Easy Flour Tortillas From Scratch
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Elevate your next Mexican meal with these incredible flour tortillas from scratch. The perfect vehicle for tacos, burritos, enchiladas, and more, these tortillas manage to be soft, pliable, and sturdy all at once. Plus they’re amazingly easy to make—five ingredients and mixed either in the stand mixer or by hand.
In our journey to make more and more from scratch, it was only a matter of time until we started experimenting with homemade flour tortillas. And after many years and countless batches, I can still say with confidence that it’s worth every roll and spatula flip.
To be honest, the process is kind of the fun part. Almost as much fun as getting to eat them all!
It will surprise no one to learn that there are quite a few flour tortilla recipes floating around out there. I make no claim that this particular interpretation is “pure” or “authentic.” As an American of Slovak-German descent, I might actually be the last person you’d want to consult for advice on truly authentic Mexican cuisine. 😉
I can, however, tell you without a doubt when something is delicious, and believe me when I say that these tortillas will meet and exceed all your tastebuds’ expectations.
Why You’ll Love Making Your Own Flour Tortillas
- You’ll never enjoy a tortilla more pliable and tender than hot off your own skillet
- The process is fun, un-fussy, and has simple options to get kids involved
- It’s nice knowing exactly what’s in your food
- Worth it for the pride factor alone—you made your own tortillas!
What Others Say:
“These are SOOOOOOO GOOD, I have never made tortillas before but I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND these to anyone.” -Diane
“I never knew making homemade tortillas was so easy! So incredibly simple and delicious!” -Angela
Ingredient Notes
How To Make Flour Tortillas From Scratch
One of this recipe’s many advantages is that it can be mixed quite easily with a stand mixer, an electric hand mixer, or just by hand. Whichever approach you choose, the basic process is the same: combine flour, salt, and baking powder. Cut in some vegetable oil, mix in warm water, and knead it into a soft, supple dough ball.
Then, just pluck off a portion for each tortilla. The recipe yields about 16 taco-sized shells. You can certainly measure these to be precise, but I find it a lot easier to just divide the ball in half, then divide those halves again, and so forth until you have 16 portions. I have yet to hear a single complaint about slightly uneven tortilla mass. 🙂
Stretch and roll each portion into a smooth ball, flatten each slightly with your palm, and let the discs rest for about 15 minutes. Roll each one out thin, and you’re ready to cook!
No Tortilla Press?
Traditionally, one does not use a tortilla press to make flour tortillas, though it’s an ideal tool for corn tortillas. This is because flour tortillas naturally contain gluten, a protein that gives structure and resists being stretched. These balls of dough tend to spring back when smashed in a press; rolling with a pin lets the dough stretch much more gently into a thin yet pliable round that will puff up in a hot skillet with lots of gorgeous, tender air pockets.
Cooking tortillas will take truly just 1-2 minutes each in a hot cast-iron or non-stick pan. As explained more in the recipe notes below, you’ll know they’re cooking properly when you get small bubbles on the top side and light brown spots on the bottom.
When we first began making these, I recruited my husband as the designated tortilla flipper, a job he found pleasingly zen. Plus, the flipper gets first dibs on sampling!
Years later, our son is perfectly capable of flipping, as well, and our daughter is getting handy with a rolling pin, so it’s a true family affair. And we all know food is more exciting and tasty to the kid who helps make it!
With a fresh, tender tortilla that manages to be pliable and sturdy all at once, you can’t possibly go wrong. If you dispense with the fillings and just eat them straight off the hot skillet, well, you won’t get any judgment from me.
Go ahead and give this recipe a try. I’m willing to bet you’ll love the results, and you ought to be pretty darn proud for making tortillas from scratch!
More Easy Mexican Favorites
- Sheet Pan Shrimp or Chicken Fajitas
- Skinny Agave Margaritas
- Easy Black Bean Tacos
- Baja Chicken Tacos
- Ground Beef Enchilada Casserole
- Jalapeno Lime Fish Tacos
Easy Flour Tortillas From Scratch
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil, shortening, or lard
- 1 cup hot water roughly 110°F
Instructions
Electric Mixer Instructions:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine flour, salt, and baking powder. Mix briefly to combine.3 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon table salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder
- With the mixer running at medium speed, add oil and water. Mix for 1-2 minutes, stopping at least once to scrape the sides of the bowl. After the dough begins to come together into a ball, reduce mixer speed to low and continue mixing for 1-2 minutes, until dough is smooth.1/3 cup vegetable oil, shortening, or lard, 1 cup hot water
Mix by Hand Alternative:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking powder. Whisk briefly to combine, then add vegetable oil. Stir until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.3 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon table salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/3 cup vegetable oil, shortening, or lard
- Pour in warm water and stir to combine. Knead briefly with well-floured hands until the mixture comes together into a craggy dough.1 cup hot water
Either way, to proceed:
- Whether you used an electric mixer or your hands, transfer dough at this point from the mixing bowl to a well-floured work surface. Divide into 16 roughly equal portions. Roll each portion into a ball and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand. Cover flattened balls of dough with a clean kitchen towel. Allow to rest for at least 15 minutes and up to an hour.
- When ready to cook, warm a large cast-iron or heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat.
- Keeping the work surface and rolling pin lightly floured, roll each dough ball into a circle about 6” in diameter. (Try not to stack the rolled tortillas on top of one another: this makes it more difficult to transfer them to the pan. If you need additional staging area, a lightly floured sheet of parchment paper works well.)
- Transfer tortillas one at a time into the hot, dry skillet. Cook for about 1 minute, until small bubbles form on the top and brown spots form on the bottom surface. (If it takes much longer than a minute to see golden brown spots on the underside, increase the heat slightly. If instead the tortilla browns too much or too quickly, reduce the heat.) Flip and cook the other side for 30-45 seconds.
- Remove from the pan and proceed with the next tortilla. Stack cooked tortillas loosely wrapped in a clean kitchen towel. (This will keep them soft, pliable, and warm.)
- Serve immediately or allow to cool for later use. Enjoy!
Notes
- Why No Tortilla Press?: Traditionally, one does not use a tortilla press to make flour tortillas, though it’s an ideal tool for corn tortillas. This is because flour tortillas naturally contain gluten, a protein that gives structure and resists being stretched. These balls of dough tend to spring back when smashed in a press; rolling with a pin lets the dough stretch much more gently into a thin yet pliable round that will puff up more beautifully in a skillet with lots of gorgeous air pockets.
- Why The Rest?: Letting the dough balls rest on the counter for even 15 minutes after portioning them out allows the developed gluten to relax a bit—literally. This in turn yields a noticeably softer, more supple dough that has less of a tendency to snap back when rolled. Your goal is a dough that you can gently press out into a thin tortilla shape without having to press so hard down on it that you press out all the air bubbles and puffiness.
- Don’t Overcook! Keep close tabs as the tortillas cook, because if they stay on too long, especially after flipping to the second side, they’ll become crispy around the edges once they come off the skillet.
- Short-Term Storage: Tortillas can be stored for 2-3 days in the fridge in a plastic zip-top bag; before using, wrap in a slightly damp paper towel and microwave for 15-30 seconds.
- Longer-Term Storage: Tortillas can also be frozen for 2-3 months; to freeze, separate them with sheets of parchment or waxed paper and store in a zip-top freezer bag.
- Recipe: Adapted from Cooks.com via A Dash of Sanity and The Cafe Sucre Farine.
Nutrition Estimate
This post was originally published on July 11, 2017, making it one of the earliest posts on this site! I’m proud to say we still use this exact recipe in our family, and have updated the post over time with additional tips, tricks, and background on the “why” behind certain steps.
Would this make 8 burrito sized tortillas? We eat way more burritos and quesadillas than we do tacos. Just want to make sure I get the portions correct. I want to try this recipe b/c mine always turn out like chalupas and that’s too thick for a burrito, in my opinion.
Mmm sounds delicious! Yes I would say this will make 8 larger burrito-sized tortillas, you will just want to take care when transferring them into and flipping in the pan. Enjoy- I really hope they turn out well for you!
I used a tortilla press to flatten them but they shrunk back smaller before I could get them on the griddle. Any ideas to prevent that?
Yes indeed–that’s a common problem when using a tortilla press for flour tortillas, because of the gluten in the flour. The best option to prevent this is to roll out your flour tortillas and save the press for making corn tortillas. If you’re committed to using the press I would try to let the dough rest a little extra long in hopes of letting the gluten relax. Good luck!
Loved how simple and delicious this recipe was. Thank you.
These are SOOOOOOO GOOD, I have never made tortillas before but I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND these to anyone. Very easy to make, my daughter had made these and sold me on them…..so very very good. THANK YOU
Hi! Could I use a tortilla press to flatten? That’s what I use when making corn tortillas.
these are now a regular and they always turn out fantastic thank you very much
My husband and I love making these together. They are the best tortillas we’ve ever had. Five stars ⭐️
Good morning,
Just wanted to say that I have made these twice and I really like them. I have also read some of the previous comments I had no problem with these not hard or crunchy maybe they aren’t allowing them to rest I let mine rest for an hour turned out fine 🤔
I found this looking for a recipe that was close to my moms since I couldn’t remember it and now This is my go to recipe! I love it and it doubles wonderfully!!
So, so happy to hear that! <3 Thank you for trusting this recipe and for letting me know!
Hello again I just made them half masa and half flour Yummo . masa and flour worked well, with some shortening and salt was so good I put them in freezer until I use them again
Yum, I am so glad this worked out well for you! Thank you very, very much for taking the time to come back and let me know!
Can I use half masa and half flour
Unfortunately I haven’t tried that to say for sure!
okay I will try it and see how it comes out LOl and I will let yall know
Ty
Aw, I love that- I can’t wait to hear!
I have an extreme picky eater dislikes literally most everything but loves popusas. I tried to do this tortilla in a form of a popusa and inserted some breakfast sausage and cheese in it and he approved. I actually follow some influencers who have many hundred thousand followers and my recipes never come out when it comes to their tortillas and this one did so I am very happy and will be continuing to make it this way.
Thank you for this recipe! It was easy to make and turned out great! No more store bought tortillas!
Yay, so happy to hear that!
I never knew making homemade tortillas was so easy! So incredibly simple and delicious!
Yay, so happy you liked them! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review.
Turned out fantastic, going to be my go to for a tortilla recipe
Can I make this dough the day before and roll out and cook the next day?
I have done this successfully up to about 12 hours before, so I think there’s a good chance it will work – I just haven’t tried it yet overnight. I would leave the dough under a damp cloth so it doesn’t dry out or crust over. Please let me know how it goes!