How many tamales to order for Christmas dinner

“How many tamales for Christmas?” is the question I answer more than any other from Thanksgiving until the last delivery of December. It comes from the daughter who has taken over the family dinner, the son-in-law who volunteered without asking, and the office manager feeding a team on the last working day. The number is easier than people fear, and getting it right means nobody at the table is counting.

The short answer: For Christmas dinner, plan three tamales per adult and two per child when tamales are the main dish, or one to two per person when they sit beside a ham or turkey. Then add one extra dozen for Christmas morning. At $5 per tamal, a family of ten needs about three dozen, which is $180.

That rule has fed a lot of families. Below is where it comes from, a table you can order straight off of, and the adjustments for the things a headcount alone does not tell you.

How many tamales for Christmas, per person

Start with how big the tamal is. Mine are big: a generous hand of masa wrapped around a real portion of slow-cooked pork or chicken breast, not the slim ones you get by the bag. On a Tuesday, one is lunch for most people and two is dinner. Christmas is different. Dinner runs late, people graze from the moment they walk in, and the tamal is the thing everyone came for.

So my Christmas portions look like this:

• Adults, tamales as the main dish: three each. Some eat two, the uncle eats four, it averages out.
• Adults, tamales beside another main: one to two each. A ham or turkey does the heavy lifting and the tamal is the part they remember.
• Children under ten: two each, usually chicken.
• Teenagers: count them as adults. Sometimes as two adults.
• The morning after: one extra dozen for the whole house, no matter the headcount.

The general version of this rule, for parties and offices the rest of the year, is in my tamales-per-person guide. Christmas is the one time I round up without apology.

Christmas dinner tamale math by headcount

Our tamales are $5 each at any quantity, which means a dozen is $60 and the math never gets complicated. The table below assumes tamales are the main dish at three per adult, with a rough allowance for children, plus the extra dozen for the morning, rounded to whole dozens.

When tamales are a side dish, roughly halve the eaten column and keep the extra dozen. For 16 adults and 6 kids next to a ham, that is about three dozen instead of six. Either way, the menu lists the plate, half-dozen and dozen prices so you can see the total before you ask, and the holiday tamales page explains how Christmas pre-orders are scheduled.

When tamales share the table with a ham or a turkey

In a lot of north Texas houses Christmas dinner is a two-culture table: a spiral ham or a turkey on one end, a pot of tamales on the other, and everybody taking some of each. I love that table. It also changes the math, because a tamal alongside ham is a rich side, not a main.

For that dinner I plan one to two per adult and one per child. The right number inside that range depends on who is coming. A family with roots in Monterrey or San Antonio will treat the tamales as the real dinner and pick at the ham. A family that discovered tamales through a neighbor will do the opposite. If you are not sure, plan two per adult; the leftovers are the best part of ordering too many. And if the big meal is Nochebuena rather than Christmas Day, my Christmas Eve tamale guide covers the late-night version of this table.

If your Christmas looks a lot like your Thanksgiving, with the same big roast in the middle, the piece I wrote on where tamales fit next to the turkey translates directly.

The people the headcount does not tell you about

A Christmas guest list is never quite the number on the text thread. A few adjustments I make when someone describes the table to me:

• The drop-ins. Neighbors who stop by, the boyfriend nobody confirmed, the cousin from Houston who “might” come. Add a half dozen for every five expected guests if your family is the open-door kind.
• The plates that go home. Somebody is taking a plate to a grandmother who could not come, and somebody is taking one for their own breakfast. That is the extra dozen, and often two.
• The late dinner. The later the meal, the more people eat before it. If dinner is at nine, put out a half dozen chicken tamales at six as a snack and count them separately.
• The big eaters. Teenage boys, anyone who just finished a shift, and every man who says he had a big lunch. Count each as one and a half.

None of this is science. It is what I have watched happen at table after table, and it is why the dozens in my table above already lean generous.

How to split the order between pork and chicken

Two fillings carry Christmas in my kitchen. Pork in red salsa is the traditional one: slow-cooked pork shoulder in a sauce of dried red chiles with a warm kick at the finish. Chicken in green salsa uses chicken breast in a bright tomatillo sauce, milder and a little tangy. The pork always goes first, and the chicken is what the kids and the heat-shy relatives reach for.

For a typical family I send two thirds pork and one third chicken. Skew toward pork if your family grew up on red chile, toward an even split if there are many small children or anyone who has to watch the spice. When a table has a lot of both, I round the pork up and the chicken down, because leftover pork tamales vanish faster.

All of our tamales are made with corn masa, so they are naturally gluten-free, though my kitchen is not a certified gluten-free facility and flour tortillas for burritos are made in the same space. If someone at your table has to ask, tell me when you order and I will explain how we separate the work.

Order a dozen too many, on purpose

If you take one thing from this article, take this: at Christmas, over-ordering by a dozen is the correct mistake. Running out at nine at night on Christmas Eve is a story your family will tell for years. Having a dozen left over is breakfast.

Tamales keep in the fridge for several days in their husks, and they freeze well when wrapped tightly, then steam back to fresh in about twenty minutes. I wrote out the details in how to freeze and store tamales. Christmas leftovers in my house are fried in a little butter with eggs on the twenty-fifth, reheated with a fresh bowl of salsa on the twenty-sixth, and gone by the weekend.

For a very large family dinner, a church supper or a team, the bulk tamales by the dozen page explains how bigger orders are delivered and labeled. And if you are hosting across the city line, I deliver throughout Richardson, Plano, Frisco, Allen, McKinney and Dallas.

Ready to order your Christmas dozens?

Count the adults, count the kids, decide whether the tamales are the meal or the side, and pick a number off the table above. Then send me the date and I will do the rest. I read and price every Christmas request myself, usually the same business day, and I will tell you honestly if your number looks light. Maggie’s Tamales & Catering delivers hot, hand-made tamales across north Dallas every December, and the extra dozen for the morning is the best decision you will make all week. Request your Christmas dinner quote before the calendar fills.

Frequently asked questions

How many tamales for Christmas dinner per person?

Three per adult and two per child when tamales are the main dish, or one to two per person when they sit next to a ham or turkey. Add one extra dozen for Christmas morning regardless of headcount. Mine are big tamales, so these numbers already lean generous; if your family is full of teenagers and big eaters, count each as one and a half adults.

How many dozen tamales does a family of ten need for Christmas?

About three dozen when tamales are the main dish, which is $180 at $60 per dozen. That covers roughly three per adult with a few children in the mix, plus the extra dozen for the next morning. If the tamales are a side beside a roast, two dozen is usually enough for ten, and the leftovers still disappear before the weekend.

How many tamales do I need for 50 people at Christmas?

For a large Christmas gathering where tamales are the main dish, plan about two and a half per person after children are counted, which comes to roughly ten to eleven dozen, or $600 to $660. As a side dish next to another main, six to seven dozen covers fifty people. For a group that size I also send salsas, crema and serving spoons so the line moves.

What is the best pork-to-chicken ratio for Christmas tamales?

Two thirds pork in red salsa and one third chicken in green salsa works for most families. Pork is the traditional Christmas tamal and always runs out first; chicken in tomatillo salsa is milder and what children and heat-sensitive relatives choose. Skew toward pork for a red-chile family, and toward an even split when there are a lot of young kids.

Is it better to order too many or too few tamales for Christmas?

Too many, always. Running out on Christmas Eve is the story your family retells for years; having a dozen left over is breakfast. Tamales keep for several days in the fridge in their husks and freeze well when wrapped tightly, then steam back in about twenty minutes. Order the number in the table and add a dozen if your family has an open door.

How far ahead do I need to order tamales for Christmas?

As early as you know your rough headcount, ideally in November and no later than early December. Every tamal is made by hand the week it is delivered, so the days before Christmas have a limit, and the last windows are usually spoken for by mid-month. A rough number is easy to adjust later, and your deadline for changes is confirmed with the quote.