Tamales for Día de los Muertos: meaning, menu, and ordering tips

Tamales belong on the Día de los Muertos altar for the same reason they belong at Christmas: they are the food we make when family gathers, and on the first two days of November the family we are gathering includes the ones who have died. A plate of tamales on the ofrenda is an invitation. A pot of tamales in the kitchen is what the living eat once the visit is over. If you are planning a Day of the Dead gathering in Richardson, Dallas, or anywhere in the northern suburbs, plan on two to three tamales per living guest, a plate for the altar, and an order placed well before the holiday week.

My grandmother set our ofrenda every year, and the tamales went up before the marigolds did. She said the dead could smell them from farther away.

What Día de los Muertos is, and what it is not

Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, is observed on November 1 and 2. It is a Mexican tradition that blends Indigenous beliefs about the dead returning to visit with the Catholic feasts of All Saints and All Souls. It is not a Mexican Halloween. Nobody is scared. The skulls are smiling because the holiday is joyful: the people we lost come home for a night, and we throw them a party.

In many families November 1 is for children who have died and November 2 is for adults. Families visit and clean graves, light candles, and build an ofrenda at home, an altar layered with photographs of the departed, marigolds, candles, papel picado, sugar skulls, pan de muerto, and the food and drink the person loved in life. A grandfather gets his tequila. A grandmother gets her tamales.

The tradition has deep roots in central and southern Mexico and is growing every year in Texas, in homes, in schools, in offices, and in community celebrations. If you are hosting one for the first time, the most important thing to know is that it is a celebration of specific people. The food is for them first.

Why tamales go on the ofrenda

Tamales have been offerings for as long as there have been tamales. Long before the Spanish arrived, tamales were placed before the gods and buried with the dead in Mesoamerica, and the Florentine Codex, the sixteenth-century record of Aztec life compiled by a Spanish friar, describes many kinds of tamales made for feasts. That is the lineage behind the plate on your altar. I wrote about it in the long history of the tamal.

There is a simpler explanation too. The ofrenda holds what the dead loved, and nearly every Mexican grandmother loved tamales, or made them, or both. Putting tamales on the altar is a way of saying: we remember what you cooked, and we are still cooking it.

Tradition holds that the dead consume the essence, the aroma, of the food on the altar, and the living eat the rest afterward. That is why food on an ofrenda should be real food, made well. Nobody wants to greet a grandmother with a tamal she would have sent back.

Planning the menu for a Día de los Muertos gathering

Most Day of the Dead gatherings in Texas homes look like this: family arrives in the late afternoon, spends time at the ofrenda, and then eats together. The menu leans on dishes that can sit on the altar for a few hours and then feed a crowd.

• Tamales. The center of the meal. Pork tamales in red salsa are the traditional choice for an altar, deep and warm and a little spicy. Chicken tamales in green tomatillo salsa give guests a lighter option. I usually send two thirds pork and one third chicken. If you are unsure, my guide to red versus green for a crowd helps.
• Pan de muerto. The sweet, orange-scented bread with the bone shapes on top. Any Mexican bakery in Dallas or Richardson makes it in late October.
• Rice, beans, and salsas. The plate needs sides, and the altar needs a few bowls.
• Drinks. Hot chocolate or champurrado, atole, and whatever the departed liked to drink.
• Fruit and sugar skulls. Oranges, guavas, and sugar skulls with the names of the departed written on the forehead.

Our tamales are large. One is a full meal for most adults, so two to three per person is a generous party portion. Add a plate for the altar, usually four to six tamales, and a dozen for the relatives who stay late. For a full breakdown by headcount, use the tamales-per-person guide.

Setting the tamales on the altar

A few practical things I have learned from years of ofrendas.

1. Leave them in the husk. A tamal in its husk holds up on an altar for hours and looks right. An unwrapped tamal dries out and slumps.
2. Use a plate the person would recognize. My grandmother’s tamales go on her own chipped blue plate. It is the most important object on the altar.
3. Put them up at the start, take them down at the end. The food goes on the ofrenda when the candles are lit and comes off when the gathering winds down. Anything that sat out for many hours at room temperature should be discarded rather than eaten. The living eat from the pot in the kitchen.
4. Keep the kitchen pot hot. Tamales in a closed container or a low steamer stay hot for a long time. Serve from there.

Día de los Muertos at the office, school, or community center

More and more workplaces and schools in north Texas hold a Day of the Dead observance, and I think it is wonderful when it is done with care. A community ofrenda where employees add photos of their own departed, a short explanation of the tradition, and a shared meal is a beautiful thing for a team. A few thoughts on getting it right:

• Let the people with Mexican roots on your team lead, if they want to. It is their holiday to share.
• Keep the ofrenda respectful: real photos, real names, real food, no costumes.
• Feed everyone something real. Tamales are the dish, and they are naturally gluten-free, which solves the one dietary question every office lunch raises.
• Plan the delivery for the observance itself, usually a lunch in the first days of November.

The office catering page covers team lunches and observances, and the Dallas catering page is the place to start if your office is south of the Richardson line. For a bigger community event, a church observance, or a school festival, the community events page explains how larger orders work.

When to order

Día de los Muertos falls at the start of the tamal season, and it runs straight into Thanksgiving and Christmas. That means my kitchen is already busy in late October, and every tamal is made from scratch in the week it is delivered. The families who send a quote in early or mid October get the day and the fillings they want. Late October orders sometimes get what is left.

The holiday tamales page has the quote form and lists all the holiday pre-orders, from Día de los Muertos through New Year. Small orders, a plate or a half-dozen, go through DoorDash. Anything for a gathering goes through the quote form or a phone call, and I confirm every quote personally. We deliver everywhere from Richardson to Plano, Frisco, Allen, McKinney, and Dallas. There is no dine-in and no walk-in; everything comes to your door.

Frequently asked questions

Why are tamales part of Día de los Muertos?

Tamales have been offered to the dead and the gods in Mexico since long before the Spanish arrived, and they remain the most common dish on a Día de los Muertos ofrenda. The altar holds the food the departed loved, and nearly every Mexican family has a grandmother who loved or made tamales. Tradition holds that the dead take the aroma, and the living share the rest of the meal afterward.

What food goes on a Día de los Muertos altar?

The ofrenda holds the food and drink the departed loved in life, plus traditional items: tamales, pan de muerto, sugar skulls, fruit such as oranges and guavas, mole or rice and beans, water, and often the person’s favorite drink, from hot chocolate to tequila. Marigolds, candles, papel picado, and photographs surround the food. It is personal: a plate of your grandmother’s tamales matters more than any list.

How many tamales do I need for a Day of the Dead gathering?

Plan two to three tamales per living guest, since ours are large and one is a full meal, plus a plate of four to six for the altar and a dozen for the relatives who stay late. For fifteen guests that is about four dozen. For forty guests, about nine dozen. Mix pork in red salsa with chicken in green salsa, roughly two to one, so every guest has a choice.

Can we eat the tamales that were on the ofrenda?

Tradition says the dead consume the essence of the food and the living eat the rest. In practice, food that sat at room temperature on an altar for many hours should be treated as an offering and discarded, while the living eat from the pot in the kitchen. Put a modest plate on the altar, keep the rest hot in a closed container, and serve from there.

Do you cater Día de los Muertos events for offices and schools in Dallas?

Yes. Tamales are delivered by the dozen to offices, schools, churches, and community centers across Richardson, Plano, Frisco, Allen, McKinney, and Dallas. Send a quote request with the date and headcount, and I will confirm a menu and price personally. Because the holiday falls at the start of the busy tamal season, requests sent in early or mid October get the widest choice of delivery days.