Homemade Flour Tortillas
Try making your own Homemade Flour Tortillas next time you’re craving Mexican or Southwestern food!
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Why are tortillas so darned tasty? We go through a decent amount of tortillas here in the Spiced house. From fajitas to quesadillas to burritos, we always seem to be reaching for the tortillas. Back when we lived in Atlanta, my wife and I would often head over to Pappasito’s Cantina when we weren’t in the mood to cook at home. One of the coolest things about Pappasito’s was the fact that you could watch them make homemade tortillas right there. Seriously. There was this little machine that pressed the tortillas out and then sent them on their way down a conveyor belt. The machine was right there near the tables so you could walk over and watch the endless supply of tortillas come down the chute. Talk about my heaven! My wife is an engineer, and I’ve asked her to build a similar machine in our house…but she doesn’t seem too keen on the idea. (I can’t imagine why not!) Since I don’t have a magic tortilla machine in my house (yet), I decided to pull out the cast iron skillet and make a batch of Homemade Flour Tortillas the old-fashioned way.
Making homemade tortillas is not nearly as challenging as it might seem. In fact, I found the process pretty similar to making pie dough. The main difference is that tortillas use lard or shortening while pie dough typically uses butter. Other than that, it’s surprisingly similar. You just have to roll the tortillas out super thin before dropping them into the skillet to cook. (And since they’re so thin, these Homemade Flour Tortillas cook in like 2-3 minutes tops.) I don’t make my own tortillas every time, but I do find it to be a pretty fun process. Next time you’re craving Mexican food, give yourself an extra half-hour or forty-five minutes to make a batch of homemade tortillas!
Homemade Flour Tortillas
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 6 Tbsp vegetable shortening or lard
- 1-1¼ cups warm water
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Using a party cutter (or your fingers), cut the vegetable shortening into the flour mixture until it is fully incorporated.
- Add 1 cup of water to the mixing bowl and stir until no loose flour remains. (If needed, use up at ¼ cup of additional water.)
- Knead the mixture for 1-2 minutes, or until a soft dough forms.
- Cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap and let it rest for 10 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 15 pieces of approximately equal weight. Shape each piece into a tight ball, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let rest for 10 more minutes.
- On a lightly floured work surface, roll each tortilla into a circle about 8” in diameter.
- Heat a cast iron skillet on medium-high heat until a drop of water “sizzles” when dropped in the skillet.
- Place one tortilla in the skillet and cook for about 35-40 seconds. Flip tortilla and cook for another 35-40 seconds. (Note: The tortilla will bubble slightly and light brown spots will form as the tortilla cooks. This is normal. If the spots are black, then reduce the temperature of the pan.)
- Store cooked tortillas in a 200°F oven or tortilla warmer until ready to use. Leftover tortillas can be stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
I so love Papasitos! I used to work in a satellite office out in Marietta and used to go there with coworkers every couple of weeks or so – haven’t been there in ages and had forgotten about them – till I read your post!
Now about these 5 ingredient tortillas – They look fabulous – didn’t think that the magic was in the shortening!
Shashi! I’m so jealous that you can still go to Papasito’s! You totally need to make a trip back out there…and stand at the magic tortilla maker like I used to do! 🙂
Yeah…go figure that shortening is the magic ingredient for flour tortillas. Lard is even better, but I didn’t have any on hand, so shortening it was. I’d much prefer it to be a healthier ingredient…but oh well! 🙂
David – have you tried coconut butter in tortillas?
Interesting idea! I have not tried that…it seems like it would work perfectly. The tortillas are only cooked for 2-3 minutes, and the coconut butter would certainly hold the dough together quite well. I think you’re on to something here! I need to try that out next time. 🙂
I love tortillas! I remember making them from scratch in school…like in 5th grade I think, haha, but have never tried to make them at home!
Oh man, you totally need to go back and re-live those elementary schools years! Get in there and make some flour tortillas for dinner, Molly!!
I like to tortillas at home using cauliflower (you know for the Paleo thing…) but yours surely looks good man. Great job!
You know, I’m getting really intrigued by all of your cauliflower references. I need to give this a shot at some point soon here! Thanks, Mike!
Ha, your wife wasn’t up for designing your own tortilla machine huh? Can’t imagine why! Although, it would incredibly cool-a conversation piece for sure! I’ve tried making my own tortillas, but it sounds so simple! And they look so good!
I know! I can’t believe I couldn’t convince her to make me a tortilla machine! I think we would’ve been the envy of the neighborhood with it…not to mention that it would’ve been a million dollar idea to market it! Haha…you totally need to try it out, though. 🙂
Dude, your wife totally has to step up and make you one of those machines!! Like, seriously now. It needs to happen. I love making homemade tortillas. They are so worth the work.
I know! How does she expect me to be a successful food blogger when she won’t build me an home-sized fully automatic tortilla maker? Sheesh.
Those tortillas will be super yummy with the maple butter!
Hahaha…you and your maple butter, Voramon! But, yes, I totally agree…these would be delicious with maple butter. 🙂