This Authentic Homemade Tortilla Recipe is a snap to make and tastes superior to store bought.
Sometimes I feel like I have a little old Mexican lady living inside of me.
I crave Mexican food.
I crave it A LOT.
There is nothing better than a warm, soft and tender flour tortilla. It may sound like a lot of work to make your own tortillas, but it’s not. It’s super simple, and totally worth getting out the flour. In fact, you probably have all the ingredients in your pantry needed to make some authentic flour tortillas right now.
Let’s do this.
Grab some flour, a little salt and baking powder. Throw them in a large bowl and whisk together. Cut in some shortening.
Take off the rings and get your hands in the bowl. Mix up the shortening with the flour till it becomes a crumbly consistency. Then pour in some warm water and, you guessed it, get your hands in there again and work the mixture into a ball of dough.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it for 5 minutes, or until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. Wrap it in some plastic wrap and let it rest on the counter for 30 minutes.
After it’s rested divide the dough into 16 equal dough balls.
Heat up a dry skillet on high heat for 5 minutes, lower the heat to medium and roll out your dough ball to 1/4 inch thickness and place it in the hot skillet. Let it cook for 30 seconds on each side.
Make sure to place your cooked tortillas directly into a tortilla warmer, or wrap them in a warm towel so they don’t get hard.
I mean, seriously…
There is nothing better than a warm and soft flour tortilla. Dip it in some authentic refried beans, or melt some cheese on top. It’s pure bliss. You’ll never go back to store bought again.
Soon you will have a little old Mexican lady living inside of you too.
that’s only slightly creepy sounding…
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Authentic Homemade Tortilla Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 3 tbsp shortening
- 1 1/2 cups water
Instructions
- Sift together flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl. Use your hands to incorporate the shortening until the mixture becomes crumbly. Pour in the warm water and mix with your hands till a slightly sticky dough ball forms.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes or until dough becomes smooth and elastic. Wrap in plastic wrap and let rest on the counter for 30 minutes.
- Once it's rested, heat a large skillet on high for 5 minutes then reduce heat to medium. Divide dough into 16 even balls. Use a rolling pin to roll out dough into 1/4 inch thin circles and cook one at a time in the dry skillet for 30 seconds per side.
- *Do not roll dough out more than once or the tortillas can become tough.
- **Be sure to place cooked tortillas directly into a tortilla warmer, or wrap in a slightly damp & warm towel so the tortillas stay soft and pliable.
- ***Eat immediately or place uneaten tortillas in a zip close bag in the fridge. Reheat in microwave in the bag, then place in the tortilla warmer again.
Nutrition
recipe slightly adapted from All Recipes
Mini Ombré Valentines Day Cake for Two
beth
i learned from a family in new mexico how to make tortillas, it went something like 2 fingers of Lard, 2 c flour a little salt and a little water, the preferred method of rolling them out required a dowel about an inch and a half. I tried a rolling pin but the dowel just worked better. Don’t remember baking powder for tortillas but remember adding baking powder for sopapillas which were then fried in oil until golden brown.
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Susan
Hi, I was wondering if I could substitute butter for shortening. We don’t use shortening in my household, but I was concerned about that changing the way they cook.
Shawn
Hi Susan, I’ve never tried making the tortillas with butter, so I can’t tell you for sure how it would turn out. If you end up trying it with butter, please let me know how they turn out! 🙂
Tim
Lost my mom’s recipe, tried this one in a pinch. Texture is ok , but wow was it bland.
Shawn
Sorry that you didn’t like the flavor. They are just really basic, so if you want to try and boost the flavor you can try adding some garlic powder, or maybe increase the salt a little bit. You could even try a butter flavored shortening too. I like them plain so I can wrap them around any type of filling I want (sweet or savory). Hope that this helps you! 🙂
Susana I.
Hi, any idea on how long do they keep in the fridge? Thanks! I may try them tonight, they look so easy and good 🙂
Dana
This is awesome!! Thanks for sharing, and you’re totally right… I never thought it’d be that easy. Lol.
Gerry @ Foodness Gracious
You should live by me if you like Mexican, there’s loads of places here! I bet these were 100 times better than store bought!
Asiya @ Chocolate and Chillies
I love making homemade tortillas. They are so much better than store bought! Just wish I had more time to make them more often. I like to sub half the all-purpose flour with whole wheat. Yours looks awesome!
Melissa @ Bless this Mess
I too am addicted to Mexican and can’t wait to make these. I’m obsessed with frying my own hard corn taco shells right now and that is a dangerous habit, so this will be a good (healthier) break for me!
eileen
I’m wondering if I could use gluten-free or cornflour in this recipe?
Valentina
YUM! I love everything about this!
Emily
Love homemade tortillas! Definitely need a tortilla press, especially if I want to make them weekly. 🙂
Natalie @ The Devil Wears Parsley
Tortillas have been on my mind lately too!! Must try this… I even broke down and bought a tortilla press!!!
Shawn
That is on my to-do list, does it work very well? You will have to let me know where you got yours. 🙂
Natalie @ The Devil Wears Parsley
I haven’t used it yet!! LOL I got it on Amazon… Here it is… I’ll let you know though! 😀