Flour Tortillas

My favorite homemade flour tortillas are irresistibly soft, chewy, thick, and flavorful — and easy to make with just 5 ingredients (no lard)!

Meet my latest obsession that I sincerely hope may turn into your new obsession as well…

…homemade flour tortillas. ♡♡♡

I’m just going to tell you right now that once you go homemade with your tortillas, get ready because you’re never going to want to turn back to store-bought. And why should we?! All you need to make a batch of the most irresistible homemade flour tortillas are 5 easy everyday pantry ingredients. All you need equipment-wise is just a mixing bowl, a sauté pan, a rolling pin. (Or you can break out the stand mixer and/or tortilla press, if you happen to own one.)  There is zero yeast involved, nor any complicated kneading required. All you need is a little over a half hour or so, and the most life-changing batch of soft and chewy flour tortillas will be yours to enjoy in no time.

Oh, and bonus? I’m happy to report that this homemade flour tortilla recipe is lard- and shortening-free. Yes, I know that they are the ingredients traditionally used in flour tortillas, but I never really cook with either. And as it turns out, I’ve found an even better ingredient that works to achieve a satisfyingly chewy texture, that just so happens to be plant-based too. Win-win!

I love to roll my tortillas extra-thick (almost bordering on na’an bread), which I highly recommend if you like your tortillas to be nice and chewy. But you can roll yours out to be as thick, thin, large or small as you would like. I’ve also included tips below for ingredient substitutions, if your pantry is running low and you can’t make it to the store right now. Plus, tips for how to prep the dough ahead of time, how to store tortillas, and also freeze flour tortillas if you end up having extras.

Serve these up for Taco Tuesday, roll them into enchiladas or burritos, fold them into quesadillas, toast them into tostadas — basically, homemade tortillas are guaranteed to kick any of your favorite recipes up a delicious notch. Let’s make a batch!

flour tortillas recipe | 1-minute video

Flour Tortilla Ingredients:

To make this flour tortilla recipe, you will need five simple ingredients (amounts included in the recipe below):

• Flour: I love this recipe with standard all-purpose white flour, but I have also tested and enjoyed it with white whole wheat flour. (I have not yet tested it with gluten-free flours, but please let me know if you do.)
• Coconut oil: I also tested this recipe with a number of different fats, and coconut oil was the winner in our house by a landslide. The coconut-y flavor here (especially when using refined coconut oil) is super-duper subtle, and it yielded the best soft and chewy texture (that stayed soft the following day, too!). That said, see below for other options if you don’t love coconut oil or do not have any on hand.
• Baking Powder: To give these tortillas a bit of lift.
• Fine sea salt: Essential to bringing out those delicious flavors! If you only have table salt on hand, note that you will need to use a lesser amount of salt.
• Hot water: Just heat up some water on the stovetop or in the microwave until it is hot to the touch, but not boiling.

How To Make Tortillas:

Alright, here is a brief overview of how to make flour tortillas (detailed instructions included in the recipe below):

1. Mix the dough. Briefly stir together the dry ingredients, add the coconut oil and water, and stir as much as you can with a rubber spatula or spoon.
2. Knead the dough. Then once the dough begins to come together, turn it out onto a floured surface, and use your hands to give it a brief knead for 1 or 2 minutes until it is fairly smooth. (Don’t worry about it being perfectly smooth — it just needs to hold together well in a ball.)
3. Rest the dough. Then we will let the dough briefly rest for about 10 minutes, covered with a clean towel so that it doesn’t dry out.
4. Form the dough balls. Now this part is up to you, depending on what size and thickness you would like your tortillas to be! I recommend dividing the dough into 12 equal-ish pie wedges, rolling each wedge into a ball, and then rolling each ball into a 6-inch tortilla (which will yield a medium-thick, taco-sized tortilla). But you are welcome to divide and roll out the dough however you would like, depending on the size and thickness of tortillas that you prefer.*
5. Cook the tortillas. Heat a cast-iron skillet or heavy-bottomed sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the tortilla and cook for 30-60 seconds, until tiny little bubbles begin to appear on the surface and/or golden spots appear on the bottom of the tortilla. Flip and cook on the second side for about 30 seconds, or until the bottom is also slightly golden. Then transfer to a clean plate or bowl, cover with a clean dishtowel, and set aside. Repeat with the remaining dough balls. Also, if the skillet seems to be getting too hot and cooking the tortillas too quickly, just reduce the heat.
6. Serve. Serve warm and enjoy! I recommend keeping the tortillas covered with a dishtowel or stored in a tortilla warmer until they are served, so that they can stay warm and not dry out.

*To save time, I like to do a bit of multitasking and roll one tortilla out while another one is cooking on the stove. But if you would like to roll all of the tortillas out at once, be sure to place a paper towel or clean kitchen towel between each tortilla so that they do not accidentally stick together while waiting. In general, I also recommend covering any dough that is waiting to be cooked, so that it does not dry out.

Possible Variations:

Want to customize this homemade flour tortilla recipe? Feel free to…

• Make the tortillas thinner: Slice the dough ball into 16 wedges, instead of 12.
• Make the tortillas thicker: A very good idea, if you would like to indulge. Slice the dough ball into 8 wedges, instead of 12.
• Make the tortillas a different size: Feel free to also slice the dough ball into fewer wedges so that you can roll the dough out into 12-inch tortillas, if you would like. Or do the opposite for even smaller tortillas.
• Use a different fat: In place of coconut oil, you can also use lard (which is traditional), butter, or a mild-flavored oil such as avocado oil or vegetable oil. Or a combination of any of these.
• Use a different flour: I also enjoyed this recipe using white whole wheat flour.

Homemade Tortillas FAQ:

Here are a few answers to some of the most-asked questions about making flour tortillas:

• Can I make this recipe with gluten-free flour? I have not yet tested this recipe with any gluten-free flours, but if you do, I would love to hear how it goes.
• Do I need to buy a tortilla press? I don’t have one (no room in our tiny kitchen!) and find it quite simple to make these with a rolling pin. But if you would like to buy a tortilla press, they are pretty fun!
• Can I make the dough in advance? Sure, just make the dough and let it rest for 10 minutes. Then cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 48 hours.
• What if the tortilla dough seems too wet? No worries, just add in some extra flour.
• How do you get perfectly-round tortillas with a rolling pin? Often, you don’t…which is perfectly ok. After making hundreds of flour tortillas — many of which weren’t perfectly round — I can vouch that a slightly wonky-shaped tortilla is still just as delicious. ;)
• Do I need to grease the skillet? Nope, the flour coating the tortillas should prevent them from sticking.
• What do I do if residual flour left in the skillet starts to burn? If that happens, remove the skillet from the heat and use a dry dish towel or a paper towel to dust the residual flour off of the skillet.
• What if the tortillas bubble up while cooking? That’s good! They should bubble up a bit while cooking. But if the bubbles grow too big and it seems like the tortilla cannot cook evenly, just smoosh the bubbles down with a spatula. ;)
• What should I make with these homemade tortillas? The sky is the limit! Tacos, burritos, quesadillas, enchiladas, tostadas, chilaquiles…you name it!

Flour Tortillas

4.91 from 80 votes

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes minutes

Makes: 12 tortillas

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My favorite homemade flour tortillas are perfectly soft, chewy, thick, and flavorful -- and easy to make with just 5 ingredients!

Equipment

• ▢
  Baking Powder
• ▢
  Coconut Oil
• ▢
  Fine Sea Salt

Ingredients

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• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup hot water
• 1/3 cup coconut oil (room temperature, not melted)

Instructions

• ▢
  Mix the dough.  Briefly stir together the flour, sea salt and baking powder together in a large mixing bowl until combined.  Add the hot water and coconut oil and stir until a shaggy dough begins to form.
• ▢
  Knead the dough. Turn the dough onto a floured surface, and use your hands to knead the dough for 1-2 minutes until it is fairly smooth.
• ▢
  Rest the dough. Form the dough into a round ball and pat it down slightly so that it forms an evenly-thick disk. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
• ▢
  Form the dough balls. Use a knife to cut the dough into 12 equal wedges.  Use your hands to roll a wedge into a roughly-shaped ball.  Then use a rolling pin or a tortilla press to roll the dough ball out into a 6-inch tortilla.
• ▢
  Cook the tortillas. Heat a cast-iron skillet or heavy-bottomed sauté pan over medium-high heat.  Add the tortilla and cook for 30-60 seconds, until tiny little bubbles begin to appear on the surface and/or golden spots appear on the bottom of the tortilla.  Flip and cook on the second side for about 30 seconds, or until the bottom is also slightly golden.  Then transfer to a clean plate or bowl, cover with a clean dishtowel, and set aside.  Repeat with the remaining dough balls.  (I like to roll out the next tortilla while the current one is cooking, to save time.) Also, if the skillet seems to be getting too hot and cooking the tortillas too quickly, just reduce the heat.
• ▢
  Serve. Serve warm and enjoy!  I recommend keeping the tortillas covered with a dishtowel or stored in a tortilla warmer until they are served, so that they can stay warm and not dry out.

Notes

Coconut oil: I recommend using refined coconut oil, if possible, whose flavor is a bit more subtle.  But unrefined coconut oil will work great too.

Stand mixer instructions: If you have a stand mixer, just combine the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer as directed in step 1.  Then use the dough hook to knead the dough on medium-speed for 1-2 minutes in step 2.

Storage instructions: Cooked tortillas can be stored in a ziplock or food storage bag at room temperature for up to 3 days, or frozen for up to 3 months.  (I recommend placing a small piece of parchment paper between the tortillas when freezing, so that they do not stick together.)

Additional Info

Course: Bread

Cuisine: Mexican

Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!