This easy Homemade Tortilla recipe is the best tasting homemade flour tortillas I have ever eaten and far better than store-bought. You only need 3 ingredients to make your own flour tortillas and it’s likely you already have the ingredients in your pantry!
Homemade Flour Tortillas are great for making your favorite Mexican food. From enchiladas to tacos and burritos, these easy tortillas will be the only way you will ever want to eat tortillas again.
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❤️ Why You'll Love This Recipe
Easy to make: This easy tortilla recipe uses only 3 simple ingredients!
Versatile: Traditional flour tortillas are perfect for taco Tuesday to make your favorite soft tacos.
Taste great: Fresh homemade flour tortillas made at home are far better than store bought soft tortillas.
🥘 INGREDIENTS
This is one of the easiest recipes to make. I promise, once you have made this homemade flour tortilla recipe, you will never want to buy them in the store.
- White whole wheat flour
- Solid vegetable shortening
- Salt
- Water
🔪 How to make Homemade Tortillas
Making the dough
- Add the flour and shortening to a large bowl. Work the shortening into the flour with a pastry blender or your fingers until completely incorporated.
- Dissolve the salt in the water and pour ⅔ cup of the salt water over top of the flour mixture. Immediately work it in with a fork. The dough will be in large clumps.
- Scoop the soft dough onto your work surface and knead until smooth, adding more water as needed.
Shaping and resting the dough
- Divide dough into 12 equal pieces and roll each piece of dough into a smooth ball.
- Set the tortilla dough balls on a plate, cover with sheets of plastic wrap, damp cloth, or damp paper towel and let dough rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.
Making the tortillas
- After the resting period, heat a cast-iron skillet or a large frying pan over medium-high heat.
- Shaping by hand: On a lightly floured surface, roll out a portion of the dough into a 7-inch circle. Flatten a ball of dough with the palm of your hand, sprinkle with a little extra flour, then roll forward and back across it, rotating a sixth of a turn dough and roll forward and back again. Continue until it is a 7-inch circle.
- Using a tortilla press: Using two pieces of parchment paper, place one piece of paper on the press, place the dough ball in the center and top with another piece of parchment. Then press. Lift the tortilla press, and flip the tortilla over (still sandwiched between the parchment. Press firmly one more time. Then remove the tortilla and proceed to cook.
To cook the tortillas
- Lay the first tortilla on the hot griddle. After 30-45 seconds, when golden brown spots show underneath, flip it over. cook another 30-45 seconds more, until the second side is browned. Do not overcook or the tortilla will become crisp.
- Remove and wrap in a clean kitchen towel. Repeat procedure with remaining tortillas and stack them on top of each other.
🙋 Recipe FAQ's
It all comes down to flavor and diet. Lard is animal product so if you are vegetarian, use the vegetable shortening, if you want a different flavor profile, use lard.
Wrap the tortillas in a towel and place them in the microwave for 30 seconds. For just 1 tortilla, wrap and heat for 10 seconds. These can also be reheated on the grill for a few seconds on each side.
Tips
- When measuring the flour, stir the flour first to aerate it. Then spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level off with a knife. Do not tap the cup to fill it, this will enable too much flour to pack into the cup and make the tortillas dry.
- Center the dough ball in a tortilla press to make thin tortillas that are more uniform.
- Use a piece of parchment paper to separate the warm tortillas while stacking them after cooking and cover with a kitchen towel to keep them warm.
📖 Variations
- Lard or coconut oil makes a great substitute for the shortening.
- In a pinch, you can use all purpose flour in place of white whole wheat
🍽 Equipment
Tortilla Press or Wooden Rolling Pin
Cast Iron Skillet or large cast iron griddle: I highly recommend the cast iron as it heats evenly and holds heat well. You want the tortillas to cook quickly without getting crisp and I feel the cast iron does the best job.
Use a pastry blender (affiliate link) does the best job cutting the shortening into the flour. You can use a fork if necessary.
🏫 What I've Learned
- Making homemade tortillas is not hard. The first time I made these I knew I would never buy tortillas from the store again. These are just as good, if not better than those you would get from a Mexican restaurant!
- This is an easy tortilla recipe to make with very little effort.
- The tortilla press is awesome! It takes a little effort to learn how to use it at first, but it makes the most perfectly shaped tortillas.
Serving Suggestions
Serve these easy flour tortillas warm as a side to Grilled Avocado with Cilantro Lime Cream. I also like to use them to make this Shrimp Enchiladas Recipe or Cheese Enchiladas with Red Sauce.
Serve the soft flour tortillas warm or toasted with your favorite dips. Some of our favorites are Spinach Artichoke Dip, Jalapeno Bacon Cheeseburger Dip and I love to spread Mom's Easy Cheese Ball Recipe on tortillas and make pinwheels.
Storage
Store cooked tortillas in an airtight container or a ziploc bag that has had the air pressed from the bag. Tortillas can be stored up to 3 days on the counter, 1 week in the refrigerator, and 3 months in the freezer.
Related Recipes
Easy Green Chicken Enchilada Recipe - low carb
When you make this homemade tortilla recipe, please comment below and let me know what you think. I'd love it if you tag me on Instagram @grumpyshoneybunch or #grumpyshoneybunch so I can see your photos!
If you love this recipe, please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating
📖 Recipe
Homemade Flour Tortillas Recipe
Equipment
- Liquid measuring cup
- Measuring spoon
- Tortilla press
- Pastry blender , or fork
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Ingredients
- 2¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 5 heaping tablespoons solid vegetable shortening
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup hot water
Instructions
Making the dough
- Add the flour and shortening to a large bowl. Work the shortening into the flour with a pastry blender or your fingers until completely incorporated.
- Dissolve the salt in the water and pour ⅔ cup of the salt water over top of the flour mixture. Immediately work it in with a fork. The dough will be in large clumps.
- Scoop the soft dough onto your work surface and knead until smooth, adding more water as needed.
Shaping and resting the dough
- Divide dough into 12 equal pieces and roll each piece of dough into a smooth ball.
- Set the tortilla dough balls on a plate, cover with sheets of plastic wrap, damp cloth, or damp paper towel and let dough rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.
Making the tortillas
- After the resting period, heat a cast-iron skillet or a large frying pan over medium-high heat.
Shaping by hand
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out a portion of the dough into a 7-inch circle. Flatten a ball of dough with the palm of your hand, sprinkle with a little extra flour, then roll forward and back across it, rotating a sixth of a turn dough and roll forward and back again. Continue until it is a 7-inch circle.
Using a tortilla press
- Using two pieces of parchment paper, place one piece of paper on the press, place the dough ball in the center and top with another piece of parchment. Then press.
- Lift the tortilla press, and flip the tortilla over (still sandwiched between the parchment. Press firmly one more time. Then remove the tortilla and proceed to cook.
To cook the tortillas
- Lay the first tortilla on the hot griddle. After 30-45 seconds, when golden brown spots show underneath, flip it over. cook another 30-45 seconds more, until the second side is browned. Do not overcook or the tortilla will become crisp.
- Remove and wrap in a clean kitchen towel. Repeat procedure with remaining tortillas and stack them on top of each other.
Rachel Fox says
I was so impressed with the ease of this recipe considering I’ve tried to make tortillas 50 times in my 39 years! I even made a TikTok & was compelled to leave a beyond 5 star review because somehow by some miracle I was able to make these wonderful tortillas and thank you so much for your help with such a fantastic recipe! I’ll include the details of your website in the comments of my TikTok. Tysm
Shelby Law Ruttan says
Hi Rachel, thank you so much for rating the recipe and for sharing it on your TikTok! I don't use that platform a lot but will definitely go on and look for it! Thanks again!
Liz says
These are amazing!! So much better than the grocery store tortillas I've been buying!!!
Jennifer says
This recipe sounds so easy to make, I’m going to give it a try!
Karen says
Can you make these with gluten free flour?
Martha Darnell says
Sou is delicious and just I was looking far. Can't wait to try it.