Masa harina means dough flour in Spanish and is called such for a good reason. Masa harina is a Mexican flour made from corn that is traditionally used to make tortillas, tamales and other corn-based bakes.
So the next time you want to make tamales, what quick substitutes can you use instead?
Our 4 Substitutes for Masa Harina
Seeing as it is made from processed corn, masa harina takes on a very strong corn flavour that turns slightly nutty when cooked or grilled.
Here are our top 4 substitutes for masa harina:
1) Ground Corn Tortillas
It is a masa harina dough that is responsible for making tortillas, so it stands to reason that you can re-use corn tortillas to turn back into masa harina.
Corn tortillas are a staple in any Mexican household but are a common food now found in many American and British homes, too.
The chances are that you already have a half-used packet of tortillas growing stale in the back of your pantry. So why not make use of them?
All you need to do is break the tortillas up into smaller pieces and grind them until they become fine flour.
Some recipes will call for a finer masa harina, while others are not as fussy. Make sure you check the recipe to know how well you need to grind up the tortillas.
Make Use of Stale Tortillas
It is better to use stale tortillas when grinding them into Masa harina as they will be easier to grind up rather than the softer, fresher tortillas.
2) Ground Hominy
Ground hominy is produced when corn is processed and is, therefore, the main ingredient used to make masa harina.
When the corn is being processed, their hulls are removed, leaving only their soft inner shell. Then these shells are ground down to make ground hominy.
You will need to cook ground hominy the same way you would pinto beans before using them to make masa harina, but that is an easy task. Considering that using ground hominy stops you from having to process the corn yourself, cooking grounds is a small price to pay.
To better resemble masa harina, you will have to grind the ground mix again to make it fine enough to use in the same way.
Pick the Variety Carefully
You can buy hominy in a variety of forms, from canned to dried. But it is the ground type that will best work for masa harina.
3) Cornstarch
Perhaps the most wildly available substitute on this list, cornstarch is used all over the culinary world as a thickening agent for soups, broths and sauces. For this reason, it tends to be very cheap and accessible.
When masa harina is not being turned into a dough, it is used to thicken the same types of dishes as cornstarch but adds a corn aspect to the dish.
Many people avoid using cornstarch in their dishes as they don’t know how to use it, resulting in lumpy dishes.
It is important to mix cornstarch into a different liquid like water before adding it to your own dish. This will prevent unpleasant clumps from forming in your sauce
Slurry?
You will often find the process of adding cornstarch to a liquid before your dish called creating a slurry. Don’t let this culinary term put you off using it as a substitute as it is simple enough to do.
4) Polenta
Though it is an ingredient made in northern Italy, polenta can offer the exact same flavours and texture as masa harina with a few extra steps.
Polenta is essentially a yellow grit and so takes on the texture of grits. However, polenta is made with flint corn, not dent corn.
Flint corn allows polenta to have a more prominent corn flavour like masa harina.
It also means that polenta can take on a finer texture, but you will have to grind polenta yourself to make it match the same fineness as masa harina. Once you have, the two will be identical.
Use Regular Polenta
You can buy finely ground polenta, but it usually comes in a tube and does not resemble masa harina in the same way. If this is all you have to hand, only use it as a thickening agent.
Other Substitutes for Masa Harina
If you do not have the above substitutes to hand, there are a few others you can use that means you won’t have to make masa harina from scratch.
- Fresh Masa Preparada – Basically the cheater’s version of masa harina, fresh masa preparade is a ready-made dough, saving you all the hard work.
- Ground Taco Shells or Tortilla Chips – Find whatever corn-based tortilla-like products you have in the house and use them in the same way you would when substituting masa harina with ground tortillas.
Summary
Masa harina takes a long time to make and is an exhausting task.
So to save yourself some energy the next time you want to make tamales, skip some steps and use substitutes like ground tortillas that will make the whole process a lot easier.