Quickly scan this ingredient list:
Bleached wheat flour, interesterified soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, water, sodium bicarbonate, sodium aluminum sulfate, monocalcium phosphate, sugar, sodium acid pyrophosphate, calcium propionate, sorbic acid, potassium sorbate, monoglycerides, enzymes, sodium stearoyl lactylate, wheat starch, sodium metabisulfate.
When combined, these ingredients will make:
A) cement
B) barbiturates laced with bleached flour
C) flour tortillas from a big supermarket chain
If you guessed A or B you were close!
And here is the ingredient list for your soon-to-be incredible homemade flour tortillas:
Homemade Flour Tortillas Recipe
3 cups all-purpose unbleached flour, 3 Tablespoons lard, 1.5 teaspoons salt, 1 cup warm tap water.
Four ingredients!
They taste better than storebought tortillas.
They are healthier.
They cost 8 cents each.
And luckily they cannot be used as a cement alternative.
Before we make them, let’s talk about ingredient #2 up there: lard. Be honest, are you magnetically repelled from lard and anything that even remotely resembles it?
That’s OK, it’s a tough word to swallow.
Lard.
I am biased because I use it all the time. When done right it can be one of the cleanest fats out there. It’s balanced more towards unsaturated fats, so it actually has more in common with olive oil than it does with butter. At the very least, it can be considered an equal alternative to conventional fats and oils.
Please try making homemade tortillas with good quality lard at least once in your life. Yes, you can make them with conventional oils, just know that every time you do you are causing Mexico to shed a tear. (Here's a version made using olive oil.)
Most local butchers, and some gourmet stores, will carry farmer direct lard in their freezers. This is a good option for your first batch of homemade tortillas. Here’s what it looks like in my butcher's freezer:
Of course, you can always make your own lard too. It’s super easy and will keep in the fridge for months.
That's what we are using today, but it's definitely not a requirement for these homemade tortillas. (Here’s a step by step tutorial on how to make your own lard if you want to try it eventually.)
The least attractive option for lard is the baking section of your supermarket where you’ll find shelf-safe lard that’s loaded with hydrogenated oils. This isn't a viable long term solution for your blossoming lard needs.
OK, got your lard handy?
Stir the salt into the flour. Add the lard and use your hands to mix it in.
Coat each bit of lard with flour and squish it between your fingers. You’ll feel it disintegrate into the flour mixture.
Once all the lard is mixed in, add the warm tap water.
Stir it as much as you can with a spoon and then dump the whole thing onto a flat surface.
Knead this clump into a ball and keep adding the stray bits of flour. Continue kneading until you have a cohesive ball.
Cover and let rest for 30-60 minutes. This will make the dough less elastic when rolling it out.
After resting, divide into golf ball sized chunks and roll them between your hands.
Dough balls this size will make tortillas 5-6 inches in diameter. If you have time, let these rest for another 15-30 minutes. It's OK if you don't, they will just be a little more elastic when you roll them out.
I like to roll these out super thin, to the point where you can almost see through them. Using a tapered rolling pin will help as it’s easier to push into the middle of the tortilla, but a standard rolling pin works fine too.
Keep flipping them over and rotating them so you are always rolling in opposite directions.
If they are sticking to the surface or the rolling pin, add a light dusting of flour onto the rolling pin.
Don’t worry about making them into perfect circles. It’s impossible to do, and if they have irregular shapes they will taste better.
Heat up a comal or skillet to medium-high temperature. On my stove 6 out of 9 on the big burner does the trick for these tortillas.
Add the tortilla to the comal. Cook until you see bubbles forming:
Ideally, this will happen in 45-60 seconds. If it's taking longer to bubble raise the temp of the stove. If they are bubbling instantly then lower the temp.
When you flip it over you'll see some light brown spots. Perfect!
Cook the opposite side for the same amount of time and set aside to cool.
Continue with the rest of the batch, but be sure to take a moment to do some quality control:
This batch made 14 thin, light, delicious flour tortillas.
Using an ingredient list that was 4 entries long.
These will keep in the fridge for at least a week but they come with special permission to eat as soon as possible.
If you botch a few of them don't fret, it just takes a few tries to get the heat and timing of the stove right.
Once you've got that down you'll always have the option of making a batch of these beauties.
Use liberally for your tacos, enchiladas, and late afternoon snacks. Not recommended as a cement alternative.
Enjoy!
(Update: I recently tried making these flour tortillas with bacon fat and was pleasantly surprised by them. See here for results.)
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Homemade Flour Tortillas Done Right
Ingredients
- 3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons lard
- 1.5 teaspoons salt
- 1 cup warm water
Instructions
- Add the salt to the flour and mix well. Use your fingers to crumble the lard into the flour mixture. Add 1 cup warm water and stir as much as you can with a spoon, then dump onto a flat surface and knead into a cohesive ball. Let rest for at least 30 minutes.
- Tear into golfball sized chunks, rolling between your hands to shape them into smooth balls.
- Use a rolling pin to roll them out approximately 5-6 inches in diameter.
- Heat a comal/griddle to medium high temperature and add a tortilla.
- Cook each side for 45-60 seconds or until light brown spots form.
- As one tortilla cooks, roll out the next to expedite the process.
Notes
This article we wrote on types of tortillas has a current list of all the tortilla recipes we have on our site.
You might also like our homemade bolillos recipe.
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tony
Made these a few months ago as tortillas to serve with beans. A couple weeks later I made enchiladas with these. My wife, daughter and a friend raved about them. The leftovers did not last a day. They taste like the ones Nana used to make.
I misplaced the recipe and found it again.
These tortillas are easy to make and cook perfectly on my griddle, we own an old stove. Making enchiladas again and these will be the co-star, the lead is not good without a great supporting co star.
When I rolled them into balls I had cornmeal on my hands. I love the flavor of cornmeal and even as a child I could not roll or pat out tortillas.
Patrick
Thanks for the feedback Tony, so glad you found this recipe!
Carol Turlington
Hi. I made these tortillas and they turned out great. Only one problem. Once they reach room temp, they become a little hard and tough. Any suggestions? I followed the recipe exactly. Even used store bought lard. Thanks!
Patrick
Hi Carol, I usually put them in a tortilla warmer or stack them in a tea towel to keep them warm and moist. If they ever dry out on you then you can usually wake them up again by putting them back in warm, dry skillet for a minute or so.
Okay hope this helps a bit. Cheers.
Debbie
I tend to shy away from rolling dough because I am terrible at it. I’m sure it helped that I was reading and distracted and the dough rested in both stages for 30+ minutes, but this dough rolled thinly beautifully, and tasted so good when cooked! So easy I will never buy flour tortillas, although I never did because they were awful. I bought lard from Fatworks because I called several butchers and could not get the backfat to render my own. I have found a source now at a farm store an hour or so away so I will be heading there soon. Also plan to try the bacon fat version next.
Patrick
Awesome, so glad these worked out for you Debbie! And thanks much for mentioning Fatworks, they are new to me and I just checked out their site, will keep an eye out for their products and see how it compares to a home rendered version. Cheers.
Trina Carlisle
Thanks !!😋😙😍
Jan
I made your tortillas today with fresh ground spelt and einkorn berries. I did not use any fat but they still turned out wonderful. Am going to get some back fat to render my own lard, just tossed the tub from the store with the bad stuff in it.
Yesterday I made a different recipe and used my home canned tomato sauce in place of water, very good and kinda pale red. I like the fresh ground flour and will use bacon fat in the next batch until I can get the back fat.
Thank you for a great recipe and site, will be looking around some.
Patrick
Thanks much for your note Jan! So good to know that they turned out well without any fat as I have never tried that before. Cheers.
Andrea
Have you tried using whole wheat floor with any of your tortilla recipes? Or white whole wheat flour? I need to up fiber content of.my food, so am curious how WW tortillas would workout.
Patrick
Hi Andrea, I haven't tried whole wheat flour with my tortilla recipes yet but it's on my list! Cheers.
Lena
Great recipe! The dough is maximum pliable and they taste great!
Patrick
Thanks Lena!
Jo
OMG I've only ever had the plastic rubbish from supermarkets and just tried this recipe and 'mind blown'. Adapted the recipe to make enough for two people and worked amazingly well. Huge cudos!!
Patrick
Thanks Jo, so glad they were a hit!
Meg
Great recipe overall, ate with your charro beans, mmmm!
Patrick
Nice, thanks Meg!
Meg
I’ve made homemade tortillas a few times, but never let them rest that long, what a difference it makes! So much easier to roll out. Leaving out baking powder is new to me too, they came out nice and thin. However they were sort of heavy and dense. What could cause this?
Patrick
Hey Meg! I feel like that happens when they cook too long ie the heat might be too low. If it's taking a while for brown spots to form then I usually raise the heat a bit.