SAN ANTONIO – It’s the holiday season, and here in South Texas, one cultural tradition is all about tamales.
This year, we’ve all felt the impact of inflation, so we wanted to know if higher grocery prices are leading people to buy tamales over making them from scratch.
KSAT asked our viewers on social media, “With higher grocery prices, are you buying or making your tamales this year?”
The verdict was pretty split.
WATCH BELOW: Customers line up outside East Side tamales spot on Christmas Eve
Some viewers say they are supporting local businesses and buying already-made tamales. However, others say they will be making them from scratch.
San Antonio is huge on tamales, so KSAT went out to Delia’s Tamales on the last day customers could buy them on Dec. 19 before only preorder-pick started. People said they had been waiting in line for three to five hours.
Baldemar Garcia Jr., who had been waiting in line for almost three hours to place his order at Delia’s, said despite his wait in line, he believes it’s still cheaper to make tamales over buying them.
“Absolutely, I think it’s much cheaper,” Garcia said.
Carol Chavarria was in line before Delia’s opened at 7 a.m. and was able to purchase four dozen tamales for about $40. KSAT asked her if she thinks more people are buying them this year because of higher grocery prices, and she said she doubts that.
“Not really, because it’s hard on making them,” Chavarria said. “It’s a lot of work.”
Benny Sotelo also spent several hours in line waiting for his tamales, but he said it’s still less time than he would’ve spent making tamales.
“It’s very time-consuming to make them at home,” Sotelo said. “I’d rather pay the money and spend my time with the family.”
Is it really cheaper to make them at home?
Let’s look at the costs:
This is a grocery list that makes around five pounds of tamales or around 8-12 dozen (depending on the size of them) of pork tamales:
- Five pounds of pre-made masa (if you don’t want to make your own)
- Four-pound bag of Maseca (if you make your own masa)
- Forty-eight ounces of chicken broth (if you make your own masa)
- Sixty-four ounces of Lard
- Forty-eight ounces of Crisco (some people like to use one or the other or use both to balance out the fatty taste)
- Salt
- Chili powder (some people will even season the pre-made masa to their liking)
- Four pounds of a boneless pork butt roast
- One pound or one pack of corn husks
Total costs with tax were $51.97 at H-E-B.
That is about right; KSAT producer Katelyn Silva said her mother made them this year, and it cost her about $60 to make more than 12 dozen. But of course, making them takes experience and lots of time, about eight hours.
What about buying?
- Let’s start at the cheapest. H-E-B pre-made ranges from $9.87 To $10.70 a dozen.
- The second cheapest we found was at Delia’s, which lowers their prices during the holiday season to $10.19 a dozen for regular non-specialty tamales, but if you go the last two to three weeks of December, you will be waiting in line for a while. The closer to Christmas it can be up to a three to four hour wait.
- If you don’t want to wait in line, Tellez Tamales & Barbacoa had no wait but were more expensive at $15.50 for a dozen pork tamales.
Verdict
Despite higher grocery prices, it’s still more expensive to buy tamales than to make them. If you buy them, it will cost you anywhere from $9 to $15.50 a dozen; if you are making them, it will cost you about $3 a dozen.