These Easy Homemade Flour Tortillas are so good, once you try them, you may never want store-bought tortillas again – and you don’t need a tortilla press! Taco night just got a lot tastier!
I use flour tortillas a lot. We love Mexian food, so I use them for tacos, fajitas, enchiladas, chimichangas, burritos, and breakfast burritos. I also use them to make wraps and tortilla pizzas.
So I decided to try my hand at making flour tortillas from scratch because homemade is always better, right? RIGHT!
Now, in my mind, I had always envisioned making tortillas from scratch as being a difficult, all-day-long process. It’s so not!! It’s actually super easy, takes only about an hour and a half, and the results are absolutely amazing.
It’s totally worth the time and effort!
All you need is five simple ingredients: four pantry staples (flour, salt, baking powder, vegetable oil) and water. You mix everything together by hand, so you don’t have to lug out the mixer. Then you let the dough rest for a bit, roll out the tortillas, give them a quick cook in a pan, and you’re done!
I’m telling you, you will not believe the difference in the flavor between these homemade flour tortillas and the ones you buy in the store! They are two completely different things, and these are sooo much better.
Your peeps will be totally impressed at your kitchen skills!
Now, I don’t know how close this recipe is to an authentic Mexican tortilla recipe. All I do know is these babies are light, soft and pliable, and awesomely delicious. Plus, they were easy to make, I made them myself, and I know exactly what’s in them.
KEEPER!
INGREDIENTS YOU NEED:
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Baking powder
- Vegetable oil
- Water
HERE’S A QUICK LOOK AT HOW TO MAKE EASY HOMEMADE FLOUR TORTILLAS:
This recipe will make 16 small (6-inch) taco-sized tortillas or 8 larger (12-inch) burrito-sized tortillas. If you’re feeling ambitious, go ahead and make two batches because (YES!) you can freeze them!!
When you roll out the dough, unless you are an expert dough-roller-outer (which I, admittedly, am not), you probably won’t get perfect circles. At first, that frustrated me, but after making these many times, I have learned to love that they are perfectly imperfect. You KNOW that they’re made from scratch!
Of course, if you have a tortilla press, go ahead and use it. Honestly, though, this dough is so easy to work with, rolling them out by hand is incredibly quick and easy!
TIPS TO MAKE SURE YOUR HOMEMADE FLOUR TORTILLAS ARE NICE AND SOFT
The best flour tortillas are soft and flexible. You don’t want them to be stiff and dry or crack when you fold them or roll them. Here are some tips to help with that:
- Don’t overcook them! Cook each tortilla just until you start to see some very lightly golden brown spots on the bottom (you’re not looking for a lot of color here). It should take no more than a minute. Then, once you flip the tortilla over, it should only need another 20 seconds or so.
- You may have to make some adjustments to the heat after you see how the first one is going. Are they getting too brown too fast? Turn down the heat. Are they not getting any color in that first minute? Turn up the heat. I always start with the heat lower to be on the safe side, and I find that somewhere around medium-low on my stove is the sweet spot.
- After they come out of the pan, keep them covered! Air is the enemy of a soft tortilla, my friends! Put them in a tortilla warmer if you have one (dollar stores often have them). Stack them on a plate and cover them with a towel. You can stack them in a bowl, pan, or pot with a lid.
- Whichever method you choose, be sure to put each tortilla under cover as soon as you take it out of the pan. The steam from the stack of warm tortillas will help keep them nice and soft. If you leave them out in the open, they are gonna dry out.
OTHER TIPS AND TIDBITS:
- If you don’t have a ton of counter space (like me) roll out one tortilla, cook it, repeat. If you have the room to lay them out side by side, roll out a few. Cook one and keep the others covered. However you do it, just don’t stack the uncooked tortillas because they can and will stick together while they’re waiting to be cooked.
- When you roll them out, they will be very thin. That is exactly how they should be. They will puff up a bit when cooked, and you definitely don’t want them to be too thick.
- If the dough is springing back when you roll them out, just cover them back up and let the dough rest a little longer.
- Keep all uncooked dough under cover at all times so it doesn’t dry out (I just use a clean kitchen towel).
- If you happen to have a kitchen helper, one of you can roll out the tortillas while the other person cooks them – like a little assembly line. It makes things go a little quicker!
- You can use any kind of skillet to cook the tortillas. I prefer to use a cast-iron skillet or a non-stick skillet. You could also use a griddle.
- Don’t add any oil, butter, or cooking spray to the pan. You cook these in a dry pan!
- Some flour may accumulate in the pan as you go. Be sure to (carefully) remove any flour from the pan, as needed, between cooking the tortillas. Burnt flour = not-so-tasty tortillas.
- Store any leftover tortillas in an air-tight container in the refrigerator (they should last about a week).
- For longer storage, put them in the freezer. If freezing, put a sheet of waxed paper or parchment paper between each tortilla so that they don’t stick together. Thaw before reheating.
- To reheat the tortillas, the easiest way is the microwave. Place the tortillas on a plate, cover with a damp paper towel, and cook for about 20 to 30 seconds or just until warmed through.
- If you’d rather use the oven, wrap the tortillas in foil and heat in a moderate oven (325°F) for about 15 to 20 minutes until just warmed through.
These homemade tortillas will transform your Mexican meals (and whatever else you might use them for) and take them over the top!
You should definitely try them when making my Skillet Tortilla Pizzas. And…stay tuned because the next recipe I’m posting is for Skillet Chicken Fajitas. That recipe and these tortillas? Deliciousness beyond all deliciousness!
I hope you try this recipe for Easy Homemade Flour Tortillas and love it as much as I do. Thanks for visiting today!
Easy Homemade Flour Tortillas
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup warm water
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, vegetable oil and water. Stir until it comes together and a dough starts to form (it will look a little shaggy at this point).
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until the dough is nice and smooth (about 2 to 3 minutes).
- Divide the dough into 16 (for 6-inch taco-sized tortillas) or 8 (for 12-inch burrito-sized tortillas) equal pieces.
- Form each piece of dough into a ball (keep the other pieces of dough covered as you work).
- Place the balls on a lightly floured surface and lightly flatten each ball into a disc shape with the palm of your hand.
- Cover the discs of dough with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Preheat a skillet over medium-low heat.
- On a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin, roll each disc of dough into a 6-inch or 12-inch circle (depending on the size tortilla you want). Note: If you don't have a lot of counter space, roll out and cook one at a time. If you have more counter space, you can roll out a few at a time, keeping them side by side. Don't stack the uncooked tortillas because they will stick together. Always keep whatever dough you're not working with or cooking covered.
- Place one tortilla in the preheated skillet. Cook just until the bottom has some very lightly golden brown spots (this shouldn't take more than about 1 minute). You don't want dark brown spots – be careful not to overcook! The tortilla will start to bubble and puff a bit after you put it in the pan. Usually, by the time you are seeing some decent bubbles on the tortilla, you'll start to see those lightly golden brown spots on the bottom, and it's about time to flip it. Adjust the heat on the pan up or down as needed.
- Flip the tortilla over and cook for another 20 seconds or so, just until you see those lightly golden brown spots on the other side.
- Remove from the pan and keep covered. You can stack the tortillas on a plate and cover them with a clean kitchen towel (this is what I do) or you can stack them in a tortilla warmer if you have one. You could also put them in a bowl, pan or pot with a lid. Just be sure to keep them covered as you cook each tortilla. The steam from the warm stacked and covered tortillas helps keep them nice and soft.
- Repeat with remaining tortillas. As needed between cooking the tortillas, carefully remove any flour that has accumulated in the pan because it will burn and your tortillas will take on that burnt taste.
- Serve warm and enjoy!
Notes
- If not using immediately, allow to cool and store in the refrigerator in a Ziploc bag or an air-tight container for up to 1 week.
- If freezing, allow to cool, put a sheet of wax paper or parchment paper between each tortilla, and then place the tortillas in a freezer bag and freeze. Thaw before reheating.
- To reheat in the microwave: place the tortillas on a plate and cover with a damp paper towel. Microwave for 20 to 30 seconds or just until the tortillas are warm.
- To reheat in the oven: Wrap the tortillas in foil and put in a 325° F oven for 15 to 20 minutes or just until the tortillas are warm. For best results, don’t stack too many tortillas in one foil pack (about 6 tops). If you have a lot of tortillas, use multiple foil packs.
- Estimated calories shown are for 1 6-inch tortilla. Estimated calories per 8-inch tortilla are 230.
Recipe slightly adapted from The Cafe Sucre Farine.
Desiree
They were a hit👍
Michelle
Yay! Thank you, Desiree!
Katie
I’m not sure what I did wrong, I followed the recipe exactly, but the tortillas did not brown at all, they only got crispy, they still taste like dough and some parts are even too doughy. That could probably because I took them off a little early since they were immediately getting a crispy outer shell. I turned the heat way down, and it still did the same. No browning dots, nothing.
Michelle
Hey there, Katie! I’m so bummed that your tortillas didn’t turn out as they should have. Regarding the doughy taste and texture, besides taking them out of the pan early, my first question would be were they rolled out thin enough? They should be no more than 1/8 inch thick (even thinner than that is okay). If you made 16 tortillas, 6-inch circles should get you there (12-inch circles if you made 8 tortillas). As far as them not getting brown, it sounds like your pan may not have been hot enough. I suggest medium-low heat in the recipe, but all stoves are different and pans can conduct heat differently, which is why I also suggest that you may need to adjust the heat based on how it seems things are going. You don’t want the pan super hot so that you get too much color on them before the dough has had a chance to cook through, but you may need to turn up the heat just a little. The dough will get slightly crisp on the outside while they are cooking in the pan, and that is fine. They will soften up once they are done and you stack them on the plate and cover them. I suggest that you keep cooking them until you get those very light golden brown spots on both sides and they are cooked through, stacking and covering them as each one is done. I hope this helps and that you will be willing to give them another try. Please let me know how it goes if you do!