Can I just start out by telling you that these Easy Homemade Flour Tortillas are LIFE CHANGING!! I couldn’t believe how easy they are to make and how incredibly delicious they’d be- like way better then store bought! There are just 5 ingredients in these tender tortillas. Oh and a giant bonus- no fancy equipment needed!
Happy Friday my friends! Today is a special day-our Freaky Friday Spring Edition Recipe Swap and I am so excited to share this recipe with you! A bunch of my fabulously talented blogger friends and I get assigned a blog to choose a recipe from then create and share with our readers. We don’t find out who we’ve been assigned until today! Me, I was assigned the incredibly talented Amy of House of Nash Eats!
Michaela from An Affair From The Heart is so amazing for organizing this whole event and I am so appreciative to be a part of it. When she told me I was assigned Amy of House of Nash Eats I was beyond thrilled! Amy is so incredibly talented and I have so many of recipes saved! I have to say- being a NJ resident, the 2nd hardest hit corona virus state in the US- grocery shopping has been complicated! I have been getting my groceries delivered and somethings can’t get a delivery time for a couple weeks or items are not available.
I feel like since all this has been going on I have really- even more then normal- taken to making things from scratch. I chose this recipe because I think right now, well at least for me, things aren’t easy and this recipe uses things I always have on hand. I think this is an amazing recipe because of its ease and I think a LOT of people are looking to make their own “breads”. I REALLY look forward to trying Amys Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes, German Pancakes, Smoked Pork Belly Burnt Ends and Cinnamon French Toast Sticks!!
My family LOVES a good Mexican inspired meal and these are now my go to when it comes to tortillas!! I will admit- I’ve always leaned towards corn tortillas because I find store bought to be so thick and heavy- these homemade flour tortillas have won me over! I made tacos one night and beef enchiladas another. The bellies were very happy over here!! I honestly never knew how simple these could be to make. I followed Amys recipe exactly except I had to sub butter because its what I had on hand, where she used shortening (she mentions butter or oil as a good sub). The results still AMAZING! They are the perfect thickness, pliable, tender, soft… so good! All that goes in- flour, salt, baking powder, butter and hot water.
The dough comes together right in a food processor. You knead the dough just a few times to get it into a smooth ball. It literally takes just about 5 minutes to make the dough.
Once you’ve got your smooth dough ball you cut it into 16 even(ish) pieces of dough then roll them into balls. I’m typically really bad at getting even pieces with any recipes but I love her method of cutting halves over and over until you’ve got your 16 pieces.
Again- this really only takes a few minutes. You’re going to relax the dough for 15 minutes, covered with a damp cloth. This makes it much easier to roll out the tortillas. Once they’ve rested you lightly flour and press them into discs in your palm then roll out with a rolling pin. No tortilla press needed!
The dough really is so easy to work with! She recommends only working with a few pieces at a time so thats what I did. To cook these Easy Homemade Flour Tortillas couldn’t be easier! Head a cast iron pan over medium heat and your rolled out tortillas go in and cook just for 20 -30 seconds per side. To keep them warm and soft, keep the tortillas on a plate covered in a kitchen towel as you cook off all the tortillas.
It was so satisfying watching the tortillas bubble and brown as the cooked! These are amazing all on their own right out of the pan- yes definitely taste test as you go haha! Here are some fantastic ways to enjoy them… Cheesy Beef & Bean Enchiladas, Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas or my Pork Tacos with Sweet & Spicy Peach Salsa. I made these simple tacos and they were fantastic!!
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup shortening OR unsalted butter diced (5 Tbsp)
- 1 1/2 cups hot water
- Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and butter to a food processor.
- Pulse several times to cut the butter into the flour, until the mixture resembles coarse pea-sized crumbs.
- Add the hot water to the flour mixture. It doesn’t need to be boiling, but it should be very, very hot. You can either microwave it for a minute or two or just use your hottest tap water.
- Pulse again until the dough comes together in a ball. It will make a fairly sticky dough.
- Place the tortilla dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead several times until smooth and elastic. You may need to sprinkle the dough and rub your hands with a little extra flour so you are able to work with it, but try not to add too much flour or the dough will become tough. It should stay fairly tacky.
- Divide the dough into 16 even-sized balls. Its really easy to cut the ball of dough in half, then in halves again, and again, then rolling each piece of dough into a ball between the palms of my hands until there are 16 balls of dough. Cover them with a damp towel and let them rest for 15 minutes so the dough can relax.
- Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.
- Working with one ball of dough at a time, press it into a disc between the palms of your hands and dip into a little extra flour, shaking off any excess. Keep remaining dough balls covered with the damp towel while you are not working with them.
- Roll the dough very thin using a rolling pin, turning the dough frequently a quarter turn at a time to form a circle. No worries if they aren’t perfectly shaped!
- Lay each tortilla, one at a time, in the hot skillet, letting it cook for 20-30 seconds until it starts to bubble slightly and brown spots appear on the bottom. Then flip and cook for another 15-20 seconds.
- Transfer the cooked tortilla to a plate lined with damp paper towels and cover it with another damp paper towel. Continue to cover and add tortillas as they are finished, recovering with the damp paper towel to keep the cooked tortillas warm, soft, and pliable, until all tortillas have been cooked.
TAKE A LOOK AT ALL OF OUR 2020 FREAKY FRIDAY SPRING EDITION RECIPES:
- An Affair from the Heart – Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Aunt Bee’s Recipes – Homemade Loaded Queso
- Bowl Me Over – Crispy Smashed Potatoes
- Hostess at Heart – Chocolate Coffee Cake
- House of Nash Eats – Asian Lettuce Wraps
- Lemoine Family Kitchen – Easy Homemade Flour Tortillas
- Life, Love & Good Food – Italian Grilled Burgers
- Lisa’s Dinnertime Dish – Lemon Garlic Brussels Sprout Linguine
- Or Whatever You Do – Air Fryer Shrimp
- Take Two Tapas – Fried Mac and Cheese Balls
- The Foodie Affair – Strawberry Bread
- The Speckled Palate – Chicken Pesto Pasta
- West Via Midwest – Loaded Baked Potato Skins – Air Fryer Recipes
Lisa Hitzeman
These look so good and so much better than store bought! I happen to have a good amount of flour and butter on hand, so I will definitely be making these soon!
MICHAELA KENKEL
I have always been intimidated to make tortillas, and now I can’t wait to make some for my family!! They look delicious and so much better than store bought!! Please stay safe there in NJ!! Thanks for the great recipe!
Sheila
I love that these don’t require a fancy tortilla press! Perfection!
Julie Menghini
We love homemade tortillas and I’m sure your family gobbled these up. I know mine would. You make simple dough look so amazing!
michele
I thought I had tortillas and didn’t…. then found your recipe for them—- they were so good i won’t be buying them again… Homemade is so much better!
Sandra Shaffer
I don’t have shortening, so I’m glad you showed how these came out with butter. The tortillas look amazing! Nice job and great recipe pick!
Nicole
Homemade tortillas are such a treat! I bet these were incredible. Great job!
Brandi Burgess
We go through SO many tortillas at our house. This recipe is going to come in handy!
Jennifer Stewart
I have always wanted to make my own tortillas and this tutorial makes it so easy! I am a tortilla making machine now!
Amy Nash
I’m so happy that you made these! Flour tortillas are seriously the best when they are fresh and warm, and I think more people really should try making them at home! Your photos are beautiful, btw!