Tamales trace back to Mesoamerica, where Wikipedia dates their origin to as early as 8000 to 5000 BC. That long history is why corn-dough bundles steamed in leaves still anchor Christmas tables across Central America and parts of South America. Five versions, from Guatemala to Costa Rica, show how far one idea has traveled.
1. Guatemala: Midnight Tamales on Christmas Eve
In Guatemala, families prepare black, red or sweet tamales on Christmas Eve for family and friends, as a way to show gratitude, according to Wikipedia’s tamale entry. They are often served with chocolate, yolk bread and punch, and eating tamales at midnight on December 24 and 31 is customary. Guatemalans also make them for birthdays and baptisms, which is part of why the dish counts as central to the culture.
Red tamales get their color from achiote and tomato, while black ones are named for the color chocolate gives them, Wikipedia’s page on Guatemalan cuisine explains. The same page says the country has reportedly hundreds of tamale varieties, with fillings that range from meat to fruit and nuts. Remitly’s guide to Central American Christmas traditions lists Guatemalan tamales with raisins, olives and meat, wrapped in maxán leaf. CraftingYourHome.com has a post titled 10 Christmas Cookies Families Bake Every December.
2. El Salvador: Plantain Leaves and Several Fillings
Salvadoran tamales are typically eaten during holidays such as Christmas, Wikipedia notes. They have a corn masa base and are wrapped in banana or plantain leaves, with fillings like chicken, vegetables or beans. Tamales de elote, made from fresh corn, are also popular, and bean-filled tamales pisques are more tied to Holy Week.
The country’s Christmas season also includes Las Posadas, which Wikipedia describes as a nine-night tradition celebrated chiefly in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, typically between December 16 and December 24. Frenz Hub has a post titled Christmas Party Games to Sleigh the Night.
3. Panama: Chicken Tamales Beside the Roast
Panama’s Christmas table is crowded. The traditional dish for the holiday usually includes chicken tamales, arroz con pollo, puerco asado, pernil, turkey and relleno, according to Wikipedia’s page on Panamanian cuisine. Bowls of fruit and fruitcake sit alongside, and a traditional drink called ron ponche, a type of eggnog, is served.
The tamale in question can look different from the Mexican version. Wikipedia’s tamale entry describes tamal de olla, whose name means “tamale of the pot,” as a Panamanian-style tamale that fills the baking pan it is cooked in and is not wrapped in a banana or plantain leaf. The ingredients include pork or chicken, cornmeal, vegetables, olives and raisins. Frenz Hub has a post titled Sourcing and Decorating With Vintage Christmas Decorations.
4. Venezuela: The Hallaca, Tamale Cousin or Its Own Dish
In Venezuela, the Christmas-season centerpiece is the hallaca. Wikipedia says it consists of corn dough stuffed with a stew of beef, pork or chicken and other ingredients such as raisins, capers and olives. It is folded in plantain leaves, tied with string and boiled, and the delicate dough is made with broth and lard colored with annatto. The page on the dish also calls it a staple of Colombian and Venezuelan Christmas celebrations, and mentions pan de jamón alongside it on the Christmas table.
Whether a hallaca counts as a tamale is a live debate. Wikipedia says it resembles a tamal, but the hallaca page devotes a section to the argument over the comparison. Here it appears as a close relative that belongs on the same holiday list. Frenz Hub has a post titled 12 Laws And Rules About Food In Other Countries.
5. Costa Rica: The Tamaleada and a Tied Bundle
Costa Rican tamales are typically eaten around Christmas, according to Wikipedia’s tamale entry. They may be made from corn masa, plantain or rice and wrapped in banana or plantain leaves. The page on Costa Rican cuisine says tamales are served at nearly all celebratory events and especially at Christmas, and that Salsa Lizano is used in them.
The Tico Times, in a guest piece published December 23, 2025, described the tamaleada, a group production day when families and friends assemble dozens or hundreds of tamales. Someone prepares the masa, someone cooks the meat and someone softens the banana leaves, with children often tying the bundles. The piece said the typical filling includes pork, rice, vegetables and small extras like chickpeas, raisins or a strip of red pepper.
The same article said the masa is usually smoother and softer than in Mexican-style tamales and the filling less spicy. It cited a University of Costa Rica study estimating that 91.3% of households take part in the tamal tradition, with 62% of families making them at home. The study put December consumption at 196 million piñas, a term the Tico Times uses for a pair of tamales tied together. CraftingYourHome.com has a post titled 3 Zodiac Signs That Live for Holiday Parties.
The same piece, citing Costa Rica’s Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce, said making tamales at home had become 22% cheaper in December 2025. Those are last year’s figures, and the tamaleada itself is the part that stays constant.
What the Five Have in Common
Corn dough, a leaf wrapper and a family workday show up in most versions. The fillings, wrappers and timing change from one country to the next, and so does the debate over what belongs inside, which the Tico Times says splits Costa Rican families. A reality check applies to the claims about origins: these accounts come from encyclopedia and newspaper summaries rather than a single authority, so regional cooks may describe their own traditions differently.
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Image: Generic photo of Mexican-style sweet corn tamales. Usernet123u – CC BY-SA 4.0/Wikimedia Commons
