Simple Homemade Flour Tortillas

Homemade flour tortillas are just so tasty, so quick and so easy to make. What I especially love about these homemade flour tortillas is that they hold together so much better than store bought ones. Made from everyday ingredients, this is such a simple recipe.

Homemade Flour Tortillas

These homemade flour tortillas are great to use for making burritos at home. Like I said this recipe only uses ingredients that are commonly found in your pantry, so no need to plan too far ahead when making these.

This recipe makes the tortillas without using a tortilla press. The tortillas are rolled out by hand using a rolling pin. This can make some of them a little uneven but they still work just as well. If you don’t have a rolling pin then a wine bottle can work in a pinch.

Of course a tortilla press will still work just as well, just don’t feel that you have to have one in order to make tortillas.

Oil in Tortillas

Oil, or some sort of fat, is very important for tortillas. The oil will make the tortillas stay soft and easily wrap around their filling. The oil also stop the tortillas from tearing as easily.

I prefer to use oil, over other forms of fat, as it is something that I always have in my pantry. That means that this recipe makes tortillas without the use of lard.

In terms of what type of oil to use, you can use whatever oil you have access to. I like to use vegetable oil, canola oil or sometimes even olive oil.

Making the Flour Tortillas

To make homemade tortilla wraps, there are 4 main steps.

• Combine ingredients

Combine all ingredients together and knead until nice and smooth. Let the dough rest for at least 15 minutes. I normally knead the dough by hand, however you can use a stand mixer with a dough hook or a food processor.

• Divide dough

Divide dough into 8 equal portions and form into balls. Forming the dough into balls will help with rolling them out into circles.

• Roll out the tortillas

Use a rolling ping to roll out the balls of dough to roughly 8 inches (20cm) in diameter. Dusting your work surface with a little bit of flour will make it easier to roll the dough out thinner. Rotate the dough and roll it out in single direction to help maintain a circular shape.

• Cook the tortillas

Cook in a frying pan on medium heat. Make sure the frying pan has properly heated up, otherwise the tortilla will take longer to cook. You don’t want to add any oil to the pan.

Dust off any excess flour from the rolled out tortilla before cooking.

Cook for 45 seconds to 1 minute on the first side. Flip and cook for another 30 to 45 seconds. You want to squash down any extra large bubbles that form so that most of the tortilla is making contact with the frying pan. If this is not done then some parts of the tortilla may not cook properly.

Be careful not to cook the tortillas too long, you don’t want them to burn and you don’t want them to get crispy. If they go crispy then they won’t wrap very well and may break or tear. After cooking, keep the tortillas stacked up in between a towel. This helps keep them soft.

Repeat rolling out and cooking steps for the rest of the dough balls.

Tacos

This recipe is used to make tortillas for burritos. However it can be changed slightly to make tacos instead.

To make tacos follow the recipe until it is time to split the dough. After splitting the dough into 8, split each portion in half again. This will make a total of 16 equal portions if making them all into tacos.

Roll each portion out into a circle that is 5-6 inches (13-15cm) in diameter. Follow the rest of the directions for as if cooking normal tortillas as the cook times are the same.

Tortillas Without Baking Powder

This recipe makes tortillas without using baking powder. Adding baking powder would make them turn out fluffier, which is not what I prefer in my tortillas.

If you would like to add baking powder then follow the recipe as normal but add in 1 tsp baking powder when mixing all the ingredients in.

Uses for Flour Tortillas

The best use for tortillas is, of course, burritos. Make sure the tortilla is properly warmed up. Add in your fillings of choice and wrap it up so nothing falls out the bottom as you hold it.

You can also use these tortillas to make tortilla pizzas with the help of this Easy No Cook Blender Pizza Sauce. Don’t use too much sauce, otherwise it will go soggy, top with your favorite toppings and cheese. Cook the tortilla pizza in an oven heated to 390°F/200°C for about 10 minutes or until edges of tortilla are slightly crispy. A super quick and tasty lunch or dinner.

Storing Flour Tortillas

The tortilla dough can be stored before it is cooked. In an air tight container the dough, after kneading, will last up to 5 days in the fridge before needing to cook it. You can also freeze the dough and should last 6 months if stored properly in an air tight container or zip lock bag.

Cooked tortillas will last up to a week in the fridge, if stored properly in an air tight container or zip lock bag. In the freezer the tortillas will last 6 to 8 months.

Reheating tortillas

These homemade flour tortillas can be eaten cold if you are not going to be using them as a burrito or some style of wrap. When the tortillas are cold they are more likely to tear and won’t fold easily. Heating them up will make them work much better as wraps.

There are a few different ways you can reheat them. The easiest is to just put it in the microwave for 10-20 seconds. You can also heat them up in a frying pan on medium heat. Cook for 15 seconds on each side.

Dietary

This homemade flour tortilla recipe is dairy-free. This recipe is vegan and vegetarian friendly because it is made without lard. Also by making it without lard, the tortillas will be halal.