The Absolute Best Store-Bought Tamale Brand Nails Both Convenience And Flavor

Though delicious, tamales are difficult to make perfectly at home. Luckily, we've found the perfect alternative to making them yourself. After carefully taste-testing and ranking seven store-bought tamale brands, Tasting Table confirmed that the best brand for flavorful tamales is Tucson Tamale. These delicious, savory tamales are made using an old family recipe and all-natural ingredients. 

Our taste tester tried five varieties of Tucson Tamales: green chile and cheese, green chile, pork and cheese, green chile chicken, and black bean and corn. They found that the chicken and pork were perfectly seasoned, and that the black bean and corn tamale contained whole beans and corn without relying on pureed ingredients. They also noted that each tamale contained a generous layer of masa alongside its fillings. Despite being store-bought and reheated, the tamales remained moist. In fact, each tamale could be microwaved right in the package in just three minutes for optimal serving temperature. 

Tucson Tamales are sold online nationwide by parent company Tucson Foods, and you can find them in certain retail stores across the country, including Kroger and Whole Foods. The company also operates a local market and restaurant in Tucson, Arizona. The restaurant has a 4.3 star rating on Google, with one customer saying, "We stopped here on our tamale tour, throughout the southwest and had such a delicious lunch. The beef tamales were divine!" The brand's green chile and cheese tamales have a five star rating on Kroger's website, with one customer raving, "This was one of the best store bought tamales I have ever had." 

Founded in 2008 by husband and wife team Todd and Sherry Martin, Tucson Tamale has undergone many changes since its inception. It has grown from being a small, local business to a national operation, selling its tamales online as well as in more than 6,000 retail grocery stores across the United States. In 2022, it reported selling 10 million tamales nationwide. Yet the Martins still use the family tamale recipe perfected by Sherry's mother, Celia. 

Each tamale is hand-rolled in the company's 13,671 square foot production facility in Tucson. The company's retail product catalog features eight standard tamale flavors, including green chile chicken, red chile pork, and blue corn and veggie, with new flavors added both monthly and seasonally. Additionally, all of the tamales are gluten-free and allergen-free, and Tucson Tamale prides itself on using healthy, clean ingredients.

The company has been the recipient of local and national recognition. Its tamales have also been chosen as the Best Tamale by the Tucson Weekly's Best in Tucson awards every year since 2009. Tucson Tamale is also one of Food Network's Alton Brown's favorite restaurants in the U.S. In 2015, Brown traveled around the country trying out restaurant recommendations from fans. He visited Tucson and dined at Tucson Tamale, saying, "I stood 20 minutes in line to get two tamales and I would have spent 20 minutes to get another two" (via USA Today).