Who knew making homemade flour tortillas could be so easy? Just 5 simple ingredients and you have tender, delicious flour tortillas!
While I’ve come to understand the magic of a good corn tortilla over the years, there’s nothing quite like a warm, tender flour tortilla.
And as is the case with most of the baked goods we’ve made around here (naan, cinnamon rolls, pizza dough), these homemade flour tortillas are really easy. Which doesn’t make the deeply fulfilling sense of accomplishment feel any less. Let’s do this!
Here’s what you’ll neeed
Making homemade tortillas involves just a handful of ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry!
- Flour: All-purpose flour is great for tortillas. You can also use half bread flour and half all-purpose flour for more elastic and airy tortillas.
- Baking Powder: This is our leavening agent (meaning no waiting around for the yeast to rise). Baking powder gives tortillas that slightly puffy, pillowy texture.
- Salt: Salt is vital for improving the texture and flavor of these tortillas.
- Butter: To keep this recipe vegetarian, these tortillas are made without lard and use butter instead! Be sure it’s room temperature before starting.
- Warm Water: Warm to the touch water brings the dough together!
How to make homemade flour tortillas
Step 1: Stir
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix in the butter until it reaches a crumbly cornmeal consistency.
Add warm water and continue stirring until dough forms a loose ball.
Step 2: Knead
Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead for 2 to 3 minutes by hand (about 50 times). It should hold together in a ball, being fairly smooth and not too sticky.
Although a stand mixer isn’t necessary here, you can use one if you’d like. Just 1 to 2 minutes of kneading with the bread hook attachment!
Step 3: Rest
It’s tired now, so place it in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let it rest for 15 minutes. This gives the flour time to absorb the moisture, making the tortillas softer.
Step 4: Roll
Divide the dough into 16 parts, rolling each into a ball. This makes 6-inch tortillas; for larger tortillas divide into 10 or 12 pieces.
Cover the dough balls with plastic wrap or a clean towel, and let rest for another 15 minutes.
Step 5: Cook
Heat a heavy-bottomed pan, like a cast iron skillet, over medium/high heat. Working in batches, roll each dough ball out to 6 inches then transfer to the pan. Keep the unrolled dough balls under the plastic or towel until you’re ready to roll.
To cook flour tortillas, simply lay one in the hot pan and let cook until bubbles form and the bottom is golden. Flip and cook the other side, until it’s also golden. Don’t hesitate to adjust the heat as needed to prevent them form burning.
Store cooked tortillas stacked and wrapped in a dishtowel to keep them warm and pliable. Serve warm, filled with your favorite taco fillings!
Tortilla filling ideas
Obviously the fillings should be just as awesome as the tortillas themselves! Here are a few of our favorites.
- Roasted Cauliflower Street Tacos
- Soyrizo Tacos
- Tempeh Taco Meat
- Mushroom “Pulled Pork” Tacos
- Sweet Potato Black Bean Tacos
- Vegetable Fajitas
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cup all-purpose flour 300 g
- 2 ½ tsp baking powder 12 g
- 1 tsp salt 5 g
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature, can sub vegetable shortening, 115 g
- 1 cup warm water 236 mL
Instructions
- Stir: In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix in the butter until it reaches a crumbly cornmeal consistency. Add warm water and continue stirring until dough forms a loose ball.
- Knead: Transfer to a floured surface and knead for 2 to 3 minutes by hand (about 50 times). It should hold together in a fairly smooth ball.
- Rest: Place dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a clean towel, and let rest for 15 minutes.
- Dough Balls: Divide the dough into 16 parts, rolling each into a ball. (This makes 6-inch tortillas; for larger tortillas divide into 10 or 12 pieces.) Cover the dough balls with plastic wrap or a clean towel, and let rest for another 15 minutes.
- Cook: Heat a heavy-bottomed pan, like a cast iron skillet, over medium/high heat. Working in batches, roll each dough ball out to 6 inches then transfer to the pan. Keep the unrolled dough balls under the plastic or towel until you’re ready to roll. Cook for about 2 minutes until bubbles have formed on top and bottom has light tan spots. Flip and continue cooking another 1 minute. Adjust heat as needed to avoid burning. Wrap cooked tortillas in a towel until you’ve finished cooking them all.
Tips & Tricks
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4 to 5 days.
- To reheat, place in microwave and cover with a damp paper towel. Cook for 10 to 20 seconds.
- To use a stand mixer in step 2, knead with the bread hook attachment for 1 to 2 minutes instead of by hand.
- Flavor your tortillas however you want with this Flavored Tortillas recipe!
- Tortillas gone stale? Cut them into triangles, drizzle with olive oil, and broil in the oven for a few minutes until toasted, watching closely to prevent burning. Boom, tortilla chips!
Nutrition Information
judy or better known as Grannie says
I love your terminology. It gave me a smile and how fun you must be in the kitchen. It’s super to see a young person enjoy cooking and doing things. I’m 73 and now trying a new recipe. Thank you a bunch. God bless.
Sarah says
Aw, so happy you found the post and are trying something new, Judy! Hope you have as much fun making these as I did 😀
Sherry says
Hello! Many recipes don’t include the baking powder for tortilla. I skip it and found it hard to chew starting from the forth bite onwards. If I just got baking soda at home. Do the baking soda/baking powder and yeast interchangeable? Baking powder and soda also need an hour for them to develop if I want a quick meal in the morning?
Sarah says
Baking soda, baking powder, and yeast are all quite different so you probably can’t use them interchangeably. With that said, these tortillas can be stored for a while (or even frozen), so maybe make them the night before then warm them up in the morning for a quick breakfast! 😀
shameel says
You can’t simply interchange them. Baking soda reacts to acids; baking powder reacts to heat; yeast expels gasses after consuming sugars. Tortillas don’t have acid in their ingredients so baking soda is out. This leaves you with either baking powder or yeast. Yeast eats the sugars more actively in heat up to a certain point after which they die. Yeast also takes time to consume the sugars and expel gas. Since tortillas are placed in a medium high heat between 20 to 30 seconds, this would probably not be enough time to allow the yeast to consume the sugars in the flour, and the heat would probably kill the yeast quickly anyway. The best option is baking powder.
Carol says
Do you think a 1 for 1 gluten free flour would work?
Sarah says
Hmm I’m really not sure, sorry Carol! You might try using a tested GF recipe like this. I’m just not sure how this recipe would do without the gluten!
Thomas T says
I made these with butter instead of shortening. They were very good but a bit more like Naan than a regular store bought flour tortilla.
Sarah says
Glad you liked them, Thomas! Thanks for letting us know how it went! 😀
Camelia says
Hello!
Looking to make these with whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour.
Any thoughts on this substitution?
Thanks!
Camelia
Sarah says
I haven’t given it a try with this recipe, but given the texture of tortillas I think you could substitute it entirely with whole wheat, 1 for 1.
vickie west says
This recipe looks awesome, and I am going to try it tomorrow. Question: Have you even made using one of those tortilla presses? I am thinking about getting one the lighter weight aluminum presses.
Sarah says
I haven’t used these before, but it would make it easier!
Kylene Grell says
I followed the recipe closely and I even used a tortilla press to make the tortillas. as soon as they hit the griddle they shrunk in diameter and puffed up like a small griddle cake. Thick and chewy and chewy and tasted of baking powder. inedible
Sarah Bond says
I’m sorry to hear it, Kylene! We’ve tested this recipe many times, so I’d love to help you troubleshoot. It sounds like perhaps your griddle was too hot?
AÒˆRÒˆIÒˆEÒˆSÒˆ says
tortilla press is for corn tortillas, try a rolling pin🤨
Neil says
Where is the sodium coming from?
Sarah Bond says
From the 1 teaspoon of salt, which is added for flavor and texture 🙂