Homemade flour tortillas are super easy to make. Once you've made a batch of flour tortillas from scratch, you'll never go back to store-bought tortillas. This easy flour tortilla recipe is perfect for tacos, burritos, enchiladas, and even making wraps.
I'm not sure why it's taken so long to get this recipe to you. After all, no one loves tacos more than I do.
Spending my high school and college years in San Diego allowed me to try a lot of Mexican food.
I dare say that San Diego has the BEST Mexican food in the United States. I don't know if I've ever found a Carne Asada Burrito that compares to the ones I had at Lolita's in Chula Vista or Juanita's Leucadia.
Needless to say, when it comes to Mexican food, I have pretty high standards. And these homemade flour tortillas fit the bill. They're tender and flavorful and are worthy of being filled with homemade carne asada and guacamole.
What You’ll Love About This Recipe
- Quick and easy. Homemade tortillas take like 5 minutes to make.
- Make them ahead. These tortillas keep well in the fridge and freeze beautifully to make them ahead of time.
- The flavor. These tortillas taste amazing. I love them cooked with a bit of butter...mmmhh mmhhh good.
Recipe Notes
The easiest way to make flour tortillas from scratch is in a mixer with a dough hook. It makes the job effortless. However, if you don't have a stand mixer, you can also mix these up by hand. It just takes a bit of elbow grease.
What you'll need
- Flour. All-purpose flour is used to make flour tortillas.
- Salt. Salt is the primary flavor agent in tortillas, so you don't want to skip it. Use kosher or sea salt.
- Baking powder. Baking powder acts as a leavener in tortillas and helps produce bubbles in the tortillas as they cook.
- Oil. I usually use olive oil or avocado oil to make my tortillas. You can always use lard any other type of fat here. Opt for something mildly flavored.
- Water. Warm water contributes to the smoothness of the dough.
Making Flour Tortillas in a mixer
- Combine the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix the dry ingredients until they are well combined.
- Add the water and oil. With the mixer running on medium, add the oil and the water to the dry ingredients.
- Mix the dough until the ingredients come together to form a ball — a minute or so.
- Continue to mix the dough for a few more minutes until it is smooth.
- Shape into balls. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and cut it into 16 pieces. Shape the pieces into balls and flatten them slightly with the palm of your hand.
- Rest the dough for 15 minutes and up to a few hours before rolling the tortillas out with a rolling pin.
- Roll each tortilla out between two pieces of parchment paper. You'll want them to be about 6-8 inches in diameter, depending on if you like thinner or thicker tortillas.
- Set the tortillas aside until you're ready to cook them.
🧬 GEEK WISDOM: Make sure to place parchment paper in between the tortillas if you want to stack them or store them in the fridge to cook later.
Making Flour Tortillas By Hand
If you don't have a stand mixer, you can still whip up a batch of these flour tortillas from scratch.
- Combine the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to a medium-sized bowl and use a wooden spoon to mix them. Form a well in the middle of the dough.
- Add the water and oil to the well and use the wooden spoon to combine the dry ingredients. Start in the middle and pull the flour in from the inside of the well.
- Mix the dough until the ingredients come together to form a ball.
- Knead the dough. After the dough has mostly come together dump it out on a lightly floured surface and knead for a few more minutes until it is smooth. Continue with the remaining steps.
How to Cook Flour Tortillas in A Skillet
- Heat a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat.
- When the pan is hot, place one uncooked tortilla in the pan and then cook until the surface has bubbles and the bottom is golden brown spots on the surface. The tortilla should still be soft and flexible.
- Flip the tortilla over using tongs and cook for 15-20 seconds on the other side.
- Place each tortilla in your tortilla steamer or a freezer bag while cooking the remaining uncooked tortillas. Allowing the cooked tortillas to steam each other keeps them warm and soft.
Recipe Variations
Of course, tortillas come in lots of different varieties. If you want to try more, you can try my corn tortilla recipe.
Storing + Freezing Tips
How to store flour tortillas
You can store cooked and even uncooked flour tortillas in the fridge. Just make sure to have parchment paper or wax paper in between each tortilla.
Place them in a gallon-sized zip-top bag or another type of airtight container. Store in the fridge for up to a week.
How to freeze flour tortillas
Flour tortillas freeze well. This is good news because it means you can have them on hand at all times. If you make a batch of homemade tortillas you can easily freeze any leftovers for several months.
How to reheat flour tortillas
You can reheat flour tortillas in a skillet or in the microwave.
To reheat tortillas in a skillet, heat the skillet over medium-high heat. Add the tortillas one at a time. Heat for 15-20 seconds on each side.
To reheat tortillas in the microwave, wrap them in a paper towel and heat them on medium power for 30 seconds.
Hungry for more Mexican Food?
Fill these delicious tortillas with Shredded Beef and your favorite salsa for an easy dinner or make a batch of Creamy Shrimp Enchiladas.
Serve with a side of Guacamole and Mexican rice and now it's a fiesta.
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Homemade Flour Tortillas
Ingredients
- 3 cups All purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Baking soda
- ⅓ cup Olive oil
- 1 cup Warm water
Instructions
- Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix the dry ingredients together until they are well combined.
- With the mixer running on medium, add the oil and the water to the dry ingredients.
- Mix until the ingredients come together to form a ball. A minute or so.
- Continue to mix the dough for a few more minutes until it is smooth.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and cut into 16 pieces. Shape the pieces into balls and flatten them slightly with the palm of your hand.
- Rest the dough for 15 minutes and up to a few hours before rolling the tortillas out with a rolling pin.
- Roll each tortilla out between two pieces of parchment paper. You'll want them to be about 6-8 inches in diameter, depending on if you like thinner or thicker tortillas.
- Set the tortillas aside until you're ready to cook them.
- PRO-TIP: Make sure to place parchment paper in between the tortillas if you want to stack them or store them in the fridge to cook later.
How to Cook Flour Tortillas
- Heat up a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat.
- When the pan is hot place one uncooked tortilla in the pan and cook until the surface has bubbles and the bottom is golden brown spots on the surface. The tortilla should still be soft and flexible.
- Flip the tortilla over using tongs and cook for 15-20 seconds on the other side.
- Place each tortilla in your tortilla steamer or a freezer bag while you are cooking the remaining uncooked tortillas. Allowing the cooked tortillas to steam each other keeps them warm and soft.
Laura's Tips + Notes
- Combine the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to a medium-sized bowl and use a wooden spoon to mix them together. Form a well in the middle of the dough.
- Add the water and oil to the well and use the wooden spoon to combine the dry ingredients. Start in the middle and pull the flour in from the inside of the well.
- Mix the dough until the ingredients come together to form a ball.
- Knead the dough. After the dough has mostly come together dump it out on a lightly floured surface and knead for a few more minutes until it is smooth. Continue with the remaining steps.
Nutrition
FAQs and Expert Tips
Store-bought flour tortillas will last several weeks at room temperature and even longer in the fridge.
Homemade tortillas keep up to a week in the fridge. They have no preservatives, so their shelf life isn't quite as long as store-bought tortillas.
Yes, flour tortillas freeze quite well. Keep them in the freezer for several months stored in an air-tight container.
Flour tortillas are typically made with all-purpose flour. They are soft and perfect for making tacos, burritos, enchiladas, and quesadillas.
Corn tortillas are made with masa flour which is a specific type of cornflour. Do not substitute cornmeal.
Corn tortillas are gluten-free and are my favorite for making street tacos, which are small 4-inch diameter corn tortillas filled with meat and topped with cilantro and onions.
The best way to heat flour tortillas is in a skillet over medium heat.
After heating them for 15-20 seconds on each side, store them in a tortilla steamer to keep them warm and tender.
Yes, you can freeze uncooked tortillas. Stack them with parchment in between them and then wrap them tightly in plastic wrap. Thaw for about avhalf-hour or so before cooking.
Cut the tortillas into triangles by cutting the tortillas in half, then in half again, then cut the remaining quarters in half.
Add about 1 cup of neutral oil to a heavy-bottomed skillet or saucepan. Heat on medium-high heat.
Add the tortilla triangles to the hot oil about 8 or 10 at a time. Cook until they are lightly browned and puffy. Remove with tongs and place on a paper towel to cool. Sprinkle with salt and enjoy with your favorite guacamole or pico de gallo recipe.
Shellie
These tortillas are super easy to make. Thanks for the recipe. I made them last night when I was grilling meat for tacos.