Canned tamales: An affront to the good name of convenience food, or an affordable take on tamales you should stop sleeping on ? Mileage will definitely vary, as in all matters of food opinion, but the former option seems more reasonable to many. Tamales are usually a labor of love, cooked by many hands all day long for special occasions like holiday dinners. Who expects a fraction of that special taste from a can? It doesn't help that tamales just seem like the sort of food that shouldn't be encased in tin and made shelf-stable.
It's like canned bread, or canned whole chickens — it's possible, but not necessarily appetizing. But what if there was a way to make canned tamales tasty? Sometimes you just don't have hours and hours to make Abuelita's special recipe, after all, and thawing frozen tamales takes up time. The secret is sitting on your counter.
Unlike pan-frying or baking, air frying canned tamales elevates the convenience food by amping up the textural element. Canned tamales are already tasty, but their consistency needs work, and the air fryer gets the job done. The result isn't quite the same thing as the fresh stuff, but it's a scrumptious experience all the same.
For a weeknight dinner, or even a snack, air-fried canned tamales are more than just okay — they're downright yummy. Air frying tamales is easy and serving them is fun Tamales top the list of canned foods you should be cooking in the air fryer because this cooking method saves their texture. Nuked, b.