Chevy’s Sweet Corn Tamalitos

Chevy’s Sweet Corn Tamalitos

  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Total Time: 1 hrs 10 mins
  • Servings: 6-8
  • About This Recipe

    “I started seeing this delightful little scoop of heaven on the edge of my plate at a few of the Mexican restaurants around town, so I decided make it at home. This recipe is actually the recipe they use at Chevy’s, which I found published in the local paper.”

    Ingredients

  • 5tablespoonsmargarine, softened
  • 1/4 cupmasa harina flour
  • 1/3 cupsugar
  • 2cupscorn kernels( fresh or frozen, thawed)
  • 1/2 cupcornmeal
  • 1/2 cupwater
  • 1teaspoonbaking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoonsalt
  • 2tablespoonsmilk
  • 1teaspoonmilk
  • Directions

  • In a small bowl, mix the margarine, masa and sugar with mixer until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.
  • Blend 1/2 the corn kernels with the water in a blender until smooth.
  • Combine with margarine mixture, stirring well.
  • Add the remaining corn, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and milk.
  • Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil.
  • Pour the mixture into an 8-inch baking dish.
  • Tightly cover with plastic wrap and set atop the saucepan of boiling water.
  • Keep pan tightly wrapped and steam for 50 minutes to 1 hour.
  • Check water level often, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  • I have also made this in the oven, setting the pan in a water bath.
  • I do not know the temp I had the oven on, or how long I kept it inches If anyone tries it, please add that info.
  • Reviews

  • “Amazing! I put in an 8×8 pyrex covered with foil, then into a 9×13 pyrex with the water in it (make sure the water is boiling first, otherwise cooking will take longer). Baked for an hour at 350 and it was perfect! It did seem a little “crumbly” compared to what I remember from Chevy’s, but I did use a couple Tbsp less butter, and only 1/4 c sugar. Was not dry though. And between 6 of us at dinner, the entire thing was gone. A huge hit! Served warm, after sitting a bit from the oven.”

  • “I love sweet corn!! The first time I ever tasted this dish was at my favorite Tex-Mex restaurant. It was served on the side of the plate, and not only would they NOT give me the recipe, they wouldn’t even tell me what it was called… LOL! Thanks Erin for posting this recipe! I used fresh super-sweet corn and it was heavenly! :o)”

  • “Woowhee!!! We had a Tex-Mex Christmas Eve dinner and I brought this.It tastes just like the Tamalitos from Chevy’s and was super easy to make,.I had never heard of cooking in a water bath before, so I was nervous.I poured it into an 8″ pyrex covered in foil, and set it inside of a longer pyrex half full of boiling water.It cooked at 350 degrees in about an hour and 10 minutes.Thanks!”

  • “This recipe taste just like the Tomalito from Chevy’s.To make it simpler I added an additional cup of water and cooked in my rice cooker on the brown rice setting and came out perfect!”

  • “I had my doubts about this because the dough looked funny but it did come out nicely. This is best when it’s fresh, it doesn’t really keep well. The tomalitos were good, but not something I’d make again due to the amount of work involved and the fat content.”

  • “very rich and sweet, also you can micrwave it on high. make sure it’s in a hot bath and cover also, it takes about15 min. stir half way through.”

  • “These were JUST what I was looking for!! These were easy to make and just wonderful in taste and texture!I used the water-bath-in-the-oven method, covering the 8″ pan tightly w/foil and putting it in a 9X13 pan filled partway w/boiling water.(Don’t cover the 9X13 pan.)It baked up very nicely at 350 for 1 hour.Also, at the tip of another reviewer, I let the tomalitos cool and served them w/a cookie scoop.Superb! ~ Jeff’s Girl Way Out West”

  • “Perfect in every way.The water in the boiling pot needs replenishing at least three times.Letting the tomalitos cool allows you to form balls to put on the sides of your guests’ plates.”

  • “I have thrown out my old El Toritocopycat recipe for almost the exactrecipe. In its place I have now addedthis to my permanent recipe file.I cooked the tomalito in a 3-piece bamboo steamer in a castiron pot on the stove. First I placed the bottom third of the bamboo steamer in the pot, next the second tier on which I put a piece of parchment paper, added the tomalito mixtue on top of the parchment, lastly I sealed the top tier with a piece of foil then placed the bamboo cover on top of that. Tried cooking the mixture both ways-in the oven in a “Mary’s bath” and on top of the range with excellent results with both methods. Today when I made this I was out of cornmeal and substituted polenta with no negative effects. Consistency a bit different, but that could have been my imagination.Noticed it took longer though to cookon the range than in the oven. But Ihave a tempermental electric stove, too.Thanks for sharing. CG”

  • “Thanks so much for posting this recipe.We have always loved this dish as served by various Mexican restaurants, but I could never replicate it before this.I followed the recipe exactly except after wrapping the pan in foil I put it in a boiling water bath in a 350 oven for 1 hour.It was perfect!!”

  • “They taste just like the resturants’; sweet. I cheated and used creamed corn and omitted the water, so it might have come out a little moist. I love that I can now make these from scratch. I’ll try frying them next.By the way, other recipes have them in an oven with a 350 degree F. temperature for about an hour.”

  • “I gave this 4 stars for the taste and for figuring out Chevy’s unusual recipe.I can usually figure out recipes just by eating the dish, but this time I was stumped.>br/br/br/br/br/br/

  • “IT’S DELICIOUS!!!I made some important modifications and simplified the process a bit.Based on the previous helpful comments, I added more moisture…You will need a 7×10” glass pyrex baking dish, or similar (if doubling the recipe) and
    a 9×12″ pan/ baking dish, or a pan larger that the one above for the water bath.I doubled the recipe so that I would have leftovers.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.As oven is preheating, fill a 9×12″ glass pyrex pan 1/4 full of water (the water bath) and place in the oven.Add 1 egg to step #1.I would also add the milk here since it is a wet ingredient.Increase the milk to 3 tablespoons (or 6 if doubling the recipe).I added one 4-ounce can of diced green chilies to step #4.I would add 1 1/2 cans if doubling the recipe.I doubled it and only used one can.While it did enhance the flavor, the chili flavor was barely there.After you mix all ingredients, place in the smaller baking dish and cover with foil to hug the dish.Set in the water bath baking pan (that has been preheating in the oven).1 hour and it was moist AND flakey.The salt and sweet balance was PERFECT!It was not like the consistency of bread pudding (runny/mushy) nor was it dry and crumbly like Marie Callendar’s cornbread that was begging for some honey butter or something to make it more moist!This recipe won’t disappoint!No need to add butter or honey!!!YUM!”

  • “Where has this been all my life!!! Great recipe.”

  • “I made this recipe because I like the Chevy’s version, and realized after making it that I like it better when I make my own. The restaurant makes it a little sweet for my taste, so it’s good to be able to adjust the sugar a bit. I used 1/4 cup of sugar instead of 1/3, and otherwise followed the directions. It was great! Thanks for the recipe.”

  • “thank God i found this recipe its me and my husband’s favorite everytime we go to chevys, but now we can have it anytime. the recipe is perfect.”

  • “I absolutely love it. We moved far away from anywhere near a Chevy’s and really missed this stuff. I steamed for 20 min and baked covered in foil at 350 in a water bath for 35 and it came out perfect!”

  • “We loved this! I cooked it covered in foil in the oven at 350 in a water bath for 45 minutes. It turned out perfect. Thank you for the recipe.”

  • “A great dish that goes especially well with Mexican & good ole Southern cooking. Would work well as an alternative to traditional corn bread. Despite having made this a couple of times now, it always seems to take much longer than directed (stovetop). Next time, I will try some of the suggestions made by others for alternate cooking methods & see how it goes. Thanks!”

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