Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Nacatamal
Nicaragua's grand Sunday tamal: seasoned corn masa filled with marinated pork, rice, potato, tomato, and mint, wrapped in plantain leaves and steamed for hours.
Nicaraguan · advanced · serves 6
prep 60 min · cook 240 min
~1671 cal · 58g protein · 231g carbs · 62g fat · 16g fiber · 59g sugars · 13g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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The nacatamal is the crown jewel of the Nicaraguan weekend, a large, pillow-shaped tamal wrapped in leaves that impart a subtle, tea-like flavour to the corn . Its name comes from the Nahuatl nacatl (meat) and tamalli (tamal), a "tamal of meat," and its roots run to the Nahua communities that peopled Nicaragua long before the Spanish brought pork and rice to the pot.
It is a labour of love, usually made on Saturday to steam for hours and be eaten the next morning with fresh bread and coffee. Inside a rich, -tinted go pieces of pork marinated in sour orange, a spoon of soaked rice, a slice of potato, tomato, onion, sweet pepper (chiltoma), and a sprig of mint (hierbabuena), each parcel a complete meal.
Sharing a nacatamal is a gesture of hospitality, and Nicaraguans will happily argue whether it is best eaten with bread or tortilla, though bread and coffee is the classic.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, nut- and egg-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
4 cups harina (or fresh corn )
1 cup vegetable shortening or oil (for the )
2 lbs pork shoulder, in medium pieces
1 cup rice, soaked and drained
2 potatoes, sliced
2 tomato, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 sweet pepper (chiltoma), in strips
6 sprigs fresh mint (hierbabuena)
1 tbsp ground ()
1/3 cup sour orange juice
12 pieces leaves, softened
to taste salt
Instructions
1
Marinate the pork with the sour orange juice, some of the achiote, garlic, and salt, ideally overnight.
2
Make the masa: beat the masa harina with the shortening, the rest of the achiote, salt, and enough warm water or broth to a soft, spreadable dough, cooking it briefly if you like a firmer set.
✎ Chef’s note
Soften the plantain leaves by passing them briefly over a flame; it makes them pliable so they wrap without cracking.
3
On a softened plantain leaf, spread a scoop of masa, then layer on a spoon of rice, a piece of pork, a slice of potato, tomato, onion, sweet pepper, and a sprig of mint.
4
Fold the leaf into a snug parcel and tie securely with twine.
5
Stand the parcels in a large pot with a little water in the bottom and steam, covered, for 3 to 4 hours. Rest a few minutes, then serve in the leaf with bread and coffee.
Managua weekend tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Managua. Managua eats gallo pinto, rice and red beans fried together with onion and sweet pepper, twice a day without apology. Grilled beef, fried plantain, cuajada cheese, and cabbage salad fill the plate, and vigoron piles yuca and pork rind onto a banana leaf.
🗺️
Nicaragua. Nicaragua's table centers on gallo pinto (rice and beans), plantains, and slow-cooked vaho and nacatamales. Corn, tropical fruit, and a Caribbean-coast coconut influence round out a hearty Central American cuisine.
🌍
North America. Almost every regional cooking here records who arrived and on what terms. Enslaved West Africans brought rice, okra, black-eyed peas and the techniques behind Lowcountry and Creole food; Chinese railway labour and later Italian, Jewish, Mexican and Vietnamese arrivals built the way the cities eat; and Indigenous foodways sit underneath all of it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Nicaragua
Gallo PintoDay-old rice fried with red beans until speckled like a painted rooster, Nicaragua’s twice-daily heartbeat.
VahoA steamed Nicaraguan feast of marinated beef, green and ripe plantains, and yuca layered in banana leaves.
Indio ViejoShredded beef and vegetables thickened with toasted masa into a rich, sour-orange-scented stew, a Nicaraguan classic.
Browse all Nicaragua recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan, Steamer.
Storing it: Cool leftover rice quickly and refrigerate within an hour. Keep up to 2 days and reheat until piping hot all the way through.
Make it a Nicaragua meal
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Nicaraguan QuesilloLunch
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Frequently asked questions
What is Nacatamal?
Nicaragua's grand Sunday tamal: seasoned corn masa filled with marinated pork, rice, potato, tomato, and mint, wrapped in plantain leaves and steamed for hours.
Where does Nacatamal come from?
Nacatamal is a Nicaraguan dish from Managua, Nicaragua.
Can Nacatamal be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Nacatamal recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Nacatamal safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Nacatamal take to make?
About 300 minutes total (60 minutes prep, 240 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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