How to Make Flour Tortillas

$0.33 recipe | $0.03 serving

With only 5 ingredients, these easy flour tortillas turn out perfect every time. You'll soon understand why making tortillas from scratch beats store-bought every time!

4.84 from 6 votes

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Prep Time 40 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Total Time 1 hr

Course How-to, Snack

Cuisine Mexican, Vegan

Servings 12 tortillas

Calories 154 kcal

Equipment

Mixing bowl
Rolling Pin
Skillet

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

▢ 3 cups all-purpose flour ($0.22)
▢ 1 teaspoon salt ($0.02)
▢ 1 teaspoon baking powder ($0.01)
▢ ¼ cup vegetable shortening ($0.08)
▢ 1 cup very warm water ($0.01)

Instructions

Dough

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a mixing bowl. Mix in the vegetable shortening with your hands to incorporate into the dry ingredients. Then, add the water and stir everything together.
Next, remove the dough from your mixing bowl onto a floured surface. Begin kneading the dough to form a ball that's sticky enough to stay together, but not coming off on your hands. Keep folding over and pressing with your palm for 10 minutes.
If the dough appears too crumbly, continue adding a tablespoon of water at a time until you are able to form a texture similar to play dough. If it's too sticky, similarly add a tablespoon of flour while continuing to knead.
Cut the ball of dough into 12 pieces. Roll each piece with your hands until smooth, then flatten slightly. Once they are rolled and flattened, cover with a towel to rest for at least 15 minutes up to a few hours (the longer they rest, the softer they'll turn out).

Rolling

On a floured surface, use your hand to flatten the disc out a little then begin rolling it out with a rolling pin. Roll it until the tortilla is quite thin (don't forget about the edges). If you don't have a rolling pin, use a tortilla press or the bottom of a baking dish.

Cooking

Preheat a seasoned cast-iron skillet slowly up to medium. Then, add a tortilla in and cook on the first side for 45-60 seconds, or until you see bubbles forming and light brown spots on the underside. Flip and cook for another 45-60 seconds.
Note: you may have to adjust the heat and cook time depending on your individual stove and pan.
Remove from heat and wrap each tortilla in a tea towel to keep warm while you cook the rest. Serve your flour tortillas warm with your favorite meals. Happy eating!

Video

Notes

The resting period hydrates the flour and softens the gluten bonds, which makes softer, more pliable tortillas.
Optional ingredients are not reflected in the price or calories of our recipes.
Nutritional information is a rough estimate.
Recipe cost calculations are based on ingredients local to us and may vary from recipe-to-recipe.
All prices are in USD.

Nutrition

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