Tamales de rajas con queso are so delicious and so much easier to make than the ones with a meat filling. This recipe features tamales filled with a flavorful mixture of roasted poblano strips, onion and cheese.
Tamales are not as hard to make as they may seem. I highly suggest you give them a try! Don’t worry about making them look perfect. As you can see in the photo above mine are not perfect but they sure do taste amazing!
The most important thing should be the flavor and consistency of the masa. I can’t stand flavorless masa. Even if the filling is perfectly flavored and delicious the whole tamal will be ruined if the masa is bland.
I like to use chicken bouillon in my masa but you can always use chicken broth if you prefer. In that case simply omit the chicken bouillon in this recipe and replace the water with chicken broth. You can add salt to taste. This recipe makes 32 tamales give or take a few depending on how big or small you make yours.
I’d love to hear what you think of this recipe in the comments below!
Tamales de Rajas
Delicious tamales filled with an amazing combination of roasted poblano peppers and cheese
Ingredients
For the filling
- 10 poblano peppers
- 1 white onion thinly sliced
- 1 1/2 lb monterrey jack cheese cut into 32 slices
- 3 tbs olive oil
- salt to taste
For the masa
- 4 cups Maseca for tamales
- 4 1/2 cups water
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 5 tsp chicken bouillon
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 cup lard
- corn husks
Instructions
For the filling
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Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and grease it with 1 tbs of olive oil.
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Place the poblano peppers on the baking sheet. Broil the peppers in the oven for 10 min. Then flip the peppers over and continue to broil for another 10 minutes.
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Transfer the poblanos to a large Ziploc freezer bag. Seal the bag and let the poblanos sweat for 20 min.
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After the 20 minutes take out the poblanos. Let them cool first if needed. Then remove the skins, stems and seeds and discard. Slice the peppers into strips and set aside.
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In a skillet over medium heat add 2 tbs of olive oil. Add the sliced onion and let cook for about 10 minutes. Make sure to stir occasionally.
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Season the onion with salt. Then add the poblano strips and stir together. Remove from heat.
For the masa
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Soak the corn husks in hot water for 1 hour.
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In a large bowl add the Maseca, baking powder, chicken bouillon, ground cumin and garlic powder. Mix well.
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Slowly add the water while mixing with your hand. The dough should be well moistened.
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In another large bowl add the lard. Beat for a couple of minutes with a mixer.
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Next add the masa to the lard and continue to mix for about 5 min.
Assembling the tamales
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Spread a heaping tbs of masa a corn husk.
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Add a little of the poblano and onion mixture. Then add a slice of cheese.
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Next fold each side of the husk in and fold the bottom part of the husk up.
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Fill the steamer with water then put the steamer insert in and add the tamales standing up.
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Bring the water in the steamer to a boil and lower it to medium low.
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Cover and cook for 1 hour.