This recipe for Homemade Tortillas yields soft and chewy flour tortillas, and is easy to make with 5 ingredients. Skip the store-bought tortillas and make these for tacos, quesadillas, or wraps.
What is a tortilla?
Tortillas are circular, thin, unleavened round flatbreads originating from Mesoamerica.
There are two main types of tortillas:
Corn tortillas are made from maize, where as flour tortillas are made from wheat flour.
Why this recipe works
Because tortillas are unleavened, it is a simple flatbread and comes together more quickly than yeasted naan.
You'll only need 5 humble ingredients to make these at home.
You don't need to have a tortilla press (of course, if you have one, that's great too!).
My method of rolling the dough onto a piece of parchment paper not only saves on clean up, but helps to transport the dough easily to the frying pan.
You can double or triple the batch to make more.
Wheat tortillas are super versatile and are used in a variety of foods such as: tacos, burritos, fajitas, quesadillas, taquitos, and wraps or roll ups.
These tortillas are similar to making Chinese Green Onion Pancakes.
Ingredients you'll need
- all-purpose flour: regular flour works best for these tortillas; if you prefer a chewier texture, you can use bread flour
- warm water: not boiling water; just warm to the touch
- baking powder: a little bit adds a little lift and puffiness to the tortillas
- fine sea salt: adds a little flavour to the tortillas
- olive oil: or any vegetable oil
Optional add ins
Customize your wheat tortillas with spices and/or veggies for a different flavour.
Try adding:
- garlic powder: note that you'll need to watch the heat if you've added garlic powder as it tends to burn a little more quickly; I don't recommend minced garlic as the bits will burn
- pureed spinach: you'll want to replace the amount of water with the pureed spinach
- tomato paste: add 1-2 tablespoon of concentrated tomato paste to the warm water for a tomato variation
How to make them
In a stand mixer bowl attached with a dough hook, combine flour, warm water, baking powder, sea salt and olive oil (Step 1 below).
Knead until the dough comes together into a smooth ball, about 3-5 minutes (Step 2 below).
Cover the dough and let it rest for 15-20 minutes.
Divide the dough into 5 equal portions, about 75g each (Step 3 below).
Line a piece of parchment paper on your workstation.
Roll the dough out onto the parchment paper with a rolling pin into a round, circular shape. (It's OK if it's not perfect) (Step 4 below).
Let the rolled out dough rest for 5 minutes.
Heat up a dry frying pan over medium heat.
Re-roll the dough thinly to stretch to 7-8" in diameter (Step 5 below).
Transfer the parchment and place it dough-side down onto the frying pan. Peel off the parchment and let it cook for 1 minute, until puffed up -- note: they'll shrink slightly during cooking to about 6" in diameter (Step 6 below).
Flip the dough with a spatula or pair of tongs and let it cook for another 30 seconds (Step 7 below).
Remove the tortilla and wrap with a clean kitchen towel, placed onto a wire rack (Step 8 below).
Repeat with the remainder.
How to serve
Serve the Homemade Tortillas freshly made, while they're warm.
They're great in tacos, quesadillas, taquitos, or used as a wrap or roll-up.
Cut them up and bake them in the oven to transform them into tortilla chips.
You can easily warm the tortillas up in the microwave -- place a damp paper towel over the tortilla and heat for 20-30 seconds until warm and pliable.
How to use the tortillas
Use to wheat flour tortillas in any recipe that requires a flatbread, such as:
- fajitas
- burritos
- quesadillas
- taquitos
- wraps
They can easily replace corn tortillas.
For a non-traditional way to use it, try it in place of the green onion pancakes in these Chinese Green Onion Pancake Beef Rolls 牛肉捲餅.
How to store
Store the cooled Homemade Tortillas in a clean Ziploc bag at room temperature for up to 2 days.
You can also keep the tortillas in the fridge for up to 1 week.
To freeze, place a piece of parchment paper in between each tortilla and stack them up in a freezer-safe bag, alternating between parchment paper and tortilla.
Freeze for up to 1 month.
How to reheat
Reheat the tortillas by placing a damp paper towel over the tortilla and microwave for about 30 seconds until pliable and warmed through.
FAQs and troubleshooting
Dough is having issues
If the dough seems too dry, add a little water at a time until the dough comes together into a ball.
Conversely, if the dough is too wet, add a little flour until it comes together.
The tortilla dough should be slightly moist and not dry, but easily handled without additional flour.
Can I use a tortilla press?
Yes, if you have one, just place a piece dough on parchment in between the press, and squeeze the dough until it is flattened.
Can I make a double or triple batch?
Absolutely.
What type of pan to use to cook?
If you have a cast iron pan, that would be the best option, however, I personally used a stainless steel pan.
My tortillas are not brown enough/too burnt
Adjust the heat until it reaches it yields the colour you desire.
Can I use gluten-free flour?
I personally haven't tested it with gluten-free flour.
Other recipes you may like
Be sure to check out these recipes:
Baked Turkey & Black Bean Taquitos (Rolled Tortillas)
Tortillas with Turkey & Cheese: Healthy Variations of Back-to-School Bento Box Lunches
3 Quick and Easy Holiday Appetizers
Green Onion Pancakes (Edmonton/Donut-Style)
Turkey & Cheese Puff Pastry Roll Ups
Let me know if you try out this recipe -- tag me on Instagram @siftandsimmer or leave me a comment/rating below!
Homemade Tortillas
For accuracy and precision in baking recipes, use weight (metric) measurements when available.
Ingredients
- 225 g all-purpose flour
- 125 ml warm water
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 25 ml olive oil or vegetable oil
Instructions
- In a stand mixer bowl attached with a dough hook, combine flour, warm water, baking powder, sea salt and olive oil.
- Knead until the dough comes together into a smooth ball, about 3-5 minutes.
- Cover the dough and let it rest for 15-20 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 5 equal portions, about 75g each.
- Line a piece of parchment paper on your workstation.
- Roll the dough out onto the parchment paper with a rolling pin into a round, circular shape. (It's OK if it's not perfect).
- Let the rolled out dough rest for 5 minutes.
- Heat up a dry frying pan over medium heat.
- Re-roll the dough thinly to stretch to 7-8" in diameter.
- Transfer the parchment and place it dough-side down onto the frying pan. Peel off the parchment and let it cook for 1 minute, until puffed up.
- Flip the dough with a spatula or pair of tongs and let it cook for another 30 seconds.
- Remove the tortilla and place onto a wire rack with a clean kitchen towel (so that they remain soft).
- Repeat with the remainder.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided should be considered as approximate and is not guaranteed. Please use your best judgment to ensure food is safely prepared and/or a good fit for your diet.
David @ Spiced
Oh I love making homemade tortillas - they are surprisingly easy, too! Sure, it's easy to pick up a pack from the store, but homemade are so much tastier. I've never tried adding in other ingredients, though - I love your suggestion of pureed spinach! Totally trying that!
Linsey
The Homemade Tortillas are very easy to made and look very fluffy. With your posted recipe, I do not have to buy from the stores as I will follow your recipe. I usually like to dip the tortillas in curry or satay sauce with addition of ghost peppers to spice up the sauce.
Ben | Havocinthekitchen
I can never resist some good homemade bread and flatbread, and these tortillas look seriously good. Great job!
Raymund | angsarap.net
Another new thing learned from you, now I think I will stop buying tortillas in the supermarket, looks easy to prepare
Kim | Give it Some Thyme
These tortillas look perfectly light and chewy. Nothing like homemade breads and these tortillas have me craving Mexican!