Homemade Flour Tortillas

24 Servings
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Total Time 27 minutes

Easy recipe for Homemade Flour Tortillas with just 5 ingredients! Warm, soft perfect tortillas for burritos, tacos, quesadillas and more!

Soft, Homemade Tortillas are the perfect base that you can use to serve your favorite Mexican food like Beef Enchiladas, Chicken Burritos, or Shrimp Tacos. It’s an easy way to make Dinner Recipes even more fresh and delicious.

Sabrina’s Homemade Flour Tortillas Recipe

Making your own authentic Flour Tortilla recipe is the perfect way to elevate your family Mexican dinner night to the kind of delicious meal you’d have at a Mexican restaurant. Fill up the homemade tortillas while they’re still slightly warm and enjoy your favorite recipes with a completely fresh flavor.

You can make this Flour Tortilla recipe with a pretty basic process. It’s a simple matter of combining the recipe ingredients in a food processor, then kneading, and finally cooking each soft tortilla on a skillet. They’re ready in practically no time and so delicious.

Homemade Flour Tortillas ingredients

Ingredients

  • Flour: This recipe uses all-purpose flour to make light and soft flour tortillas. Flour tortillas are chewy, filling, and they make a strong base for you to add all your favorite taco ingredients.
  • Baking Powder: One of the key dry ingredients in this recipe is baking powder. It acts as a leavening agent. While tortillas don’t rise the same way that other breads do, the baking powder adds a little bit of volume and chewy texture to the incredible flour tortillas.
  • Oil: Tortillas are traditionally made with lard, which is what we recommend in this recipe. However, you can use other basic ingredients as the fat in the recipe, like vegetable oil, butter, or shortening.
  • Water: The water helps make the dough, gives the tortillas moisture and binds everything together. You don’t want your dough too sticky or too dry, so add a little more flour or additional water a little at a time if needed.
  • Salt: The salt is optional but it gives the delicious tortillas a little extra flavor and brings all the flavors together.

Kitchen Tools & Equipment

  • Food Processor: If you don’t have a food processor, use a pastry cutter or your hands to mix the dough then knead by hand for 5 minutes.
  • Rolling Pin: You don’t need a fancy tortilla press to make Homemade Flour Tortillas, just a rolling pin will do! If you do have a tortilla press, you can always use that instead.
  • Skillet: You want a large enough skillet to hold the one tortilla easily so the edges don’t curl up the sides. A flat top electric griddle or flat griddle pan will work too.
  • Tortilla Warmer: Since you are cooking the tortillas one at a time, you want something to keep them warm and moist. A tortilla warmer is a great tool, but you can also use a plate with a pot lid that is bigger than the plate and tortillas, or a piece of foil.

How to Make

Time needed:Β 27 minutes.

  1. Make the Dough

    Start by adding the flour, baking soda, and salt to a food processor. Pulse the dry ingredients to combine them then add the lard or vegetable oil. Continue to pulse until it’s in a crumbly, coarse mixture that looks like cornmeal. Keep pulsing while you slowly add in the water through the chute.Homemade Flour Tortillas ingredients in food processor

  2. Shape the Tortillas

    Sprinkle a smooth counter or another flat surface with a little bit of flour. Add the dough to the floured surface and knead it for 2-3 minutes. Next, cut the dough into 24 even dough balls. Knead the balls of dough for another 30 seconds then roll them out into an 8-inch circle.Homemade Flour Tortillas dough ready to roll out

  3. Cook the Tortillas

    Put a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat. To make the recipe quicker, you could use a griddle and cook more tortillas at once. Add each piece of dough to the hot skillet or hot griddle. Cook for 30 seconds, then flip and cook the next side. They should have a few light golden-brown spots on the surface. Place the cooked tortillas in a tortilla warmer, or on a paper towel-lined plate and cover loosely with foil. Continue cooking tortillas until all the dough is cooked.Homemade Flour Tortillas on serving platter with garnishes

Can Homemade Tortillas be made ahead of time?

Yes, you can make the dough the night before and shape it into balls. Place on a baking sheet covered with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. You could also roll the tortillas and place lightly floured parchment between each uncooked tortilla then store in a sealed bag in the fridge.

Nutritional Facts

Nutrition Facts
Homemade Flour Tortillas
Amount Per Serving
Calories 76 Calories from Fat 9
% Daily Value*
Fat 1g2%
Saturated Fat 1g6%
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g
Monounsaturated Fat 1g
Sodium 134mg6%
Potassium 25mg1%
Carbohydrates 16g5%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 1g1%
Protein 2g4%
Vitamin A 62IU1%
Vitamin C 1mg1%
Calcium 26mg3%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Tips & Tricks for Homemade Flour Tortillas

  • Let the Dough Rest

If you are having trouble rolling out your tortillas because they keep shrinking, let the dough rest for 15-30 minutes. This is a pretty good idea anyways especially if you don’t have a tortilla press because it lets the gluten settle down and makes your dough less sticky.

  • Don’t Overcook the Tortillas

If you overcook your tortillas they will be tough and hard. You cook them only until they are bubbling with light brown spots. The perfect heat is medium to medium high heat. If your tortillas are too thick, they will take longer to cook so roll them very thinly. Don’t worry, they will puff up when cooked!

How to Store

Store: After cooking, you can keep fresh tortillas at room temperature for 2-3 days. To stop them from sticking together store the stack of tortillas with lightly floured parchment paper between each layer and put them in an airtight container in your pantry. You can store them in the fridge for 1 week.

Reheat: Reheat in the microwave covered with a damp paper towel or in a skillet on the stove top.

Freeze: You can also store your tortillas in the freezer for up to 6 months. Prepare them as usual and then let them cool completely (pop them in the fridge overnight if possible) so they don’t steam or make extra moisture. Freeze with parchment or wax paper between the layers in a freezer bag.

Ideas to Serve Flour Tortillas

Taco Bar: After making tortillas from scratch, serve them up with more homemade Mexican food. An at-home taco bar is an easy, fun DIY dinner. Put out a stack of fresh tortillas along with Black Beans, sour cream, Guacamole, shredded cheese, Salsa, ground beef, fresh veggies, and other favorite taco ingredients.

Pizza: You can use the dough to make thin crust pizza! Just roll them as usual, spread a light layer of oil or sauce then add cheese and toppings. Bake them at 450 degrees for about 4-5 minutes.

Chips: For homemade tortilla chips, use a pizza cutter to slice the rolled disks of dough into triangles. Spray or brush lightly with oil and bake at 400 degrees for about 5 minutes until crispy. Toss in salt and serve.

Frequent Questions

Why are my homemade flour tortillas dry?

Too much flour is the likely culprit if your tortillas or tortilla dough is dry. To make the perfect soft, moist tortillas, make sure your dough is shaggy and stretchy not crumbly. If it is too dry, add a tbsp of water at a time until it’s right. Also, when you roll out the dough, you only want a lightly floured work surface.

Is it cheaper to make or buy flour tortillas?

Homemade tortillas from scratch are definitely cheaper than store-bought tortillas. They are made with pantry ingredients you probably have on hand like basic flour and salt, and you can swap in unsalted butter or vegetable shortening for lard.

Recipe Card

Homemade Flour Tortillas

Easy recipe for Homemade Flour Tortillas with just 5 ingredients! Warm, soft perfect tortillas for burritos, tacos, quesadillas and more!
Yield 24 Servings
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Total Time 27 minutes
Course Bread
Cuisine Mexican
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients
Β 

  • 4 cups flour , plus more for kneading
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons lard , or vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 cups water

Instructions

  • In a large food processor add the flour, baking soda, and salt.
  • Pulse to combine, then add in the lard and pulse the mixture until it resembles cornmeal.
  • Keep pulsing as you add in the water slowly through the liquid chute.
  • Onto a floured surface add the mixture and knead for 2-3 minutes.
  • Cut into 24 even pieces.
  • Knead each piece for about 30 seconds before rolling the dough into an 8" tortilla shape.
  • In a large skillet on medium heat add the tortilla dough (remove any excess flour).
  • Cook on each side for about 30 seconds. Roll additional tortillas while the tortillas are cooking so they don't dry out.

Nutrition

Calories: 76kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 134mg | Potassium: 25mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 62IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 26mg | Iron: 1mg

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Variations

Wheat Flour: You can make this homemade tortilla recipe with wheat flour instead of unbleached all-purpose flour. The whole grains will make a more wholesome, chewier tortilla dough.

Corn Tortillas: Another way to make delicious tortillas is to make homemade corn tortillas. Instead of the basic flour, you can use 2 cups masa harina and use 1 ½ cup warm waterΒ to make corn tortillas.

Flavors: Add finely diced fresh herbs like cilantro, chives or oregano to your tortilla dough for a little boost in flavor. You could also add some spices like chipotle powder or chili powder for a little warmth and color.

Sweet: For a sweet tortilla, add a pinch of nutmeg or cinnamon then sprinkle with sugar while they are warm and serve them with butter.

Recipes for your Homemade Tortillas!

Homemade Flour Tortillas collage of preparation and finished tortillas, recipe name across center

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. First you said baking powder and then at the bottom you said baking Soda. There’s a big difference. It should be baking powder.

    1. Thank you for bringing this to our attention Amy. The recipe card has been fixed.