Tamales as holiday gifts: the dozen that beats a fruit basket

Tamales as gifts started in my family the way most good ideas do: by accident. My mother sent a dozen to a neighbor who had driven her to the doctor, and that neighbor talked about it until the following Christmas. Now every December I wrap dozens for people who have figured out what she figured out, which is that a warm pan of tamales says thank you louder than anything that comes in cellophane.

The short answer: a dozen tamales is one of the best holiday gifts you can send in north Dallas because it is generous, personal and gone by the weekend. One dozen from my kitchen costs $60 and feeds a family of four to six; it arrives hot and labeled by filling and reheats in a steamer in twenty minutes. Order a week or two ahead in December and tell me who it is for.

This guide covers who a dozen suits, how many to send, how delivery works when the person receiving it is not the person paying, and what to tell them so the tamales taste as good on day three as they did at the door.

Why tamales make better holiday gifts than a fruit basket

I have nothing against fruit. But think about what happens to a fruit basket: it sits on the counter, the pears bruise, the little jar of jam goes in a cabinet, and by January the basket is holding mail. A pan of tamales gets eaten that night, with the family standing around the stove, and the person you sent it to calls you while their mouth is still full.

Three things make tamales work as a gift where other food does not.

• They are a meal, not a snack. A dozen of my tamales, which are big, is dinner for a family of four with leftovers for breakfast. You have given someone a night off from cooking in the most exhausting month of the year.
• They mean something. In Mexican families the tamal is the Christmas food, made by hand in a crowd the day before the holiday. Sending tamales says “I made room for you at my table,” even to someone who has never folded a husk.
• They keep. Tamales hold for days in the refrigerator and months in the freezer, and they reheat better than nearly any other dish. The gift does not have to be eaten the hour it lands.

Every tamal in that pan is made from scratch the same morning, with corn masa that is naturally gluten-free, pork simmered in red chile or chicken breast in green tomatillo salsa. The recipes come from the women in my family, and I describe them on the menu page if the person you are sending to wants to know what they are eating.

Who to send tamales to

These are the people my customers send tamales to most, and the reason each one works.

• The neighbor who helped. Watched the dog, took in packages, jumped the car. A dozen at their door on a Friday afternoon is worth more than a gift card and easier to accept.
• The teacher or the coach. Teachers get mugs. Nobody gives them dinner. A half dozen, delivered to their home on the last Friday before the break, is the gift they talk about in the lounge.
• Family who cannot cook right now. New parents, someone recovering from surgery, a parent who lost a spouse this year and is not making tamales for the first Christmas in fifty. Send the dozen, then send a text saying it is coming.
• The host of Christmas dinner. If your sister is roasting the turkey for eighteen people, two dozen tamales delivered the day before means one thing she does not have to make, and the one thing everyone asks for.
• Your office or your clients. A pan on the break-room counter beats a tin of popcorn. I cover this end to end in my guide to tamales as corporate gifts, and the office catering page explains how a standing order works.
• Yourself. Plenty of people order a dozen “for the freezer” on the same day they order gifts, and I do not judge.

How many tamales to send as a gift

Match the size to the household, not to the budget. A couple does not want three dozen, and a family of seven will be quietly disappointed by six. My tamales are big: two make a lunch, three make a dinner. Here is how I size a gift when a customer asks.

Split anything a dozen or larger between pork in red salsa and chicken in green. The pans arrive labeled, so a household with a child who does not like heat and an uncle who wants it goes home happy. For a gift to someone with a gluten concern, the masa is naturally gluten-free, though I should say plainly that burritos with flour tortillas are made in the same kitchen, so it is not a certified facility.

How gift delivery works when you are not the one at the door

My kitchen in Richardson is a delivery kitchen, not a store. Nothing is picked up; my own team drives everything out, hot, in a window we agree on, between 9 AM and 2 PM on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. For a gift, that means a few practical things.

1. Somebody has to be home. Hot food does not sit on a porch in December, or in July for that matter. Check that the person will be there in the window, or pick a window you know works, like a Saturday late morning.
2. Tell me it is a gift. Put it in the quote request, with the recipient’s name and your name, so nobody at the door is confused about a pan of tamales they did not order. A short text from you when the window opens is the best card there is.
3. Give me the right address. I deliver to Richardson, Plano, Frisco, Allen, McKinney and Dallas, and the service area page lists where else the van goes. If the gift is going somewhere I cannot reach, I will tell you before you pay, not after.
4. Small gifts go through DoorDash. A half dozen or a dozen to someone nearby can go out the same day during kitchen hours through the ordering page. Anything bigger, anything for a specific date, or anything going to several addresses is a quote, and I write those myself.

The tamales arrive in foil pans, wrapped in their husks, with salsa and crema on request. They are not in a ribboned box, and I have decided that is a feature. A ribboned box is a present; a hot pan is dinner.

When to order tamales as gifts in December

The weeks before Thanksgiving and Christmas are the busiest of my year, and gift orders compete with every family in north Dallas ordering for Christmas Eve. Requests are priced in the order they arrive, and the delivery windows people want most, the Friday and Saturday before Christmas, fill first. My honest advice: the day you decide to send tamales, send the request. I explain the whole calendar in when to order Christmas tamales.

Two more timing notes. The kitchen is closed on Thursdays and Sundays, so a gift for a Sunday brunch goes out Saturday and gets reheated; that costs nothing in quality. And if Christmas or Christmas Eve fall on a closed day, the delivery moves earlier in the week, which I confirm with the quote. The holiday tamales page is where the pre-orders live.

What to tell the person you are sending them to

A gift of tamales comes with instructions, and the best gifts come with them written down. Text the recipient this, or say it in the card.

• Eat them tonight if you can. They arrive hot and at their best. If dinner is later, keep the pan covered in a low oven or move the tamales into a steamer on the lowest flame.
• Refrigerate the rest in their husks. They keep for several days that way. Do not unwrap them until you are about to eat.
• Reheat with steam, not a dry oven. Twenty minutes in a steamer basket, or a damp paper towel and a couple of minutes in the microwave in a pinch. My guide to reheating tamales covers every method, and the freezing guide explains how to bank the rest for January.
• Red is pork, green is chicken. The labels say so, but people love being told. The red has a little kick; the green is the mild one.

And tell them who made it. Every review I have ever gotten, more than 470 of them at five stars, comes from someone who was handed a tamal and asked where it came from. The reviews page is a decent card in itself.

Ready to send a dozen?

Tell me who it is for, where they live, the day you want it there and how many people are in the house, and I will send a price and a delivery window the same business day. Maggie’s has fed teachers, new parents, grieving families and whole offices from a foil pan, and the tamales arrive hot, labeled and ready to open. Request a gift quote now, before the December windows are gone.

Frequently asked questions

Are tamales a good idea as holiday gifts?

Yes, for anyone who eats. A dozen big tamales is a full dinner for a family of four to six, it carries real meaning in Mexican tradition as the Christmas food made for a crowd, and it keeps for days in the refrigerator and months in the freezer. Unlike a fruit basket or a tin of popcorn, it is eaten the night it arrives and remembered afterward. Send it to someone who cannot cook right now and you have given them an evening.

How much does a dozen tamales cost as a gift?

One dozen from my kitchen is $60 and a half dozen is $30. That works out to $5 per tamal at any quantity, so two dozen is $120 and five dozen is $300. Delivery details are confirmed with the quote. There is no gift-box upcharge, because there is no gift box; the tamales arrive hot in foil pans, labeled pork or chicken, with salsa and crema on request.

Can you deliver tamales to someone else’s address?

Yes. I deliver to Richardson, Plano, Frisco, Allen, McKinney, Dallas and the northern suburbs, hot, in an agreed window between 9 AM and 2 PM on kitchen days. Put the recipient’s name and address in the quote request, note that it is a gift and from whom, and make sure someone will be home. Hot tamales should not wait on a porch. A text from you when the window opens is the best card.

How far ahead should I order tamales as a Christmas gift?

As early as you can in December. The two weeks before Christmas are the busiest of my year, with every family in north Dallas ordering for Christmas Eve, and the Friday and Saturday windows before the holiday go first. Requests are priced the same business day in the order they arrive. A week or two of notice is usually comfortable; a large office order deserves more.

How long do gifted tamales keep, and how should the recipient reheat them?

Kept in their husks in the refrigerator, several days; frozen, a few months. Reheat with steam: twenty minutes in a steamer basket over simmering water brings them back to the morning they were made, and a damp paper towel and a couple of minutes in the microwave works in a pinch. Avoid a dry oven, which hardens the masa. Tell the recipient this in the card so the last tamal is as good as the first.

Can I send tamales to several people or several addresses at once?

Yes, through the quote form rather than DoorDash. List each recipient with an address and a day, and I will price the whole thing as one order with one invoice, which is how most offices handle client gifts. Delivery windows for multiple stops are arranged around the kitchen schedule, so the more notice you can give in December, the more choice you have about which day each pan lands.