Julie Clark
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Flour Tortilla Recipe
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How to make how to make the best homemade flour tortilla recipe. Tips and Tricks for the best flavor and how to keep the tortillas soft and pliable. These flour tortillas work perfectly for our easy chimichangas, Mexican tortilla rollups, salsa verde quesadillas and baked tacos.
We go through flour tortillas in our house like they are made of water. When Maddie was in high school, her favorite breakfast was rolled tortillas with peanut butter inside, drizzled with maple syrup. She had it every day
Tortillas are easy to make at home, and they taste delicious. So much better than store-bought tortillas! Learn how to make flour tortillas with our easy flour tortilla recipe.
Ingredients in Flour Tortillas
Flour tortillas are made of all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, lard and water. Simple ingredients for a simple flavor. That simple flavor allows the meats that you fill them with to shine through.
Can you substitute butter for lard in tortillas?
Lard works best in this homemade flour tortilla recipe. If I don’t have lard on hand, I use shortening. And if all else fails, I use butter. Butter will work, but lard is what works best for the most authentic flavor and texture.
How to Make Flour Tortillas
- Use a food processor to put the dough together quickly. If you don’t have a food processor, use a stand mixer or hand mixer. Just be careful not to over knead the dough. Mix just until the dough comes together.
- The dough will be sticky when you are done mixing it. Add just enough flour to be able to handle the dough. It should still be tacky while you knead it.
- You won’t need to knead the flour tortilla dough long. Just work it a minute or two so that the dough is smooth and elastic. Knead on a lightly floured surface.
- Divide the dough into 15-20 balls of dough...smaller balls for tacos and larger balls for burritos. Cover the dough balls with a damp towel for about 15 minutes. This allows the dough to rest and will give the tortillas a delicious texture.
- Lastly, cook the tortillas. Traditionally tortillas are made in a comal which is a flat cast iron skillet. Cast iron works best but any skillet will work in a pinch. They only take a total of 30-40 seconds in a hot skillet. Preheat the skillet so the tortillas don’t stick. About 15-20 seconds on each side in the hot pan is all you’ll need. You’ll get those pretty golden brown spots that so clearly mark tortillas.
- Wrap the tortillas in damp paper towels as soon as they are done cooking. This is so the tortillas don’t dry out. If you want soft tortillas, don’t skip that step.
Whole Wheat Tortillas
Switch out half of the flour and replace with whole wheat flour in this four tortilla recipe if you’d like. If you want to make 100% whole wheat tortillas, you may need to adjust the water and lard slightly.
How to Store Tortillas
This flour tortilla recipe makes soft tortillas that are safe to store at room temperature for up to 12 hours. After that, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They will get moldy quickly if you don’t refrigerate them.
How to Reheat Tortillas
To reheat the tortillas, preheat the oven to 350º Fahrenheit. Wrap the tortillas in aluminum foil and heat for 5-7 minutes or until the tortillas are as warm as you’d like.
Serve up these fresh flour tortillas with your favorite meat filling and some pico de gallo or salsa verde.
Other Mexican Recipes
- 3 Ingredient Tortillas
- Steak Fajitas
- Roast Beef Enchiladas
- Pork Carnitas
- Easy Baked Chimichangas
- Taco Lasagna
- Tortilla Chip Mexican Pizza
You can also use this flour tortilla wraps in our Italian pepperoni rollups.
Flour Tortilla Recipe
How to make how to make the best homemade flour tortilla recipe. Tips and Tricks for the best flavor and how to keep the tortillas soft and pliable.
Servings 15
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Resting Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Ingredients
- 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup lard (or shortening)
- 1 1/3 cup hot water
Instructions
- Add the flour, baking powder salt and lard to a food processor. Pulse several times until the mixture becomes coarse crumbs. 3 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, ⅓ cup lard
- Add the hot water. Yes, be sure the water is hot! Pulse again until a sticky dough forms. 1 ⅓ cup hot water
- Remove the dough from the food processor and knead on a flour dusted pastry mat several times. The dough will be sticky so add a little flour on your hands while kneading. Don't add too much flour. The dough should not become hard. It should remain slightly tacky to the touch. Knead just until the dough is smooth and elastic.
- Divide the dough into 15-20 dough balls, depending on the size you'd like the tortillas. Dampen a cloth towel and cover the dough balls. Let the dough rest for about 15 minutes.
- Allow a skillet to get hot over medium heat.
- Use a floured pastry mat and rolling pin to roll out each dough ball. The dough should be about the thickness of a dime. Turn the dough 90 degrees often while rolling to get a perfect circle.
- Once the skillet is hot, place the rolled dough into the skillet and let it cook for 15-20 seconds. A few bubbles may form and that's ok. Flip the tortilla and allow it to cook for the same amount on the other side.
- Line a plate or tortilla warmer with damp paper towels. Place the cooked homemade tortillas in a stack in the warmer or plate and cover with another damp paper towel. This ensures that your tortillas stay soft and pliable.
- Store the tortillas in the refrigerator in an airtight container. You can also store in the freezer.
- To reheat, wrap the tortillas in foil and warm them in a 350 degree oven until they are heated through to your liking.
Video
Notes
The calories shown are based on the recipe making 15, with 1 serving being 1 tortilla. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate.
Nutrition
Calories: 114kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 3g | Sodium: 156mg | Potassium: 87mg | Vitamin A: 40IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 30mg | Iron: 1.5mg
Could I use these in breakfast burritos and freeze them?
Loved this recipe!! I did cook mine longer… Also tried different sizes all came out good! Tasted just like my mother-in-laws!
I made the so so SOFT tortillas and they were so good. Thanx so much.!!!👍👍👍
This is the best recipe!
Hi Julie, I used your recipe except i substituted the lard for oil. they came out lovely except i ended up having to knead the dough for like 30-40 minutes to get it to a decent consistency. Any idea why this is happening to me??
Amazing soft tortilla recipe – I’ve used lots of different ones before but never quite been happy! This one is wonderful, and the tip about putting damp paper towels between the cooked ones is genius! Definitely recommend people to try this recipe!
Very good recipe
Great recipe!
The first batch I made I used shortening.
The second batch I used butter, what a flavor.
Problem I am having is with warming tortillas, they tend to crack. I warm them using a hot cast iron griddle.
Any suggestions?
Tried them for the first time. All your tips were very helpful, turned out pretty good except I need more practice rolling them to make better circles! Thanks so much!
Happy New Year! I woke up this morning cravinghot tortillas – perfect for cold mornings! Your recipe worked perfectly resulting in soft pliable tasty tortillas! It’smy first time making them and they turned out surprisingly round. I’ve been sharing pics with my family back in Texas and friends her in So Cal. Thank you!
Can you make theses with selfrising flour instead of all purpose.an with oil instead of lard ?..
I’ve always struggled with making flour tortillas (no matter how good I am with corn tortillas.) Tried your recipe last night and my mind was freaking blown!! Thank you! You’ve taken my soft tacos to the next level.
I made two different batches of tortillas and this particular recipe was the best one that I cooked. They turned out perfect and tatsed amazing.
Sorry just saw how to store in air tight container. 🙂
So..best way to store in frig? And I do not use foil often and too hot for the oven to be on – another way to warm them perhaps steamed ( I do not use microwave).
Delicious and best I have ever found.
Thanks