat the broth

Heat up the vegetable broth.

Step 4: Make the masa

In the mixing drop in the masa, salt, and all the seasons and whisk them all together well.

Step 5: Add the broth

Now, slowly add in the warm broth as you mix everything up with your hands. It should be quite uniform.

Step 6: Add the coconut oil

Melt the coconut oil and add it in as well, then knead it all together.

Step 7: Add the filling

Take the husks and tear them into strips that you can tie. Use a spoon to adjust the masa mixture into them, and then the filling, leaving some room to be able to fold them so that they are covered shut. Then, you tie each one with a strip of husk.

Step 8: Cook the tamales

Place the tamales neatly with the open ends facing up in the steamer basket of the stockpot. Add about two inches of water and heat it on high until it boils, at which point you can set the heat on medium. Cook them for about an hour, making sure that they have enough water until the dough gets pretty hard and it pulls a little.

Step 9: Serve the tamales

Now you just leave them be for 10 minutes to settle and they’re ready to serve!

Tips and Tricks for Lardless Tamales

The seasonings that you include in this recipe can be quite varied, and you’re more than welcome to try ingredients that you personally like, such as different chilis, lime, oregano, and garlic.

Find out what pleases your tastebuds the most, and have fun with it! 

You can also make tamales with butter instead of lard. This is the most popular way to go as butter is an ingredient that you most frequently have in your fridge.

Servings and preparation time

Cooking Time: 90 minutes.

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Servings: 6 guests.

Conclusion

The great thing about tamales is that they are creative foods that can be taken in so many wonderful and delicious directions. While the most flavorful do use pig lard, there are alternatives that are very tasty as well and that invite you to use healthier ingredients precisely because you don’t have pig lard as a flavor support. Vegetable butter and coconut oil are great alternatives that will provide a unique delicious flavor to your tamales.

Truly healthy tamales aren´t the easiest things to find because the pork butter plays such a big role in the savory, greasy taste. But they are out there, and you can make them yourself right in your own kitchen with recipes like these.

And don’t be afraid to combine recipes and methods as you never know what’s going to please your unique flavor palate the most.

So enjoy making flavor-rich and healthy tamales even if you’ve never made them before. Who knows? You may have found one of your next favorite foods without having to worry about your waistline!

Vegetarian Lard For Healthy Tamales

Just Mexican Food

You can get pretty creative actually. You can use vegetable lard to substitute the pig-based kind, as well as coconut oil which has many wonderful properties that your body is sure to appreciate.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mexican

Equipment

• Grater
• Frying pan
• Stirring utensil
• Ingredients

Ingredients

  

• 1 Full onion
• 1 Apple
• Coconut oil
• Spices

Instructions

 

• Cut the fresh ingredients. Cut up the onion into small pieces and peel and then grate the apple.
  1 Full onion, 1 Apple
• Heat the frying pan. Heat the frying pan and add a little bit of coconut oil.
  Coconut oil
• Cook the fresh ingredients. Once it´s hot, fry the onion until they´re golden brown, but make sure not to toast it, at which point you then add the grated apple pieces and the spices and fry it all together for about 5 min, making sure to stir it constantly.

Keyword healthy tamales, lardless tamales, substitute for lard in tamales, tamale masa recipe with oil, tamales with butter instead of lard

Casia Valdés

Casia is a passionate home cook who loves to share her love of Mexican food with the world. She has been cooking since she was a child, helping her grandmother in the kitchen and learning the traditional techniques used to create delicious Mexican dishes. Casia loves to experiment with new ingredients and flavors, always looking for ways to make her dishes even more flavorful. She is also passionate about teaching others about Mexican cuisine and its rich history. When she is not in the kitchen, Casia enjoys exploring new cultures, traveling, and spending time with her family.