Homemade Tortillas

Soft, chewy, pliable tortillas made from scratch with just 5 simple ingredients (3 if you don't count salt and water) are super easy and versatile. You'll never want the store-bought ones again!

Makes about 12 tortillas

Course Bread

Cuisine Mexican

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Total Time 30

Servings

Calories 145kcal

Author Imma

Equipment

large mixing bowl
large skillet or griddle

Ingredients

2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon (6g) salt
¾ teaspoon (3g) baking powder
4 tablespoons (42g) lard or butter, softened
1 cup (236ml) hot water

Instructions

Mix the flour, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl.
Add the lard or butter, and thoroughly mix it into the flour with your hands until it resembles coarse meal.
Pour in the water a little at a time to form a soft dough.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 6-8 minutes. The dough should be soft, elastic, and smooth.
Divide the dough into 12 evenly sized balls for smaller tortillas or 8 for slightly larger tortillas. Let them rest to relax the gluten and make it easier to work with and produce more tender tortillas.
Gently flatten out the dough balls and roll each of them out. Begin rolling from the center, working outwards. Rotate the disk each time you roll it.
Heat a large cast-iron skillet or griddle over medium-high heat. As soon as the skillet is hot, place a tortilla in the pan and cook it for about 1 minute or until the bottom has a few light brown spots and the surface starts to bubble. Flip the tortilla and cook for 20-30 seconds longer.
You want your tortillas to have some dark brown spots and be tender. Remove the tortilla with tongs and place it in a kitchen-towel-lined tortilla warmer or round container. Cover with the towel, and proceed with the remaining dough balls.

Notes

If flour starts accumulating in the skillet while cooking, wipe it clean between each tortilla.
The tortilla dough should be soft and slightly sticky, but not wet. If the dough is too moist, knead in 1-2 teaspoons of flour. If it's too dry, add water a teaspoon at a time. Humidity, temperature, and climate can affect the texture.
Cook the tortillas just enough to see the bubbles on the surface and a few light golden spots. If you cook them too long, they'll get hard or stiff.
You can swap lard with vegetable oil or light olive oil.
Reheat tortillas on the stovetop, the same way you cooked them. Or stack them on a plate, cover with a damp paper towel, and microwave for 15-30 seconds, or until warmed through.
Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the ingredients used.

Nutrition